“Our problems do not exist outside our mind. The real nature of our problems is our unpleasant feelings, which are part of our mind. When our car, for example, has a problem we often say, “I have a problem,” but in reality it is not our problem but the car’s problem. Our problems develop only when we experience unpleasant feelings. The car’s problems exist outside the mind, whereas our problems are inside our mind. By differentiating between animate and inanimate problems like this, we can understand that the real nature of our problems is our own feelings, which are part of our mind.
All our problems—our unpleasant feelings—come from our delusions of attachment and self-grasping ignorance, therefore these delusions are the main causes of our problems. We have strong attachment to the fulfillment of our own wishes and for this aim we work very hard throughout our life, experiencing many difficulties and problems. When our wishes are not fulfilled we experience unhappiness and depression, which often causes us to become angry, creating more problems for both ourself and others. When we lose our friends, job, status or reputation and so forth, we experience pain and many difficulties. This is because of our strong attachment to these things. If we did not have such attachment, there would be no basis for experiencing suffering and problems at their loss.”
Excerpt From: Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. “How to Solve Our Human Problems.” iBooks.
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