The will to survive incorporates a kind of natural sense of expectation or anticipation… a time-sensitive need. Although, a better word for this impulse may be survival ‘keenness’. It drives all living things to go forth, to hunt and gather. In a sense, this causes sorrow for all living things. (See Buddha’s Truths Pertain To All Life, p.545).
Human thought magnifies this natural impulse and adds to the sorrow we experience. Thought enables us to dwell on expectations concerning both our hopes for the future and our regrets of the past.
Chapter 71 puts forth the only way I see to ameliorate this issue… Realizing I don’t know is better; not knowing this knowing is disease. Alas, faithfully believing that we know what we know is irresistible.
Thus, to actually treat this disease requires first identifying the thinking side of survival ‘keenness’ and then downplaying its role in your life as best you can. Simply put, Realizing I don’t know works.