If you possess sufficient understanding of our existence, you would know that it is not possible to live without suffering. Some suffering is unavoidable; and even necessary. (We are talking about affective suffering; or the suffering of the mind.) What then is the point of seeking truth and going for spiritual development, one might ask, frustrated.
The point is to avoid the avoidable. Not all suffering is unavoidable. And not all suffering is even necessary. Besides, who loves the life of confusion? That is enough point.
Suffering arises on the emotional front. But the fact that we have got a brain with capacity to reason, and that it helps us to understand the causes of, and overcome, the emotional pangs, is enough indication that we are supposed to be using it to protect ourselves of the suffering. What is truth-seeking but using our capacity to reason?
It’s like you can’t escape the heat of the Sun. But by understanding the nature of the fire you avoid getting burnt easily.
As long as our emotional side is alive (which should ideally be as long as we live) suffering will keep arising. And ideally, at the same time, we have to keep fighting it with the weapon called intellect, or rational mind. Truth-seeking or spiritual development means using and sharpening this weapon.
When you know why there’s suffering, you have pretty much conquered the avoidable lot. Then you only have to deal with the unavoidable. And that is anything but unbearable. In fact, to an aware person, such suffering is rather amusing. This will be hard to understand. But when you know perfectly why the suffering is, and that there’s no escape from it, you can but laugh at the situation. It’s even okay if we, then, don’t call that suffering “suffering” at all.
Truth-seeking often starts as a quest for perfection. I would say this quest for perfection isn’t futile just because perfection as one conceives it doesn't exist. Only he who seeks perfection on the first place can truly understand that it is not, and thereby come to terms with imperfection – which in a way is real perfection.
The point is to avoid the avoidable. Not all suffering is unavoidable. And not all suffering is even necessary. Besides, who loves the life of confusion? That is enough point.
Suffering arises on the emotional front. But the fact that we have got a brain with capacity to reason, and that it helps us to understand the causes of, and overcome, the emotional pangs, is enough indication that we are supposed to be using it to protect ourselves of the suffering. What is truth-seeking but using our capacity to reason?
It’s like you can’t escape the heat of the Sun. But by understanding the nature of the fire you avoid getting burnt easily.
As long as our emotional side is alive (which should ideally be as long as we live) suffering will keep arising. And ideally, at the same time, we have to keep fighting it with the weapon called intellect, or rational mind. Truth-seeking or spiritual development means using and sharpening this weapon.
When you know why there’s suffering, you have pretty much conquered the avoidable lot. Then you only have to deal with the unavoidable. And that is anything but unbearable. In fact, to an aware person, such suffering is rather amusing. This will be hard to understand. But when you know perfectly why the suffering is, and that there’s no escape from it, you can but laugh at the situation. It’s even okay if we, then, don’t call that suffering “suffering” at all.
Truth-seeking often starts as a quest for perfection. I would say this quest for perfection isn’t futile just because perfection as one conceives it doesn't exist. Only he who seeks perfection on the first place can truly understand that it is not, and thereby come to terms with imperfection – which in a way is real perfection.
'cause the search for truth shouldn't be polluted with the greed to be relieved from suffering...
ReplyDeleteHi Darshan,
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point that the more we understand the nature of suffering, the less we suffer. I like that a lot. I also like the idea that seeking an unattainable perfection is still worthwhile. What is perfection, anyway? Is there such a thing? I believe not; if there were, then there would be an end-point to the search, and there doesn't seem to be one. There is only ever greater expansion into the infinite...