Stephen Batchelor wrote in ‘Buddhism Without Beliefs,’ “Anguish emerges from craving for life to be other than it is. In the face of a changing world, such craving seeks consolation in something permanent and reliable, in a self that is in control of things, in a God who is in charge of destiny. In yearning for anguish to be assuaged in such ways, we reinforce what creates anguish in the first place; the craving for life other than it is.”

Buddha identified craving as the cause of suffering. The Pali word for craving is tanha, which is a state of incessant, never-ending, unquenchable thirst. We continually look for something outside ourselves to make us happy, secure and content. We attach to people, places and things, ideas, concepts and opinions about ourselves and the world.

Change, impermanence, is one of the most difficult things for us to handle and accept… even though everything changes all the time.

ALL the time.

ALL the time. Faster than we can ever see it. It is the absolute constant of life. Life and we are always changing. Batchelor goes on to say, “Our attachment and our identification with what we want cause us to suffer deeply.  The objects are not the problem – our attachment and identification are.  The objects are not the problem – our attachment and identification are. When we expect to have and be the same or better forever we suffer.”