Every person, whether in small or great measure, lives by pursuing their own dreams, hopes, and ideals. Even in the midst of a weary and difficult reality, it is because of dreams, hopes, and ideals that people endure, persevere, and overcome. Even in desperate circumstances, it is that vague hope that someday things will come true which keeps them from collapsing, becoming the lever that upholds them with unceasing motivation, pride, and effort. In this way, dreams and hopes serve as a prop, so that the sorrows, frustrations, and burdens of life in a harsh reality instead become the very reason to burn their will and zeal.
But what is the true nature of human dreams and hopes? Every dream and hope of man is nothing but the product of bodily desires through the five senses—plans and joys woven in the illusions of fleshly pleasure. The happy endings and success stories drawn within vague imaginations of worldly desire and ambition are in truth hopes and ideals that can never exist. The illusion that if only one’s love, hope, and plans were fulfilled then all satisfaction, all happiness, and all ideals would also be realized, is but an inflated delusion, a mirage that vanishes like a bubble in the air. Even if one’s dreams and hopes are fulfilled, it does not mean that everything will be filled, completely satisfying, and perfectly joyful as imagined. What one desired as satisfaction, happiness, and joy turns out to be nothing more than illusions and fantasies divorced from reality. These satisfactions, joys, and pleasures are but fleeting sights and sounds, the enjoyment of food and drink, and bodily comforts and pleasures, all vanishing like bubbles in the air, fading into faint memories as passing moments of delight. True, unending satisfaction, lasting peace of heart, and eternal happiness are in fact impossible—mere delusions wrapped in human greed and illusion.
Think back to childhood. Everyone has experienced this at least once. A child longs for a toy or possession, believing that once they have it, they will lack nothing in the world. They beg their parents with all persistence until they finally get it. Yet when they obtain what they wanted, the expected satisfaction never arrives, and before long they lose interest. Even something obtained with much insistence soon loses its charm, and the child demands yet another toy. Likewise, all human desires and pursuits yield only momentary satisfaction and joy; they can never last, because desire without contentment continually arises. From childhood, rather than finding deep satisfaction in joy, people develop a stronger attachment to insatiable desires, which stir up greater delusions and ever more enticing fantasies. Thus the sense of accomplishment in fulfilling plans and hopes born of desire is always fleeting and temporary, soon giving way to new cravings, new mirages of sweetness, and new illusions. People become slaves of desire, dragged about by the temptations born of their own insatiable greed. Even if their hopes and plans were realized, no ideal life or family like the inflated dream in their imagination could ever exist. Only those who look back soberly on life can recognize that what they once thought would bring satisfaction was nothing but an inflated delusion. Thus, all people, in their struggle to grasp at cloud-like pleasures born of insatiable desire, become slaves of greed, weary and burdened, their lives more and more exhausted, their hearts increasingly empty.
Rather than expecting failure, people cling to positive obsession, believing that as long as they are diligent and faithful, everything will surely succeed, envisioning only rosy endings and happy success. Yet even if their dreams, hopes, and goals are achieved, the joy and satisfaction they anticipated are not found within them. Instead of true contentment, they are swept again into new desires, into sweet delusions and mirage-like hopes. Human hopes, ideals, and successes are thus nothing more than sweet illusions born of unceasing desire—delusions fabricated by insatiable greed. The expectation that when hopes and plans come true all will be gained is nothing but a sugar-coated deception of desire’s temptations. Every human being lives enslaved to these temptations, addicted to illusions in the name of hopes, ideals, and plans. In this way, all human greed and sin have long been rationalized under the noble labels of hope, ideals, happiness, love, and family. In other words, even the ruthless pursuit of one’s own success and satisfaction has been glorified and justified under the pretense like noble values in society and culture. And so today, people live enslaved to greed, addicted to the illusions and phantoms of fleshly pleasures that can never satisfy.
One thought on “2. Human Hope and Life”
I’m reading it little by little. I think I need to read more to understand how to break free from this kind of life.