There's just too much misery and suffering in the World--which was actually the reason--I left religions, and for sure we know, no matter which route you take- religious or not-it seems, there will never be a world free of suffering and pain.
3
Enjoy being online again!
Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.Create your free account
8 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Minimize suffering and maximized happiness. It is mainly in your control.
Castlepaloma
Level 8
Jan 12, 2018
0
We would be nothing without shortages and suffering. Our strength is the Humanity: to overcome...not to bow and pray. What good does that do? It takes the mind away from the ability to "help thyself".
Jack-of-scythes
Level 6
Jan 11, 2018
0
pray?
So now that you reached that conclusion...
GipsyOfNewSpain
Level 9
Jan 11, 2018
1
yes
@0752532706 Yes.
Unfortunately you're right-that is reality, however Humanist movements can help make the world a better place to live in. We need to think positively.
sassygirl3869
Level 9
Jan 11, 2018
0
For how long have we had these humanistic groups?
My late partner (a lifelong atheist from Iran) understood that. She also realized since leaving Iran then Texas and coming to the NW her life was mostly joy and pleasure. In the end she had a brain tumor and there was no suffering whatsoever and she was surrounded by the community and her kids. She welcomed this because she knew how lucky she was. Suffering is a part of life but there can be joy and pleasure as well.
JackPedigo
Level 9
Jan 11, 2018
2
There's still unspeakable misery and suffering in US, only that people in US pretend NOT to feel it. But it knocks them over and over--time to time...eventually they become so helpless like most of us.
@0752532706 I agree but feel there are still things we can do, like spreading information and taking stands. One of the hardest things I have found is to become open to new and controversial ideas and challenge others. Sometime things we do actually makes the problems worse. The old saying "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" applies all too often.
Perhaps that is why Buddhists think we need to rid ourselves of desire, which they view as beign at the root of all suffering.
People generally have many varying levels of an ability to empathize. There will always be sociopaths who lack or mostly lack that ability, and who will be a cause of suffering for others.
snytiger6
Level 9
Jan 11, 2018
2
@snytiger6 you're close. The system I study teaches that ignorance (of the ultimate ground of being, that all is one) leads to the idea of separateness, then that leads to labelling things, then that leads to having likes and dislikes, then that leads to attachment, then that leads to suffering. (Basically. I'm simplifying and mangling it from memory; it's a 12-link chain.). It's not quite as simple as "get rid of desire", although there's nothing technically wrong with phrasing it that way. It's more about understanding how things work and being intentional with your awareness. Once you get a grip on the underlying ideas, you're more apt to start seeing things as--as they say--"skillful" or "unskillful". The whole path is about living as skillfully as possible which includes understanding that pain is inevitable, but suffering is a choice.
@stinkeye_a I guess my exposure was just the Americanized "fast food" version.
I would suspect hat the entire philosophy is much more rich in explanation and understanding.
I don't think desire is the root cause of suffering and extreme misery. I think,that's beyond our reality.
Enjoy being online again!
Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.Create your free account
Share this post
Related Groups More
World Music
1360 members
Categories
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.