When people hear this teaching, they generally think of negative emotions: colleagues who are prone to fits of anger or who are easily brought to tears come to mind. However, the Buddha did not specify negative emotions as the source of pain; rather, He identified all emotions as being painful. How can this be so? how could kindness or love, for example, be associated with pain? It is because we view things with a dualistic mind, clinging to them as if they truly existed.
When there is a sense of ‘I’ and ‘other’, even kind acts are inevitably imbued with a certain degree of selfishness. We may offer someone a kind word or a helping hand without the thought of gross reward, but we inevitably hope for some form of payback, even if it is only a sense of personal gratification or the establishment of a friendship. This kind of expectation is what causes the emotion to be painful. How often have we heard someone express his or her deep love for another person? Yet, when that person does not reciprocate but instead starts a relationship with someone else, how quickly does that love turn to jealousy and anger? What happened to the love? If we love someone, then surely we should be pleased that they have found happiness. The problem is that the so-called love was tainted. It was based on dualistic mind, which by its nature sees the external world as something either to gain advantage or to fear.
Furthermore, in a dream we may run this way and that in order to avoid trouble and seek enjoyment, but in reality nothing happens. The fear and joy we experience are an illusion. Likewise, because phenomena do not inherently exist, they cannot be the source of true happiness. While we are still embroiled in ignorance, our attempts to find true and meaningful happiness are futile. That is why cultivating wisdom and countering ignorance, rather than teaching ways to be a successful businessman or a great disco dancer characterise the path of the Buddha. It is not that the Buddha was against making money or enjoying oneself; rather, it was that He recognised that these activities are not the source of ultimate happiness. If they were, he would have embraced them and encouraged us to engage in them. However, they are like a mirage of an oasis. They may bring temporary joy an hope, but finally they lead to disappointment.
