When suffering arises, you have to see that it’s suffering, and to see what this suffering arises from. Will you see anything? If we look at things in an ordinary way, there’s no suffering. For example, while we’re sitting here, we’re at ease. But at another moment we want this spittoon, so we lift it up. Now things are different. They’re different from when we hadn’t yet lifted up the spittoon. When we lift the spittoon, we sense that we’re more weighed down. There’s a reason for it. Why do we feel weighed down if it’s not from having lifted the spittoon? If we don’t lift it, there’s nothing. If we don’t lift it, we feel light. So what’s the cause and what’s the result? All you have to do is observe just this much and you know. You don’t have to go off studying anywhere else. When we grasp onto something, that’s the cause of suffering. When we let go there’s no suffering. ~by Ajahn Chah, translated from the Thai by Thanissaro Bhikkhu