[Advayavada Study Plan – week 4 of 13] Human beings experience existential suffering (see week 3) most often because they wrongly strive after and try to hold on to things, concepts and situations which they believe to be permanent and unchanging, but are not. Their mistaken view and understanding of things is essentially the result of a thirst, craving or clinging (called tanha in Pali and trishna in Sanskrit) which is in turn caused by their fundamental ignorance (avijja, avidya) or disbelief of the true nature of existence, particularly the changeability of everything (see week 1) and the selflessness and emptiness of all things (see week 2), and this thirst, craving or clinging, which is the second of the four noble truths of Buddhism, can moreover easily take on a more unwholesome form: already as sensuous desire, ill-will (vyapada), laziness, impatience or distrust will it seriously hinder the individual’s efforts to better his or her circumstances, as well as affect the efforts of others to improve theirs.

[Advayavada Study Plan – week 30] Human beings are essentially prone to existential suffering (see week 29) because they wrongly strive after and try to hold on to things, concepts and situations which they believe to be permanent, but are not. Their mistaken view of things is produced by a thirst, craving or clinging (tanha in Pali, trishna in Sanskrit) which is in turn caused by their fundamental ignorance (avijja in Pali, avidya in Sanskrit) or disbelief of the true nature of existence, particularly the changeability of everything (see week 27) and the selflessness and emptiness of all things (see week 28). This thirst, craving or clinging, which is the second noble truth of Buddhism, can moreover easily take on a more unwholesome form: already as sensuous desire, ill-will, laziness, impatience or distrust will it seriously hinder the individual’s efforts to better his or her circumstances, as well as contaminate the efforts of others to improve theirs. (from advayavada.org/#plan)