Your Greatest Enemy in Life is Not Someone Else, but What You Like

**SUMMARY:** A teaching by Venerable Thích Chân Quang reminds us to be careful with our preferences, as out of ten things we like, nine are often wrong. Our likes themselves can be our enemy on the path of practice.

There was a very famous woman in England who once taught her child: "Listen to the voice of your heart and you will never be wrong." But in the end, her life was full of mistakes—because she always followed what her heart liked. So are the things we like truly mistaken? Let us listen to the teachings of Venerable Thích Chân Quang in this Lunar New Year talk to find the answer.

**Ten Likes, Nine Mistakes – Why?**

In this world, everyone has many preferences. Some likes are formed by past karma, some arise from intuition, some stem from personality, and some come from wisdom. But Venerable Chân Quang warns:

"Out of ten likes, almost nine are wrong. Remember this in your life: use ten of your own likes, and nine of them are wrong."

For example, someone meets a handsome man and likes him immediately, only to have their life fall apart later. Or someone thinks they like being a doctor, but their studies are full of difficulties; when they switch to another field, they find true happiness. Therefore, our preferences can be a form of deception.

**Four Factors Shaping Your Preferences**

The Venerable explains that our preferences are governed by four things:

Wisdom: An intelligent person often likes advanced things, while a person with little wisdom tends to like foolish things.

Morality: A moral person likes to help and care for others; an immoral person likes to harm others.

Past Karma: Debts of gratitude and karmic bonds from past lives make us like people and situations we were once entangled with.

Collective Psychology: Seeing others liking something, we also rush to like it.

He tells a story of a girl in a past life who died by the roadside. One person covered her with a garment, another properly buried her. In this life, she loved the one who covered her for a time, but married the one who buried her. The Venerable teaches:

"Our likes are dependent on our past karma."

Thus, sometimes we find ourselves liking a person or a thing without a clear reason—perhaps it is the force of past karma pulling the strings.

**Your Greatest Enemy is What You Like**

He speaks directly:

"Your enemy is what you like. Please remember this for me."

Remember: whenever you have a preference, the enemy has arrived. For example, during the Lunar New Year, someone invites you out drinking, and you like the idea. But if you choose to go to the temple to listen to the Dharma, you might be choosing purity. Usually, the enemy—our foolish preferences—invites and leads us away more easily, causing us to make mistakes.

The Venerable also reflects on the meaning of freedom:

"What is freedom? Freedom is never wanting to do evil."

Do not think that doing whatever you wish is freedom. That is merely enslaving yourself to your ego and your preferences.

**How to Not Be Led by Preferences**

A person who knows how to practice is not someone without preferences, but someone who observes their own likes and restrains them. When a wave of liking arises, shine the light of awareness upon it. The Venerable teaches:

"Only when you no longer like anything at all will you then do what needs to be done. Action comes from necessity, not from liking anymore."

To achieve this, we need to practice meditative concentration. Meditation helps us remain calm, control our urges, and gradually become free from their influence. The Venerable mentions that although he has musical talent, he is not obsessed with music—he only composes to educate and venerate the Buddha, not to satisfy his own emotions.

**A Pure Inner Peace – True Happiness**

Many people seek happiness through eating, playing, shopping... but these are merely fleeting emotions. He says:

"I do not need the emotion of happiness, I do not need it. What do I need then? I need a pure inner peace. I do not need the emotion of happiness. I seek the happiness of inner purity, of being without fault."

When we are no longer led by mistaken preferences, our mind becomes pure. We then do everything illuminated by wisdom. A person like this begins to possess the qualities of a saint, and their blessings from merit will grow with each lifetime.

Be careful with what you like. From today, whenever a wave of liking arises in your mind, pause and ask yourself: "Is this right? Where will it lead me?" Do not let emotions rule. Let wisdom speak. When we learn to control our preferences, we will find true peace and happiness on the path of practice.