The difference is that the self-confrontation of the retreat brings into focus the distractions of an entire lifetime; indeed, in the teachings of Buddhism, the accumulated delusions of eons of rebirth. What is the source of these delusions? On a superficial level, it is the belief in the overriding importance of one's private predicament. This is no great revelation. All the great ethical and religious systems address the question of self and selfishness in one way or another.

But the unique spirit of Buddhism is to challenge the fervent belief in the reality of that predicament itself, especially its private nature. Buddhism does not deny existence, or that existence is problematic. The central teaching is that the belief in a private predicament, a focus of interests and attitudes called the self, is itself the seeding ground of the problems of existence.

Master Sheng-Yen tells us, "Where there is a body, there is vexation." Recognizing this poignant truth would lead one straightaway to the path of practice, if one's sense of bodily existence were keen enough. Practice to escape having a body? Of course not. Practice to learn that the possession of a body need not lead unalterably to delusion, minute after minute, day after day, life after life; practice to begin unravelling the threads of karma that knot us to our yearnings.

It is the phenomenon of having a body with sense faculties that is the root cause of vexation. And what is vexation? It is pain and suffering, but it is also pleasure and joy. At its most subtle level, vexation accompanies any change in the mind/body state, for it is the nature of the organism to avoid pain and adversity, and to prolong pleasure and comfort. As phenomena, our bodies undergo change constantly, so that subliminal as well as overt vexation are constant facts of life. Disease, unhappiness, and death may sometimes seem to come as chance events, but in reality are climaxes to hidden dramas long in the making. We are vexed even as we remain ignorant of vexation.