In the video, God and Buddha, Deepak Chopra lists the five causes of human suffering, and suggests that they are related to the same concept - the recognition of the truth. He says these five cause, or “kleshas,” of human suffering are: not knowing the true nature of reality…clinging to, or grasping, or holding on to that which is ephemeral, transitory, illusionary, insubstantial, and therefore not real…aversion to, revulsion to, fear from or fear of that which is insubstantial, transitory, illusionary, ephemeral, not real…identification with a false and constricted and habitual sense of self which we call ego…and the fear of death.
All five causes can be summed up in the first klesha, because they all deal with “not knowing the true nature …show more content…
Human beings are tied to the things that keep them in an endless Karmic circle, and trapped in the web of life. People’s lives are filled with things that are illusions; things that separate them from understanding the Truth. These things are emotional, physical, or monetary wants; fears; work or personal expectations; etcetera. From a spiritual perspective, all these expectations and hopes will bring them unhappiness. Suffering is inevitable because one’s expectations and desires are inevitably endless and unquenchable. Once people gain what they wanted or desired, their wants and desires change or increase, and then they experience a sense of disappointment. For example, the more money people make, the more they want nicer things like cars, houses, and other possessions. The more expensive things that are owned, the more it costs to keep these things in decent condition; therefore, more money is needed to just maintain one’s lifestyle. This causes one to cycle from disappointment to disappointment, for one’s motivation is to satisfy the ego and “its three-fold desires of the body, mind and intellect” (Hindu gods PowerPoint,