Suffering is a result of clinging, aversion, and ignorance.

Our unproductive habits keep us out of the present.

Letting go of our story is an important step toward a fulfilled life.

We admitted we were powerless over alcohol and our lives had become unmanageable. —The First Step, Alcoholics Anonymous

In late January, I sat for a 10-day silent meditation retreat in northern India. On the first day of the retreat, we were introduced to the three causes of suffering according to the Buddha. Two and a half thousand years ago, he said (and I am not quoting here; this is what I recall) that there are three causes of suffering:

Since that retreat, I have been deeply pondering this because it intersects with my work as a performance psychologist and with my personal history of addiction and recovery. What did Buddha mean by clinging, aversion, and ignorance?

Clinging is simply what we're attached to: what we would like to happen, what we want things to be like. I want to be happy. I want to be rich. I want to be successful. But it can also be material things: I want that car. I want to live in that house. And it can be relationships. I want my children to be a certain way. I want my spouse to treat me better. I want my boss to be nicer.

Aversion is the opposite. It's when we don't want something. I don't like that it's cold outside. I don't like the way my co-worker speaks to me. I don't like that I have limited funds. I don't like this. I don't like that. It's anything we wish were different because we're not happy, satisfied, or fulfilled with what is.

Ignorance, the third cause of human suffering, is a........

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