“Pain is certain, suffering is optional.” Buddha

What does the FTX debacle and the Buddha have to do with each other???

The Buddha 2500 years ago identified the 8 worldly winds and how they lead to our suffering as we get lost in samsara, the game of life, not correctly understanding the truth (dharma) of reality.

The 8 winds shows in their pairing the opposite of each other, and how we attach or push away one version or the other, as we try to control the uncontrollable (and forgetting all in this conditioned reality, arising from causes, is impermeant) and we identify with our temporary happiness or sadness, instead of understanding it's all nature, lawful, and we are but part of nature, not separate and distinct in a lasting way.  

The first pair of winds we in crypto land understand very well:

GAIN and LOSS

We see the change in our investments in crypto moment by moment, due to both the wonder and curse of constant access through technology, and feel a happiness as the price goes up, proving how smart we are, and greed (I'm going to get rich!) or more often perhaps in this crypto winter, wondering why we are even trying to make money in this industry and literally feeling like a loser.  This also applies to all aspects of our life: our health, our bodies, friends and loved ones, as well as things we buy and sell.

The Buddha tells us the grasping is what causes the suffering. As we see change as the constant, we are less blown around by these two winds and from a place of balance (called equanimity in Buddhism) we can more wisely make decisions that are right for us. I would guess for SBF seeing the losses in his hedge/trading firm, which he surely identified with (his baby?), led him to do things which hurt FTX and thousands of other people, as well as most likely being illegal (again we don't yet have all the facts, just speculation at this point...remember innocent till proven guilty...but it doesn't look good). 

PAIN and PLEASURE

As you can already see these winds combine together to create the storms in our life. We touched on the pain and pleasure of the price change of our investments, and understand this pain and pleasure can be mental, emotional and physical. We can see how we strive toward pleasing things, and reject things that we see as painful (and this includes uncomfortable emotions). The thing we forget is both of these winds change direction and eventually end. If we start eating a pint of ice cream we may feel strong pleasure; if we eat the whole thing in one sitting we may feel ill, or judge ourselves. And how often do we try to cover up our pain with pleasure? You can't even list all the addictions caused by this misunderstanding of the relationship of pain and pleasure, and not seeing clearly the root of suffering. 

These two winds greet us at birth and lead to much suffering if we don't see their true nature, and we avoid being aware of our minds reactions to them, often which is conditioned in early childhood, without us even being aware. We need enough space (meditation is one way to do this) to allow wisdom to arise and guide us in dealing with these very primordial winds, and using awareness to see the truth of their constantly changing reality. I was surprised to discover in meditation that pain (in my hip for example) was actually constantly changing and as I opened to it instead of feeling aversion, it dissipated and the suffering was gone. The pain could still be found but was not animated by my aversion to it, which was the suffering. And the same goes with pleasure, as we grasp onto a moment, feeling, person or thing, wisdom shows us, like trying to hold the wind in in our fingers, is delusional and will lead to suffering. It doesn't mean not to enjoy pleasure, just understand the truth of what it is and let it move of its own accord. 

PRAISE and BLAME, and FAME and DISREPUTE 

I'll put the last four winds together, for Sam has personalized all four of these over the last few years for us. It wasn't long ago he was viewed as the boy wonder, the billionaire genius, the saviour of crypto with his political connections and perhaps even of the world with his stated commitment to charity. Today it is impossible not hear all the blame, shame and personal attacks thrown his way (understandably). This was one of the motivations I had for writing this brief article, as it showed these four winds so clearly, and their true nature. Who knows but if Sam had taken to heart the fame and praise, identified with them and seen them as identifying who he was, it may have blinded him to doing the right thing when it mattered. Instead, they were but temporary winds which did not define the true reality of what we are. And for his sake I hope he learns from the mistakes he has made and also understands blame and shame also do not define the core of our being. 

Hopefully we can learn from SBF's demonstrations, but often for true wisdom to arise we need to work with our own delusions, and see clearly our greeds and aversions, and how they lead to suffering. Yet, if we can understand that these winds are not personal, that they have blown throughout time, and will continue to do so, we can be more skillful with our own thoughts and actions, and develop awareness into the our true nature and that of reality. 

May you be free of suffering