06-03-2024, 01:47 PM
It's hard to simply agree with the words a character says, without considering what the author meant to portray as an element of the plot. But I think I know to what you are referring.
Suffering, is a matter of our perceptions, ultimately. Many religons and philosophies have made much of this very common perception regarding the difficulties we encounter in life. But all of those difficulties, like illness, loss, pain, and regret often constitute a core to our suffering. We embrace it, as we embrace everything.
I tend to disagree with the idea that life is 'about' suffering.
It's just that suffering is an undeniable, in your face, aspect touching everything we try to do and experience over the course of our lives. It is especially troublesome when we presume to control it. It becomes the 'star player' in our sense of 'the play'... it becomes more than the plot, more than the motivation, it assumes the center of the stage and dominates everything around it... much the same as fear. It engenders its own persistence.
I would rather think (not that it's any more valid then the assertion) that life is about how we 'interface' with suffering - amongst so many other things. Seeking to control or eliminate it are vane efforts to make real the idea that everything as all about 'me.' So we sink into it, make it the drumbeat of our existence... which is probably a mistake - assuming it is not a suitable drumbeat.
If, or when, our world is dominated with suffering - we are being called to "do something" about it. That something is presumably meant to 'eliminate' it... but a life without suffering is a strange and distincly 'unhuman' thing. it is normal to suffer, just as it is normal to drive towards the truth. I think suffering may be largely about perspective. It is a motivator towards eliminating mental immobility, the ultimate engenderer of personal change.
Suffering, is a matter of our perceptions, ultimately. Many religons and philosophies have made much of this very common perception regarding the difficulties we encounter in life. But all of those difficulties, like illness, loss, pain, and regret often constitute a core to our suffering. We embrace it, as we embrace everything.
I tend to disagree with the idea that life is 'about' suffering.
It's just that suffering is an undeniable, in your face, aspect touching everything we try to do and experience over the course of our lives. It is especially troublesome when we presume to control it. It becomes the 'star player' in our sense of 'the play'... it becomes more than the plot, more than the motivation, it assumes the center of the stage and dominates everything around it... much the same as fear. It engenders its own persistence.
I would rather think (not that it's any more valid then the assertion) that life is about how we 'interface' with suffering - amongst so many other things. Seeking to control or eliminate it are vane efforts to make real the idea that everything as all about 'me.' So we sink into it, make it the drumbeat of our existence... which is probably a mistake - assuming it is not a suitable drumbeat.
If, or when, our world is dominated with suffering - we are being called to "do something" about it. That something is presumably meant to 'eliminate' it... but a life without suffering is a strange and distincly 'unhuman' thing. it is normal to suffer, just as it is normal to drive towards the truth. I think suffering may be largely about perspective. It is a motivator towards eliminating mental immobility, the ultimate engenderer of personal change.
