u/R36S_Clone_Boned

This is an idea I think is worth sharing. And it’s an idea that once it’s understood, will be accepted as true. It’s something that is so simple that it can actually be difficult to understand. The simplicity of it is what makes it easy to miss.

The idea comes from early Buddhist texts, and it speaks about suffering. Suffering specifically in the sense of dissatisfaction.

The thought goes like this.

If you want something that you will NEVER obtain, then you are suffering. And when I say never, I truly mean never. If you want something that you will never get, you’re suffering. That’s the suffering I’m talking about.

What it is you want that you will never get can vary tremendously. But let’s not overcomplicate things. If you want something that you will never get (apply your own want), then you are suffering.

Now, if you want to eliminate your suffering, then it’s simple. Don’t want the things you will never obtain.

But it’s natural for people to want more. At least a little more than what they currently have. Wanting more for ourselves is often the very thing that pushes us forward into obtaining things we never thought were possible.

But the principle I mentioned earlier still holds true.

If we obtain something, then it wasn’t something that was NEVER obtainable.

So the problem is that our wants and desires do not come with perfect “gauges” of what we will obtain. We don’t always know where that line is. And that’s where suffering arises.

When the gauge of our wants overshoots into what will NEVER be obtained, that overshoot is the precise amount of suffering we experience.

Again, the principle still holds.

If you want more than what you will EVER obtain, then you’ll suffer that overshoot.

If you’re still following the logic, stay with me, because this is where it gets very interesting. This is where Buddha had an enlightening experience surrounding suffering. He set out to solve suffering, if it was even possible to.

And I think we can all benefit from the fruit of that labor.

Whether you know it or not, it will not save you from death. It will not end your grief. But something important does change.

So when we want to end our suffering, when we want to be enlightened, when we want to be at peace, we must pay close attention to that “gauge” and how much we are overshooting what will never be obtained.

Because when you set out to end your suffering, that too is a gauge.

There is a certain part of your suffering that you will NEVER be able to end. And so long as you constantly overshoot, you will remain in suffering.

So this forces you to stop overshooting.

Meaning, to accept what suffering is actually present. To accept the suffering that you cannot resolve and will not EVER be able to.

And it’s precisely at that point that suffering ends.

That’s it.

That’s the entirety of the thought process. It runs deep, and there may be better ways to explain it, but that’s the concept.

And if you apply it to your particular suffering, no matter who you are or what it is, the principle applies.

Which is what made Buddha who he was and Buddhism what it is today.

Overarching principles of suffering. Not God, not the afterlife, not religious doctrine. Just a discussion on the truths of suffering, how we can understand it, and ways that we might be able to end it.

If these thoughts or ideas were new to you and helped at all, or even just gave you something to think about, please share your initial thoughts. I’d like to hear them.

Have a good one.

This is an idea I think is worth sharing. And it’s an idea that once it’s understood, will be accepted as true. It’s something that is so simple that it can actually be difficult to understand. The simplicity of it is what makes it easy to miss.

The idea comes from early Buddhist texts, and it speaks about suffering. Suffering specifically in the sense of dissatisfaction.

The thought goes like this.

If you want something that you will NEVER obtain, then you are suffering. And when I say never, I truly mean never. If you want something that you will never get, you’re suffering. That’s the suffering I’m talking about.

What it is you want that you will never get can vary tremendously. But let’s not overcomplicate things. If you want something that you will never get (apply your own want), then you are suffering.

Now, if you want to eliminate your suffering, then it’s simple. Don’t want the things you will never obtain.

But it’s natural for people to want more. At least a little more than what they currently have. Wanting more for ourselves is often the very thing that pushes us forward into obtaining things we never thought were possible.

But the principle I mentioned earlier still holds true.

If we obtain something, then it wasn’t something that was NEVER obtainable.

So the problem is that our wants and desires do not come with perfect “gauges” of what we will obtain. We don’t always know where that line is. And that’s where suffering arises.

When the gauge of our wants overshoots into what will NEVER be obtained, that overshoot is the precise amount of suffering we experience.

Again, the principle still holds.

