When we have a multitude of intractable problems, we might encounter a desire to escape. In these instances, the desire for peace can be overwhelming. Why can’t we achieve the peace we so greatly desire?
The Buddha described the web of suffering we endure as a tangled mess. When we pull on one vine to loosen it, another one tightens. Sometimes we can pull so hard we see one of the vines loosening considerably only to later discover we have bound ourselves equally as tight some where else.
The solution to the problem couldn’t be simpler. If we stop tugging on the vines they will eventually loosen by themselves because more slack is added when they grow. It’s our activity of pulling on them that keeps them tight. Without that, we would eventually be able to just walk out after they get so loose there is nothing holding them together.
Therefore what we need to do is figure out how to resist the temptation to struggle and grasp for a way out. That can be achieved by training in mindfulness. Whenever we experience the desire to grasp and struggle in a way that will make our problems worse, we can learn how to observe that desire without giving in to it. We can also observe that the feeling of being trapped in our difficulties is not insurmountable.
Freedom from suffering can be experienced even before we are completely liberated from the dangers of the world. We can taste freedom as soon as we realize that there is a way out that works. Even observing a small amount of progress in the right direction can be enough to give us dramatic relief and a peaceful abiding in the here and now.