Mae Yo's Blog

The 8 Worldly conditions (โลกธรรม ๘) come in 4 pairs:

The idea here is that change of status is normal. We must learn to understand the truth about what happens as we alternate from one state to the other.

1. The truth is that we want for people to see us as honorable, worthy, prestigious. Once that changes, we cannot accept it. However, just as we acquire prestige from a blank slate, the deterioration of that prestige is also normal. None of what we “acquire” in this world is permanent. Everything is temporary, yet we cannot accept this because we have yet to teach ourselves that prestige also hurts and has negative repercussions. Think about royalty and celebrities. We see their fall from fame or publicized drama as a normal part of the course of things, but what about ours?

2. Being rich and losing those riches can be a terrible rollercoaster ride. Contemplate what happens when we have money, and when we lose what we have. What will be done to acquire riches, and what are the repercussions? We cannot have one without the other. We cannot be rich without experiencing a change in our status, both getting to the “rich” status, while we are “rich,” and after we are “rich.”

3. Sukha and dukkha come together as a pair. you cannot have one without the other.  if you don’t want dukkha, you cannot have sukha. If you only want sukha, you will also get dukkha. You want one, but you get both. This makes obvious sense when you take a look at a coin. You can’t have heads without tails. You can’t have a dog without dog poo. You can’t own and drive a car without having to put gas in it. Sukha is only minor relief from suffering, or a lesser degree of suffering.

4. What are the adverse consequences of compliments and criticism? We want people to compliment us, but what are the negative consequences that stem from their compliments? Have to continue doing it in order to receive compliments. If they don’t compliment us, we’re saddenned and try harder. If they do compliment us, we will continue or try to one-up ourselves. Compliments and criticism wouldn’t exist if not for worldly objects as the subject. The person we’re trying to impress changes, just as we change everyday. We need to do things for ourselves, not for others.