Fooling Ourselves
By E. Raymond Rock Have you ever noticed how we fool ourselves? Its quite an amazing thing. We think, Boy, If I can only achieve this or get that, then Ill be set, but we are never quite set. Even if we are fortunate enough to achieve it all, it is never enough, and we remain unhappy in our relentless pursuit of success. We think that our beliefs or ideals have insured us happiness, but when we look at the realities of life, this is but an illusion. We always need more, and a pattern develops, but seldom are we astute enough to catch the pattern, we are too busy pursuing those things that we should know by now will never make us happy, except perhaps, for a fleeting moment. The pattern that evolves has to do with our minds, minds that remain unfulfilled internally no matter the magnitude of our outward accomplishments, and fulfilling this mind is the answer to the suffering of humanity. And since we attempt to become fulfilled only from outside sources, which we can never get enough of, we must selfishly take from others. Life becomes a struggle; its us against them, with endless conflicts regardless of our professed beliefs. We try to solve the conflicts by manipulating life so that it satisfies us, but we only set ourselves up with a daunting, impossible task. Why we do this day in and day out, generation after generation, is the answer to humanities crimes against itself. Think about it; when were we ever satisfied to the point of saying, There! Ive done it! Im finished, and now I never have to do anything again! It sounds silly doesnt it? Life is action, and the action never stops; relaxing is not in the cards. So to believe that you can do a practice, or just “believe, or follow a path that will solve this constant struggle with life is fooling ourselves. Some might say, Of Course I understand life — its simply a matter of survival and taking care of our own! But this is not living, this is constant strife. So if we can neither get away from our struggles in life or accept that life is a constant struggle, what do we do? What we do is stop doing! This is the point in our lives, a most difficult passage, where we attempt to do the most difficult thing possible to stop doing. When we dont have answers to our struggles, we usually seek security. When we succumb to a belief system and rely on others to tell us what to do, or rely on our money, or our ideology, then we are lost for sure. Then there is no more inquiry into our struggles as we psychologically believe that we have somehow transferred all of our discontent to a savior, or a system, or something that will bail us out. When we hide in our illusions in this manner, and not face life, we fall fast asleep. Understanding requires courage to unflinchingly face the suffering humankind is up against, moment to moment, until a passion builds to escape our circumstances. And to escape our circumstances requires both understanding, and enough courage not to hide from the facts. The first thing we must do is become inactive, not proactive; that is, we must accept the fact that as human beings, we are destined to suffer in many ways, and that life, itself, is not satisfactory. We dont give up and commit suicide, because suicide will just land us back into our same circumstances the next time around. No, we must remain with our suffering and face it until the suffering turns into humility and compassion. Only then does a possibility exist where life becomes something other than suffering. Then is there an opportunity to transcend life and experience another dimension, another Reality that will satisfy us in ways never imagined. Just remember, nothing is wrong with you if you discover that life, in fact , sucks. Actually, it is an indication that you are evolving. Dont listen to those still stuck in the old ways; their shrill voices are becoming obvious and not relevant anymore. Instead, keep these people in mind: John 12:25. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. The Buddhas first Noble Truth: Life is Suffering Copyright E. Raymond Rock 2007. All rights reserved E. Raymond Rock of Fort Myers, Florida is cofounder and principal teacher at the Southwest Florida Insight Center, http://www.SouthwestFloridaInsightCenter.com His twenty-eight years of meditation experience has taken him across four continents, including two stopovers in Thailand where he practiced in the remote northeast forests as an ordained Theravada Buddhist monk. His book, A Year to Enlightenment (Career Press/New Page Books) is now available at major bookstores and online retailers. 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