The Double Arrow: How Many Did You Take?

Saṃyuktāgama, fascicle 17: ordinary beings suffer like being hit by two poisoned arrows — the first is physical pain (the event itself), the second is mental suffering added by not understanding (worry, resentment, despair). The sage takes only the first. You get laid off — first arrow. You spiral: "why me," "my life is over," "I'm not enough" — second, third, fourth arrows. Most of your suffering isn't from the first arrow. It's from the ones you fire at yourself. Noticing the second arrow is where practice begins.