Ask a room of Buddhists what they want, and the answers come quickly: peace, calm, stillness, freedom from suffering. Everyone nods. It seems too obvious to question. People read books on mindfulness, practise meditation, and complain about how stressful and complicated personal and family life has become. Every Buddhist claims that peace is our highest aspiration. They even make a formal aspiration at the end of every wholesome deed: "May this kusala kamma be a condition for the realisation...

Are you constantly overthinking? Does your mind rarely feel at rest? Do you carry an invisible burden wherever you go? Does it often feel like it's always you against the world? Do you find yourself wondering why your efforts aren't appreciated? Do you wonder why life isn't treating you fairly? If so, consider this possibility: Perhaps you are thinking about yourself too much. If you pause and observe your mind carefully, you may find that much of your suffering is not caused by events...

In the Upakkilesa Sutta, the Buddha recounted how, while he was still a Bodhisatta, subtle imperfections arose during his development of deep concentration and the Divine Eye. These imperfections did not arise because his practice was incorrect, but because the mind had not yet fully learned to relate wisely to increasingly refined meditative experiences. He then gave Venerable Anuruddha guidance on how to overcome the subtle mental impurities (upakkilesa) that can obstruct (1) the...