All and all the fact that we walk around with needlessly high levels of stress relating

to each other in inflated levels of fear. It seems that the reason that we, human beings,

live at this constant edge of suspense, fear, heightened aggression, heightened states of survival is because

even though the threats have been removed from our lives. We're not surrounded by the saber-toothed

tigers or the other tribes, you know, threatened to spear us at any moment. But what we are capable

on the other hand of doing is in transforming actually benign experiences

such as hearing that maybe they might be downsizing a workforce or changes in the stock market

or looks that are unfriendly on the street or a lack of connection by an attachment figure.

We can transform these benign experiences into events that trigger the fight-flight or freeze system

in the amygdala of the midbrain and that's what releases the cortisol. In other words, we can worry about stuff that's not threatening.

We can create threats out of thin air. Many of us can worry about events that are unforeseeably in the future.

Many of us can worry about our reputations or what other people think about us or about stuff that in no way affects our survival and yet it activates

literally the same survival mechanisms that create these neural states that are not positive for us.

The Buddha called this will to survive that's set, this heightened survivalist state,

which means the thirst to live at all costs, to survive at all costs, the kind of heightened sense that we're always under attack and always have to look after number one and always

have to worry what other people think about us and always have to stay and guard and be hyper-vigilant.

And it's a big important role in the Buddha's understanding of what creates our

constant thirst to acquire. The idea is the more threatened we feel, the more under

attack we feel, the more we are default set to do one out of two to isolate and hide and protect ourselves or avoid difficult situations or be we consume and accumulate and acquire and hoard things to amass enough solid material and monetary wealth and stuff that apparently makes us feel safe. Now why does accumulation

consuming, purchasing, buying, shopping, make us feel safe? Well it turns out that every time we swipe that credit card, push that buy button on Amazon,

even shop for a good bargain on the internet.

It releases dopamine.

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