Because we want the smallest happiness, even in our dreams, and the smallest comfort in our daily life,
we should abandon even the smallest negative karma and practice even the smallest virtue.

Three Levels of Suffering

There are three levels of suffering, and they are caused by (1) karma and (2) delusions.

1. The Suffering of Pain

If we die with a nonvirtuous thought such as anger, or attachment or self-­cherishing, we will be reborn in the hell, hungry ghost or animal realms. While we are in the lower realms we continually create more negative karma, which will result in our again being reborn in the lower realms. In just one day in the lower realms we collect so much negative karma.

The suffering experiences of this life as a human are also referred to as the suffering of pain—the suffering of being born, the suffering of old age, the suffering of sickness and the suffering of death.

Nevertheless, if you put together all the suffering in the human realm and compare it to the suffering in the eight hot hells and eight cold hells, there is no comparison. The suffering in the human realm is actually great pleasure compared to the suffering in even the first hell realm, where the suffering is the lightest.

2. The Suffering of Change

What most people in the world believe is suffering is very limited; there is so much suffering that they are not aware of. What they want to be liberated from is only the extremely gross suffering, the suffering of pain.

But there is a subtler level of suffering called the suffering of change, which refers to higher rebirths, such as humans. And while we are in the human realm (and even in the lower realms), the suffering of change also refers to temporary samsaric pleasures, such as the pleasure of food, the pleasure of sex, the pleasure of clothing, the pleasure of music, the pleasure of drugs and so forth.

When you analyze samsaric pleasures you will discover that in reality they are only suffering. They are in the nature of suffering because they do not last. They are just like a hallucination: because of our ignorance they appear as pleasure, even though they’re not. This pleasure is labeled on the base, which is suffering. This is why our lives are continually drawn into suffering, from life to life. Our ignorance blocks us from seeing this. Our ignorance also blocks us from seeking the true path and recognizing the method to achieve the happiness we want.

Samsaric pleasures are in the nature of impermanence, decaying minute by minute, second by second, unlike Dharma happiness, which can continue and be completed. Samsaric happiness cannot continue and cannot be completed. Dharma happiness continues until we achieve liberation from samsara forever and, finally, the peerless happiness of buddhahood.

3. Pervasive compounding suffering

Our aggregates, our body and mind, being under the control of delusions and karma are therefore pervaded by suffering. They come from delusions and karma and give rise to more delusions and karma, and therefore are in the nature of suffering.

Because these aggregates are in the nature of pervasive compounding suffering, they become the cause to experience both the suffering of pain and the suffering of change again and again.

We go from this life to the next life, and the next, and the next, continuously experiencing the suffering of gods and demi-gods, human beings, animals, hungry ghosts and hell beings; it goes on and on.

The solution to the first level of suffering: the suffering of pain

The answer, the solution to stopping the suffering of pain, is to stop taking suffering rebirths and to take happy rebirths. For this, we must not create the causes of it again, which is negative karma. We can accomplish this by living in vows. See chapter 14.

And we must also purify negative karma that we’ve already created, preventing it from ripening as further suffering. See chapters 15 and 16.

The solution to the second level of suffering: the suffering of change

In order to stop the suffering of change, we must give up attachment. See chapter 9.

The solution to the third level of suffering: pervasive compounding suffering

In order to stop being born in samsara altogether we must realize emptiness. In other words, we must cut the root of all suffering, this samsara—self-­grasping. First, there is the self-­grasping of the person: holding the “I” as truly existent, as real, as existing from its own side; and, second, the self-­grasping of phenomena, the aggregates: holding the aggregates as real, as existing from their own side, not as merely labeled by the mind. I talk more about this in chapter 11.

The wisdom realizing emptiness is the only thing that cuts the root of samsara and can remove, cease, all the delusions, including the seed or cause of delusions, the negative imprints in the mind.

When you experience the total cessation of suffering and all the causes of suffering, then there is liberation from samsaric rebirths, even the upper realms.

Liberation is not nothingness

Liberation does not mean we become nothingness, it does not mean that we disappear. Not only does our body not disappear but our mind also does not disappear. It does not mean that our mind becomes non-­existent; it is not like that.

Liberation means we achieve total control over our body and mind, not only the gross body and mind but also subtle body and mind. We are free from all the gross and subtle defilements, the wrong concepts, the delusions, as well as the actions (karma) that follow from them. We are liberated totally from the aggregates (the body and mind), whose nature is suffering, because they are contaminated by the seed of delusion. This seed is the foundation for the sufferings of change and pain.

remember

• Give up the suffering of pain by living in vows (chapter 14) and purifying negative karma (chapters 15 and 16).
• Give up the suffering of change by renouncing samsara,
  in particular attachment (chapter 9).
• Give up pervasive compounding suffering and achieve
  liberation by realizing emptiness (chapter 11).
• Achieve bodhicitta (chapters 10 and 12) and, in general, create merit (chapters 14 through 21).
• It’s all in the lamrim (chapter 13).