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

SHORTY: Alcoholics Anonymous and the Higher Power

 This is a quote from a Roger Ebert article:

The important thing is that you don't consider yourself to be your own Higher Power, because your own best thinking found your bottom for you.  

referring to step 3 in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)

MORE:

I think the same think applies to how Buddhism works. Buddhism isn't doctrine and dogma that you must follow. It's pragmatic. And, ultimately, it does point at not believing too much that you, on your own, have all the answers figured out already.

It's not actually essential you believe the Buddha to be perfect or enlightened, especially not at the start. You just have to believe in the possibility that the way you've been going about things isn't the best and only way.

And then you work the path. AA has 12 steps focused on alcohol addiction. Buddhism has 8 that focuses on clinging and craving that, ultimately, hurts ourselves a great deal.

AA is for people who used to think that alcohol could solve their troubles or be a reliable path to happiness.

Buddhism is for people who used to think that money, fame, possessions, romance or anything/something external in the world could solve their troubles and be a reliable path to happiness. If only I had ____.

To start to see that those thoughts are a path of greed, anger, and delusion, in both small and big ways, is a start.