#channel/bodhi-light-teachings  In Buddhism, we don't talk about happiness the way ordinary people do. If you want to have a real flavor of happiness, you should be thinking about eliminating your own suffering. But most people don't understand where that suffering actually starts. Your ego is a true source of your suffering. Furthermore, what people don't realize is that they harbor these negative thoughts, selfish thoughts, mean thoughts, arrogant thoughts, all those types of thoughts that's harming you is from your ego. That whining person there is your ego, by the way. The self-serving, the self-indulgence part of you that needs to be pleased, prefers the easy way out, and get away with things. So, how do you kill the ego? All we have to do is not listen to your whining. This part sounds simple, but is extremely hard to accomplish. In fact, the Buddha said to vanquish the ego is more difficult than defeating an army of 1 million soldiers. Because ordinary people don't feel they have to yield to other people. They consider yielding to be losing and being weak and so forth. But being virtuous requires you to choose to take a loss in order for others to benefit. And when you yield, it's because you're stronger or will make you stronger. If you get rid of your ego, then there's no ego left to be afflicted. There's no ego left to be hurt, and no ego left to feel arrogant, to feel that you are important. And that's a freedom you get from practicing Chan Buddhism.