Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness.

Today I'm going to talk about

transcending the craving mind.

So this human mind that we have is always

wanting more and it tends to get caught up

in believing that if we can just acquire

this next thing, then we'll have it all

together and we'll finally be happy.

Maybe you've noticed this

tendency inside of yourself.

And maybe you've also noticed that

this cycle never stops, right?

Once you get what you thought

would make you happy, the mind just

starts wanting the next thing, and

you're never satisfied for too long.

So in order to find a more fulfilling

and meaningful way to live, you

really need to find a way to transcend

the constant cycles of craving.

And the first step to doing that is

just understanding the craving mind.

So the reason our mind is always

wanting more, has to do with evolution.

In the last 200,000 years of

human evolution, our ancestors who

lived mostly as hunter-gatherers.

Their life was really difficult and

dangerous and resources were scarce.

So they needed every survival

advantage that they could possibly get.

So the mind would always be

saying, you need more food, you

need better weapons, more water,

better shelter, better clothing.

More, more, more.

So back then, this was a really

advantageous way to think for survival.

But these days we live in a really

different world, but the mind that we

inherited still operates in much the

same way as it was in the caveman days.

It's still telling us that we need more.

And no matter how much we ever

get, it never seems like enough.

So if we can think about the craving

pattern in the mind as being like

a little bit of an outdated piece

of software, that's still running

inside you, then we can understand

that the mind's just operating as

it was, just as a survival machine.

I think this is something we

need to understand because it

can really get us caught up.

When we think that our comforts

and luxuries and pledges are

sometimes, or somehow rather going

to add up to long term happiness.

It's just not a reality.

It's not the way that the mind works.

So in order to make room for

lasting fulfillment in our lives,

we really need to relate to

the craving mind in a new way.

You need to learn how to recognize craving

thoughts and feelings when they arise.

And just see them as part of the

conditioning of the mind, rather

than something we have to act upon.

Then once we can do that, we can

find a true sense of inner freedom.

It's not that we need to

get rid of our cravings.

They're probably always going to

arise, but if we can just recognize

them for what they are and not buy

into them, then that's the way that

we can transcend the craving mind

and find contentment in our lives.

So as always, thank you for your

practice and your presence here with us.

And now let's settle in

for today's meditation.