Why is present moment awareness such a powerful antidote to suffering? The answer is connected to the reason that we suffer in the first place. Suffering is the energy that pulls us away from the current state of affairs. It says in effect, “this place is not good enough lets go some place else.” The trick is that the suffering does not come from the state of affairs. It comes from the energy that pulls us out of the state of affairs. It’s the desire to go some place else that’s the problem, not the characteristics of the place we’re in.
This paradox seems kind of silly when we think about it. If all we have to do is eliminate the craving for something more, why is it so difficult to avoid suffering? Craving is the effect of many repetitions of following the conditions of the mind wherever they lead. It has considerable momentum behind it so it is not going to go away just be cause we want it to. What we need to do is to begin to build up the opposite kind of momentum and this requires training.
As we begin to train, the suffering that comes from the craving to do something else will still be active. If we reflect honestly, we can see that the present moment by itself is actually good enough. We have many things to be grateful for but this reality can sometimes get overpowered by the energy that pulls us out of the present moment. When this occurs we need to recognize what is happening and how we are afflicted by craving rather than to blame the current situation for our discomfort. If we do this on a repeated basis, the craving will begin to subside and we can be present with all of the wonderful things that our lives already have to offer.