Gain and loss is the third pair of the 8 worldly concerns from which we loosen our attachment. Gain and loss are relative. Nothing is black and white. Say we win the lottery. We become excited and overjoyed, thinking we are the happiest person alive. Then reality sets in. We find out we have to pay huge taxes. Soon we discover so many “long lost friends!” Day and night people knock on our doors, and pop-ups appear on the internet trying to sell anything and everything under the sun. Pretty soon we start regretting having won the lottery. Similarly, loss is relative, as nothing is black and white. Say someone steals our car. How are we going to take the kids to school and pick them up after school? How will I get to work and back home? Maybe my insurance will get me a rental car. Remembering all the hassles with the lost car, I begin to feel a little relieved. After bringing that car into the repair shop no fewer than 4 times, the noise from the engine sounding like the car was going to explore was never diagnosed nor fixed. Now I remember wanting to get rid of that car. Not only is everything relative, but nothing is absolute. There is really no lottery, and no car! These are just figments of our imagination created by our overactive mind!
