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To avoid suffering is not to fight against it or want to fight against it. Not to fight against it and not to want to fight against it means to be without intention. Only if there is no intention can there be “no desire to avoid suffering”.
Things that we fear or want to avoid often happen to us. When we have fear, we lose self-control. When we lose self-control, we lose creativity. If creativity is lost, will is also lost, as well as ability; we become weak in the face of others’ criticism-- good or bad -- and we think that what we do is wrong.
When we lose self-control, we do not know the direction we are going, and we are incapable of making decisions about what should be done or not be done. We become weak. Weakness will cause us not to complete our own tasks and will make us do things others want us to do because we feel subservient to them. We will have an inferiority complex and we will not dare to express ourselves or to use our abilities. We will easily become subservient to others. When we do not know for sure if we are right or wrong, we will do what others do even when we are not sure if they are right or wrong. We only follow them because we think they are better.
When we serve a person or a group but are not sure if they are right or wrong, we do it only with reluctance and do not use all of our energy to serve that group or that person.
When we are in self-control and know whether what we do is right or wrong, we will succeed in whatever we do, big or small, because we will use all our will, energy, and ability to do the task or serve the cause we have chosen.
