The Buddha was clear that the meaning and purpose of life as a human being is to throw off the chains of mental slavery from which we all suffer. That is not easy to do so we are all susceptible to distractions that would take us away from this goal. Hopefully these next few paragraphs will convince you that it is both possible and necessary to liberate yourself from suffering.
There are three ways that we work towards liberation from greed, anger and delusion. The first is that we avoid doing things that harm other people or cause them to suffer. The Buddha encouraged everyone to abstain from killing each other, stealing from each other, committing adultery, telling lies, using harsh speech, gossiping, back biting and slandering each other and consuming intoxicants such as drugs and alcohol that cause heedlessness. Following these common sense yet profound guidelines ensures that our minds do not become distracted by regret.
The second way we work towards liberation is by building up good karma or “merit” as Buddhists commonly refer to it. Merit is not that hard to obtain. You gain merit whenever you ease suffering for another being or help him or her to be happy. There are countless ways that we can help each other, some paid others are unpaid and still others involving giving money, food, shelter, clothing or medicine. All have the common feature of generating happiness both in the receiver and the giver. The giver has the added benefit of gaining the habit of doing good which means that she can experience that happy feeling more often. It also means that her mind will be more conducive to insight meditation which is the third and most important way that we work towards freedom.
When a person has enough merit (i.e., he has avoided causing harm to other beings and he has given of himself to help others), he will become interested in and eventually encounter insight meditation. This result occurs because of the habit forming nature of the mind: a person who has obtained merit naturally looks for ways to obtain more. Insight meditation is the ultimate merit making activity because it leads to the destruction of greed, anger and delusion which are the poisons of the mind that keep us from accumulating good karma. When we practice insight meditation correctly by noting what is happening in this present moment, happiness will be inevitable for us because it directs the power of our good karma towards overcoming the chains of attachment. Now that your good karma has connected you with insight meditation, it’s time for you to take the next step and see for yourself.