Happiness and suffering are states of mind and so their main causes are NOT to be found outside the mind.
We MUST learn how to control our mind.
Everything including the world itself is created by mind. There is no creator other than the mind.
We are like servants of our mind. We can reverse this and gain control over our mind. Only then shall we have real freedom.
We NEED to put Buddha’s teachings, the DHARMA into PRACTICE.

DESIRE
What is the real nature of our problems? What are their main causes?
Our problems do not exist outside our mind. Real nature of our problems is our unpleasant feelings (part of our mind) arising from our delusions of attachment and self-grasping ignorance. Therefore these delusions are the main cause of our problems.
When our wishes are not fulfilled we experience unhappiness/depression, we get angry and create more problems.
We lose a friend, job etc we experience pain because of strong attachment or strong attachment to our own views e.g. when someone opposes them we experience inner problem of unpleasant feelings e.g. my religious views.

SUFFERING
Sutra of the 4 Noble Truths
You should know sufferings: use this life for the freedom and happiness of next life
You shouls abandon origins: our delusions of attachment, anger and self-grasping ignorance
You shouls attain cessations
You should practise the path

Delusions are called ORIGINS because they are the source of all sufferings and main cause of all our problems.

e.g. self-grasping – mistakenly believes ourself and others to be truly or inherently existent. This is an ignorant mind which believes and grasps at “I”/”mine” – we develop attachment to those things we like and hatred for those we do not like!

Taking analogy of a poisonous tree: the trunk is our self-grasping, the branches are our other delusions and the fruits of the tree are our sufferings!

CESSATIONS
We should attain the permanaent cessation of suffering.

THE PATH
inner path, a spiritual path that leads us to the pure happiness of liberation and enlightenemnt

MORAL DISCIPLINE
Abandoning inappropriate actions, maintaining pure behaviours and performing every action correctly with a virtuous motivation.

TRAINING IN HIGHER CONCENTRATION
Preventing distractions (see Venerable Tcharchen’s advise on Vimeo video) and concentrating on virtuous objects.

TRAINING IN HIGHER WISDOM
Meditating on wisdom realising emptiness, motivated by renunciation.