If you want more than what you will EVER obtain, then you’ll suffer that overshoot.

If you’re still following the logic, stay with me, because this is where it gets very interesting. This is where Buddha had an enlightening experience surrounding suffering. He set out to solve suffering, if it was even possible to.

And I think we can all benefit from the fruit of that labor.

Whether you know it or not, it will not save you from death. It will not end your grief. But something important does change.

So when we want to end our suffering, when we want to be enlightened, when we want to be at peace, we must pay close attention to that “gauge” and how much we are overshooting what will never be obtained.

Because when you set out to end your suffering, that too is a gauge.

There is a certain part of your suffering that you will NEVER be able to end. And so long as you constantly overshoot, you will remain in suffering.

So this forces you to stop overshooting.

Meaning, to accept what suffering is actually present. To accept the suffering that you cannot resolve and will not EVER be able to.

And it’s precisely at that point that suffering ends.

That’s it.

That’s the entirety of the thought process. It runs deep, and there may be better ways to explain it, but that’s the concept.

And if you apply it to your particular suffering, no matter who you are or what it is, the principle applies.

Which is what made Buddha who he was and Buddhism what it is today.

Overarching principles of suffering. Not God, not the afterlife, not religious doctrine. Just a discussion on the truths of suffering, how we can understand it, and ways that we might be able to end it.

If these thoughts or ideas were new to you and helped at all, or even just gave you something to think about, please share your initial thoughts. I’d like to hear them.

Have a good one.

I’ve been reflecting on how different it is to understand uncertainty than to truly accept it. Intellectually, it’s easy to admit that we don’t have all the answers. Living as though that’s actually true is much harder. We often suffer because we mistake our assumptions for certainty, only to have life remind us how limited our perspective really is.

I’ve also wondered how much our outlook would change if we held open the possibility that this life is part of something larger. That isn’t the same as claiming to know what comes after death. It’s simply recognizing that uncertainty leaves room for hope just as much as it leaves room for fear.

For me, the most honest position is neither blind belief nor absolute skepticism. It’s the willingness to admit that I don’t know. Grief, loss, and anxiety seem to become heavier when I convince myself that my interpretation of reality must be the only one. When I let go of that certainty, I find a little more peace.

The more I think about it, the more it seems that what frightens us isn’t the unknown itself but the stories we attach to it. We imagine outcomes, project our fears onto the future, and then react to those mental constructions as though they were facts. Yet the future remains unwritten.

Maybe courage isn’t having certainty about what lies ahead. Maybe it’s accepting that we can’t know, while choosing to live with curiosity, humility, and hope anyway.

There are some experiences that can’t be talked about or communicated with language. The most we can do is point to them in indirect ways. I think kindness and compassion tend to be key indicators that show when someone has had deep experiences.

Came to an understanding that I thought was worth sharing. Plenty of people, including myself, have felt that science and spirituality conflict with one another. When that happens, a subconscious conflict can arise in which our hopes and fears that exist as a spiritual being start to conflict with our ability to interpret the world as it is.

What I’ve come to understand is this.

You don’t have to force science to confirm your spiritual hopes, and you don’t have to force your spiritual hopes to replace science. You can let each operate in its own domain, using science to understand how the world behaves, while using philosophy or spirituality to explore what it means to be part of that world.

Science does not prove or disprove spiritually, but there is an underlying feeling that to be scientific is to reject spirituality and that can make death very real and scary. As a human being reacting to that fear we naturally put walls up and either reject science and embrace spirituality or embrace science and endure the full brunt of death and experience our mortality intensely. I think a different path is to separate the two domains so that they don’t conflict in a way that creates turmoil or misguided thinking.

Understanding myself helps me better understand the larger systems I am a part of, because none of us can be fully understood in isolation from the networks and relationships that sustain and shape us. We are embedded within systems far larger than ourselves, and by examining our own experience and consciousness, we may uncover broader principles about how complex systems give rise to awareness. In this way, understanding my own experience provides insight into the larger reality from which I emerge and with which I remain connected.

To what extent can self understanding provide insight into the larger systems from which we emerge? Are there philosophical traditions that explore this idea further?