Why is there suffering? Is there really a way out of it?

[Blessed2]

At some point when the childhood came to end, and the teenage years began, I noticed that there is suffering. I noticed that pretty much me and everyone around me was suffering, and that it seemed really hard - even impossible, to not suffer.

 

Grown ups around me, those who were supposed to be leading me and those who were supposed to teach me, were also suffering. No-one really seemed to be a 'true adult' - they seemed confused and lost, just like me. Yes, they were happy in some way, they weren't depressed or anything like that. But they still got angry, frustrated, sad, they were stressed out and fearful.

 

I wasn't, and still am not, satisfied with this. I want to be truly happy, eternally and completely happy. Without any suffering. Without any fear or doubt. I want true paradise.

 

It's not enough to me to be kinda happy, kinda enjoying my time (but still experiencing doubt and fear). There must be a better way. I am here, I exist, and there must be a way to exist without suffering. I cannot accept that this is as good as it gets - it doesn't seem logical to me. There must be a way. Otherwise this would be hell, and I don't understand how such hell could even exist, how and why would it come from nothing.

 

Here's a list of questions:

 

- Why is there suffering?

 

- Why am I in this world? Why is there planet earth, people, time and space and death? Why is there experience, sound, colour, shape, feeling?

 

- Is there truly a way out of suffering? Do you know this for certain?

 

- What is the way? What should I do in order to find paradise?

 

[Mandy]

If you took time and the notion of a separate self out of the equation of "not settling", what would "not settling" look like? 

[Phil]

13 hours ago, Blessed2 said:

- Why is there suffering?

There isn’t but it seems like there is. You mentioned, ‘I noticed me and pretty much everyone around me was suffering.’ Start inspecting more deeply.. is suffering felt or seen?

13 hours ago, Blessed2 said:

- Why am I in this world? Why is there planet earth, people, time and space and death? Why is there experience, sound, colour, shape, feeling?

It seems like you are but you actually aren’t. The first assumption there is that world is not a thought, but is perception or perceived. 

13 hours ago, Blessed2 said:

- Is there truly a way out of suffering?

Yes, but it’s not an escape room. The ‘way out’ of suffering is inspecting what it is, and isn’t. The ‘way out’, is in, until there is no more “in”. When there is no more in, there is no getting out. 

13 hours ago, Blessed2 said:

Do you know this for certain?

Yes, but not in the knowing of information or knowledge way. Cessation is not learned, knowledge known, remembering, etc. ‘Those’ are illusory.  

13 hours ago, Blessed2 said:

- What is the way? What should I do in order to find paradise?

Direct approach (non-opinion): That there is a way, because there is an I which could find a paradise, is the ignore-ance, therein, the chief assumption. 

Progressive approach (opinion of a man likely assumed to exist): Daily morning meditation, inspecting every thought, daily use of dreamboard & the emotional scale, self-love in every possible way, uplifting of all relationships, inseparable communion, retreats & trips. 

 

 

Greatest thread of all time. 🏆 

 

“You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he is expecting to wake up. Ironically, that’s not far from the truth… What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life, that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.” – Morpheus

[nurthur11]

Agree to all points. Great thread indeed!

[Silver]

@Blessed2 great. You way of thinking is the way of the freedom. In short: you have been programmed to torture yourself. You just have to stop to do it

In long: you have to understand all the mechanic of the ego, of the reality, of what are you, to stop to torture yourself. You have to loose any attachments and be free.

I hope you have the balls to do it. Anything else is a shit. Cut roads,. So if i were you, i would do without doubt

 

[DreaMT]

"Jenny was a dream in the mind of Hannah as she slept in her bed

Dreaming she was Jenny instead

Jenny pulls a book down from the shelf

She finds solace in the words, solace for a separate self

 

She hates suffering, but she thinks she loves its causes

Escapes suffering but she holds on to its causes"

 

[Aware Wolf]

On 6/10/2022 at 4:25 AM, Blessed2 said:

 

 

Here's a list of questions:

 

- Why is there suffering?

 

There's different perspectives here. Theists imo have a tougher time answering this. It's the whole question of if God is loving,  omniscient and all -powrful -- why doesn't HE do something about it? In Buddhism, there's Buddhists will say it's because of karma. I prefer to refer to Dependent Origination. That is, Suffering happens because of causes and conditions. 

 

 

On 6/10/2022 at 4:25 AM, Blessed2 said:

- Why am I in this world? Why is there planet earth, people, time and space and death? Why is there experience, sound, colour, shape, feeling?

 

This is a Mystery. You ha.ve to reflect and investigate for yourself. Maybe there's feelings and perception of sound because it's evolutionary advantageous. Maybe we live in a "just-so" universe because if say gravity was either weaker or stronger, planets wouldn't form and we wouldn't be here to ponder about it all. Maybe there is no Why.

 

The Buddha discouraged questions about whether the Universe was infinite or finite etc because these metaphysical questions were a forest of views, a thicket of views, and a fetter of views and not conducive to liberation.

 

Reflecting on why you are in this world and your place in it, is cool. What is important to you? What are your core values? What is, or might be, your mission statement? 

 

On 6/10/2022 at 4:25 AM, Blessed2 said:

- Is there truly a way out of suffering? Do you know this for certain?

 

Are there beneficial practices? Are there things one can do that will lead to happiness not in the hereafter, but in the here and now? 

 

Yes, I'd say there are. Do I know this for certain? -- Yes, based upon people who've suffered and came out the other side. 

 

On 6/10/2022 at 4:25 AM, Blessed2 said:

- What is the way? What should I do in order to find paradise?

 

 

There are 84K Dharma Doors, the Buddha said. There are different ways. 

 

You might investigate:

Stoicism

Lojong

The Direct Path

Mahamudra & Dzogchen

Satipatthana

Yoga

Kindness & Equanimity Practice

Advaita Vedanta