r/TheUntetheredSoul

How much do we know about what we truly resist? I paused several times during the reading of this chapter to ask myself: what is it that I am resisting, and what are my problems? I think Singer has a lot of wisdom in stating not to resist the current moment, not to attach ourselves to things beyond our control, and not to worry about the past nor the future (too much 😉). I do think a lot of suffering is from some kind of resistance. But I still struggle to understand the implication on the practical world. Take the French Revolution, a clear act of complete and utter resistance to what was. The poor were suffering at the hands of the aristocrats, and resistance happened. I wonder what Singer would say about this... would he be indifferent to the revolution (i.e. it matters not that the rich were abusing their power)? Should we have let Hitler colonize the world? Does it make a difference? Does anything matter? Is the spiritually liberated person truly ok with whatever happens? And why does it look a lot like indifference and not caring? Does the state of the world not matter?

I think a lot of the examples in this book are simply too basic and the more difficult questions are never addressed. I have no stress/anxiety in my life. I only fear unreality. So what am I resisting? I wish I knew. I am tired of being trapped, limited, disconnected, and existing in my head.

I'm not saying Singer is wrong with anything he states in this chapter; I may very well be resisting something that I'm completely unaware of (after all, the body literally resists infections via the immune system; so resistance is actually built into us - and thankfully). It's just not enough again. Maybe I'm the 1 in a million case that's too complicated for this book. I don't know. But as I'm nearing the end, it's becoming less likely that I'll ever find that Self.

Edit: Maybe someone can answer me with this simple story. I have an uncle whose wife (my aunt) decided to leave him after 15 years of marriage and 2 children. She was no longer in love she claimed, and had found a new boyfriend. My uncle resisted, and fought for months to have her back, to which he succeed. Both my aunt and uncle are very happy today, and both are thankful that my uncle fought for them (as are the children, and a lot easier for all of them because split custody is such a headache). Now I know the spiritual path it seems lies in acceptance and non-resistance, and furthermore, that happiness is something you have inside and not something you seek in external events. So perhaps if my uncle was more "spiritual" he would have let her go and been happy either way and found a new life today. Maybe he would never have found such a strong connection to another women, or maybe he would have. My question: does anything matter? was my uncle wrong for chasing his wife back? Singer seems to imply he should not have. I don't know, it all seems so arbitrary what we do if nothing is worth resisting. Are we not neglecting our very desires? Is it so wrong to want things in this life? Like I'm sure Singer sometimes really craves a pizza, but he's tired, but will still go out and drive to get it because he wants that pizza. Why do I struggle so much to understand the message? To me it seems so situational. So contextual. Should I not seek chimio treatments if I wake up with cancer tomorrow? sigh