Mad Libs for the Craving Mind

For a while, I've used the phrase "if only ____, then everything would be great" as a prime example of delusion. I.e., delusion as part of the trifecta: Greed, Aversion/Anger, Delusion.

But today I found that the Buddha actually gave the formula in the suttas, AN 4:199. He gave 36 of them.

• 18 craving verbalizations, and
• 18 craving verbalizations dependent on what is external

1. I am.
2. I am here.
3. I am like this.
4. I am otherwise.
5. I am bad.
6. I am good.
7. I might be.
8. I might be here.
9. I might be like this.
10. I might be otherwise.
11. May I be.
12. May I be here.
13. May I be like this.
14. May I be otherwise.
15. I will be.
16. I will be here.
17. I will be like this.
18. I will be otherwise.

The 18 "dependent on externals" adds "because of this" to each of the above phrases.

Take the word "this" and making it a fill in the blank, we have the Buddha's mad libs for a craving mind.

• I am ___
• I am ___ because of ____.
• May I be like  ____.
• May I be like _____ because of ____.
• etc.

My brain spends so much time cycling through these 36 templates. The templates are phrased a bit archaically, but they capture the verbalization of cravings, i.e. cravings put into words. In their raw form, there are three: sensual pleasures, becoming, and non becoming. Or in casual, everyday terms, "gimme what feels good", "gimme that", and "get rid of that". 

Meditation changed a bunch when I shifted from wanting to change what I am (I want to be happier), to just looking at what Jack Kornfield has called the pasta factory of the mind, endlessly churning out thoughts like pasta. Different shapes, all made from the same craving dough.

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SOURCE:

Reading from: https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/OnThePath/Section0008.html#sec126

 “And which craving is the ensnarer that has flowed along, spread out, and caught hold, with which this world is smothered & enveloped like a tangled skein, a knotted ball of string, like matted rushes and reeds, and does not go beyond transmigration, beyond the planes of deprivation, woe, & bad destinations? These 18 craving-verbalizations dependent on what is internal and 18 craving-verbalizations dependent on what is external.

“And which are the 18 craving-verbalizations dependent on what is internal? There being ‘I am,’ there comes to be ‘I am here,’ there comes to be ‘I am like this’ … ‘I am otherwise’ … ‘I am bad’ … ‘I am good’ … ‘I might be’ … ‘I might be here’ … ‘I might be like this’ … ‘I might be otherwise’ … ‘May I be’ … ‘May I be here’ … ‘May I be like this’ … ‘May I be otherwise’ … ‘I will be’ … ‘I will be here’ … ‘I will be like this’ … ‘I will be otherwise.’ These are the 18 craving-verbalizations dependent on what is internal.

“And which are the 18 craving-verbalizations dependent on what is external? There being ‘I am because of this [or: by means of this],’ there comes to be ‘I am here because of this,’ there comes to be ‘I am like this because of this’ … ‘I am otherwise because of this’ … ‘I am bad because of this’ … ‘I am good because of this’ … ‘I might be because of this’ … ‘I might be here because of this’ … ‘I might be like this because of this’ … ‘I might be otherwise because of this’ … ‘May I be because of this’ … ‘May I be here because of this’ … ‘May I be like this because of this’ … ‘May I be otherwise because of this’ … ‘I will be because of this’ … ‘I will be here because of this’ … ‘I will be like this because of this’ … ‘I will be otherwise because of this.’ These are the 18 craving-verbalizations dependent on what is external.

“Thus there are 18 craving-verbalizations dependent on what is internal and 18 craving-verbalizations dependent on what is external. These are called the 36 craving-verbalizations. Thus, with 36 craving-verbalizations of this sort in the past, 36 in the future, and 36 in the present, there are 108 craving-verbalizations.

“This, monks is the craving that’s the ensnarer that has flowed along, spread out, and caught hold, with which this world is smothered & enveloped like a tangled skein, a knotted ball of string, like matted rushes and reeds, and does not go beyond transmigration, beyond the planes of deprivation, woe, & bad destinations.” — AN 4:199

By Thanissaro Bhikkhu / Ajahn Geoff. As part of https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/OnThePath/Section0008.html

his free ebook: On the Path