When we’re leading basically good and wholesome lives, it is easy to become complacent about our present circumstances. But even under these favorable conditions, we still have many moments when greed, hatred, or delusion arises. We see something beautiful and we want it; our minds are pulled toward it. Or perhaps we see somebody doing something we don’t like, and the mind is suddenly filled with judgment and aversion. Or we may be tired, and the mind simply dulls out in delusion. So the first of the four great endeavors is recognizing the enduring power of these latent defilements,
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