A Discussion on Desire‧Attachment and Sickness of Mind from the View of Buddhism

ABSTRACT

All humans ultimately pursue happiness. However, fewer people feel happiness in life and they often suffer sickness of mind arising from distress. Buddhism teaches the road that leads to happiness and freedom, away from sufferings. This paper reviewed it from the Buddhist point of view and discussed what a healthy and happy life is all about. Buddha pointed that it would not be easy for humans to get rid of all the desires as long as they are alive. Once attachment gets into human relations, pure mind becomes paralyzed and turns into selfish desire. As desire and attachment cause a self-centered way of thinking, they hurt anything that runs against self interest and ultimately lead everything to the path to ruin. Buddhism viewed that greed, hate and ignorance are the three poisons of mind and the root cause of all mental and physical diseases. The three poisons are connected to one another and influence among themselves. The sickness of mind is the result of giving in to attachment and failing to control the three poisons. Truly healthy and happy mind lies in how to control desire and attachment and maintain peace of mind, not materialistic value.