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Whether we eat, sleep, work, play, whatever we do life contains dissatisfaction, pain. If we enjoy pleasure, we are afraid to lose it; we strive for more and more pleasure or try to contain it. If we suffer pain we want to escape it. We experience dissatisfaction all the time. All activities contain dissatisfaction or pain, continuously.
Chogyam Trungpa
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Life is filled with both pleasure and pain, and dissatisfaction is a constant experience.

Chogyam Trungpa's quote reflects the inherent nature of life, where every action we take, whether it be eating, sleeping, working, or playing, carries the weight of underlying dissatisfaction and pain. The pursuit of pleasure is often tinged with the fear of losing it, while pain prompts a desire to escape. This duality indicates that dissatisfaction is an inescapable part of human existence, reminding us to find balance amidst our striving.

Themes

LifeDissatisfactionPleasurePainHuman Experience

In practice

Example use cases

In a motivational speech about facing life's challenges.

More from Chogyam Trungpa

Meditation _x000D_ practice begins by sitting down and assuming your seat cross-legged on _x000D_ the ground. You begin to feel that by simply being on the spot, your _x000D_ life can become workable and even wonderful. You realize that you are _x000D_ capable of sitting like a king or queen on a throne. The regalness of _x000D_ that situation shows you the... dignity that comes from being still and _x000D_ simple.
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If you must begin then go all the way, because if you begin and quit, the unfinished business you have left behind begins to haunt you all the time.
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The basics teachings of Buddha are about understanding what we are, who we are, why we are. When we begin to realize what we are, who we are, why we are, then we begin to realize what we are not, who we are not, why we are not. We begin to realize that we don't have basic, substantial, solid, fundamental ground that we can exert anymore. We begin to realize that our ideas of security and our concept of freedom have been purely phantom experiences.
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Warriorship does not refer to making war on others. Aggression is the source of our problems, not the solution. Warriorship is the tradition of human bravery, or the tradition of fearlessness.
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Our life is an endless journey; it is like a broad highway that extends infinitely into the distance. The practice of meditation provides a vehicle to travel on that road. Our journey consists of constant ups and downs.
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But again and again, we should reflect back to the darkness of the cocoon. In order to inspire ourselves forward, we must look back to see the contrast with the place we came from. You see, we cannot reject the world of the cocoon - which out which we may create a new cocoon. When we see the suffering that occured in the old cocoon, that inspires us to go forward in our journey of warriorship. It is a journey that is unfolding within us.
Chogyam TrungpaRead

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