Matter is subject to the law of change. Without change, life would be deadly dull. The physical body is transient. When a person is identified with the body and sensual perception alone, fear arises. We then start imagining things we do not want and then fight against them. It is not the change that hurts us so much, but the resistance and holding on to the illusion.

All material things are limited and can therefore only give us limited and conditional joy. Striving for objects makes us restless and never lets us find peace. It is like holding a carrot in front of a donkey’s mouth. The donkey is constantly trying to reach for the carrot. We too try endlessly to follow our ideas of joy, but we can never reach it. And when we reach it, we realize after a short time that it was only temporary. In the end only despair is all that remains.