“Whenever you are afflicted by another being or by anything at all, if you habituate your mind to dwelling on suffering only, then even the most insignificant, tiny circumstance will bring forth great distress.
This occurs because you always want to accomplish your own needs and fulfill your own desires, which are primarily the eight worldly concerns, leading to non-virtue. This is your habituation. Since your mind is habituated to dwelling on negativity, if some small thing happens, some small affliction, then you immediately grasp onto this, shaping it into something very, very big. Even though initially it's something very insignificant, you allow it to bring you a huge amount of distress.
This happens because, whatever attitude is being cultivated towards happiness or adversity, by nature it will grow stronger. This is something that you become accustomed to. For instance, most habits are considered to be somewhat harmful. Perhaps you like to eat hot chili, because you have cultivated an attitude to partake of hot chili. But in fact it burns your tongue; it makes you sweat; it burns holes in your stomach; and on and on. Nevertheless, it is your habit, so you keep eating it.
Perhaps you like to drink liquor or have another habit such as this, which may actually be shortening your life, but in fact you keep on partaking of it, all the while knowing that it's really harming you. Because you are so attracted to it, you think it's something good. The desire is stronger than knowing what the result will be, which is suffering. Because the habit or desire is so strong, the suffering is not considered to be great.
The strength of the mind can never be underestimated; it is the single most powerful force in existence. Any habituation will continue to increase, depending upon which direction it is headed. Eventually everything will lead to that. Keeping this in mind, as the gradual habituation increases in the case of suffering, virtually everything that appears will eventually lead to misery.
Even the most insignificant event will be the cause for much greater misery. Eventually there will be no possibility for happiness at all. This is something important to bear in mind in terms of your close relationships and family situations. If you don't recognize that this is due to your own mental habits, you will blame it on external circumstances.
Eventually the flames of hatred, non-virtue, and suffering will spread on endlessly, because you continue to believe that the problem arises from external circumstances.”
Gyatrul Rinpoche
This occurs because you always want to accomplish your own needs and fulfill your own desires, which are primarily the eight worldly concerns, leading to non-virtue. This is your habituation. Since your mind is habituated to dwelling on negativity, if some small thing happens, some small affliction, then you immediately grasp onto this, shaping it into something very, very big. Even though initially it's something very insignificant, you allow it to bring you a huge amount of distress.
This happens because, whatever attitude is being cultivated towards happiness or adversity, by nature it will grow stronger. This is something that you become accustomed to. For instance, most habits are considered to be somewhat harmful. Perhaps you like to eat hot chili, because you have cultivated an attitude to partake of hot chili. But in fact it burns your tongue; it makes you sweat; it burns holes in your stomach; and on and on. Nevertheless, it is your habit, so you keep eating it.
Perhaps you like to drink liquor or have another habit such as this, which may actually be shortening your life, but in fact you keep on partaking of it, all the while knowing that it's really harming you. Because you are so attracted to it, you think it's something good. The desire is stronger than knowing what the result will be, which is suffering. Because the habit or desire is so strong, the suffering is not considered to be great.
The strength of the mind can never be underestimated; it is the single most powerful force in existence. Any habituation will continue to increase, depending upon which direction it is headed. Eventually everything will lead to that. Keeping this in mind, as the gradual habituation increases in the case of suffering, virtually everything that appears will eventually lead to misery.
Even the most insignificant event will be the cause for much greater misery. Eventually there will be no possibility for happiness at all. This is something important to bear in mind in terms of your close relationships and family situations. If you don't recognize that this is due to your own mental habits, you will blame it on external circumstances.
Eventually the flames of hatred, non-virtue, and suffering will spread on endlessly, because you continue to believe that the problem arises from external circumstances.”
Gyatrul Rinpoche