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And Śāntideva mentions another crucial difference between the ordinary external enemies and the internal enemy of our afflictions. | And Śāntideva mentions another crucial difference between the ordinary external enemies and the internal enemy of our afflictions. | ||
{{PullBcaVerses|4.33}} | {{PullBcaVerses|4.33}} | ||
With an ordinary enemy it may be possible to appease them by offering them tribute or making gestures of peace toward them. They could eventually even become allies and offer us assistance. But, according to Śāntideva, this is completely impossible with the afflictive emotions. The more we befriend the afflictions the worst our situation will get. If we yield even an inch to their demands, they will drag us down into grief, in this life and the next. As long as we live with them we will never be truly happy. We must therefore be constantly conscious of them and turn them back at every moment. | With an ordinary enemy it may be possible to appease them by offering them tribute or making gestures of peace toward them. They could eventually even become allies and offer us assistance. But, according to Śāntideva, this is completely impossible with the afflictive emotions. The more we befriend the afflictions the worst our situation will get. If we yield even an inch to their demands, they will drag us down into grief, in this life and the next. As long as we live with them, we will never be truly happy. We must therefore be constantly conscious of them and turn them back at every moment. | ||
{{PullBcaVerses|4.34}} | {{PullBcaVerses|4.34}} | ||
Just as fire is naturally hot, the afflictions are naturally destructive to our lives. From them alone spring all the sorrows of this life and all future lives in samsara. And yet the basic reason for all these ills is the fact that we do not fear samsara. | Just as fire is naturally hot, the afflictions are naturally destructive to our lives. From them alone spring all the sorrows of this life and all future lives in samsara. And yet the basic reason for all these ills is the fact that we do not fear samsara. | ||
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