Wednesday, August 8, 2012

The four ignoble truths

1. Life consists of so much suffering, pain, misery, illness, hardship and injustice. Life can of course also contain many pleasant moments, but eventually we will all have to face suffering, old age, disease and death. Life is a struggle for survival but no one survives. It is not a matter of survival of the fittest. All life forms are a food source for other life forms, predators, parasites and saprophytes.

2. Suffering would not exist unless there was someone who suffered, a conscious being who tried to escape the suffering.

3. There are ways to escape suffering.

4. The different ways to escape suffering can support and reinforce each other, and they can be used in different stages of life. Alcohol, drugs and painkillers; career plans, hard work and life improvement programs; daydreams, stand up comedy and politics; philosophy, science and religion; physical training, meditation and art; shopping, interior decoration and gardening; soap operas, computer games and detective stories… You have to find a way that works for you.

Whatever you do, do not try to see all aspects of reality. To see the world as it is, is not helpful.