UnbornTao

We got WWIII before GTA VI.

@Carl-Richard It's true "If it's healthy, then in some way it must make you horny."

GPT: Being alive is an aphrodisiac.

Heil your friend.

(AI-generated)

@Sugarcoat Yes, we could also say that the mind is the "place" where concept - which includes self-image, worldview, and maybe anything else that is non-objective (excluding awareness) - occurs. Perhaps we create reality through our thinking. Anyway, paying attention to this dynamic as it occurs in one's experience is powerful and real. Here's a week-long exercise for anyone that wants to do it:

One possibility - maybe not entirely relevant to your point - is that they simply take action, consistently. They focus on action rather than the plethora of activities that don't contribute much - and that may even displace action. We usually think that mental activities such as worrying, planning, thinking about doing something, desiring, complaining, resisting, procrastinating, justifying, judging - all that - are actually accomplishing something useful, or are the same as simply doing what needs to be done. But they're not. We could shift into a 'doing' mode - where only the appropriate action is taken in the moment, as best as we can. Washing the dishes is washing the dishes - resisting it, making excuses, planning it, procrastinating, idealizing it - none of that is the act of washing the dishes. It's a simple principle on paper - but a powerful one. And that was just a minor example. Now consider everything you do - mostly with your mind, though you can include the body too - that is ineffective, that drains your energy, and that isn't simply taking the required action in the moment. There's likely a lot to be found in that domain. If you can stop doing that - then you'll have increased presence and energy.

Okay. It sounds like you really want to defend your suffering. What's your experience of it - regardless of stories and justifications?

Thank God.

@Breakingthewall What you think and do has consequences. Stories and belief systems aside, what's the relationship between what you think and your internal state? For instance, as an exercise, actually create a desire for something and the notion that it is out of reach. If you successfully do that, you'll suffer hopelessness, depression, frustration, or something else, as a result of your conceptual activity. That's because your present experience is now assessed to be "less than," based on your desire. Now, contrast that with embracing your current experience and being enthusiastic about what you're doing. Compare the difference in both action and outcome. So - what had to happen for suffering to arise? What didn't you do with your mind? How is that you went through such an ordeal - presumably pain-free - in the anecdote you shared above?

Recently learned that Buddha wasn't a vegetarian. Interesting.

Ratism for Dummies? Don't forget dogs, cats, bats, cockroaches, dolphins, turtles, shrimps, lobsters, crickets, whales, and chimpanzees.

On the one hand, you complain about the possibility that non-physical suffering might be largely self-generated - and on the other, you argue - through a personal example - that you didn't suffer during an actual surgery (though there's also the possibility that the pain was suppressed, which isn't the point here). 'Grounded' referred to your statement about suffering being the same as anything else - and the assumption that it is an 'arising that happens', that is, "something outside of my jurisdiction that somehow comes to me."

It might not be absolute, either way. But our thinking may have a primordial role in our experience of reality that we don't recognize. For example, what's the relationship between what you tell yourself and your internal state? Without concept and language - and so this internal dialogue - perhaps no inner turmoil is possible. Observe how your reactions and emotions are related to what you tell yourself.

"Did I leave the oven on?"

You think that you are at the mercy of suffering, but this just isn't true. Do not overlook your role in that. It doesn't just arise on its own, nor is it caused by external circumstances, even though it might appear to be that way. It is actively generated by you in order to serve some particular purpose. Remember, we're not talking about physical pain, but rather "mental" suffering. Make the investigation grounded and real. For example, it is undeniable that, in your experience, joy is one thing, and boredom another. Being clear as to what is what is required in this case, since we're dealing with something relative - an activity. I mean, you could look into it, but I'd begin with common forms of suffering, and then tackle pain. But it is seriously an advanced one. I'm not claiming to be conscious of its nature, btw.

You misunderstand. The type of suffering caused by you is conceptual in nature. Stubbing your toe isn't what this principle refers to - though we often add suffering on top of physical pain. Now, look at how much you suffer that isn't strictly physical: longing, worry, anxiety, fear, jealousy, depression, anger, anguish, struggle, disappointment, feeling worthless, incapable or incomplete, emptiness, resentment, and so on. That is the suffering you do. If you can truly make that shift - not just intellectually, but as a lived reality - then living in the now does eliminate a great deal of suffering. But this isn't something that comes easily. It requires significant mind training. For instance, fear only exists in relation to an imagined scenario happening in the future, and resentment only in relation to a remembered past. Neither the future nor the past exists now. I'd avoid speculation or trivializing the matter. A belief that "there is no self" is just that - a belief. It’s better to be honest with oneself about what's experienced. The nature of pain is a very advanced topic, so it's better left open for now.

How often do you find yourself acting out of self-defensiveness? What is an act not rooted in "re-action"? In other words: What is a response?

You are funny.

One reason you look everywhere except within your own experience for growth or understanding is that you assume your perception accurately reflects reality. You take your experience for granted; that is, you believe that the way you experience and see the world is, at its core, true. As examples, notice how it doesn't occur to you to question your experience! Since you've been perceiving objects for a time now, you conclude that you know what they are - intrinsically. You think familiarity is the same as understanding. Or notice that you look for external sources to tell you what emotions like anger or fear are. Questioning the accuracy of your perceptions is often dismissed as a philosophical luxury, an abstract pursuit. Why is that? If perceiving something isn't the same as truly knowing it, then what is there to comprehend? How could we even approach such an investigation? So try this: stay with your present experience of fear. Be with it fully. See if you can experience the activity without referring to memory, knowledge, or explanation. What happens then?

Maybe the occurrence of insight during intense meditation retreats. How come intense meditation seems to facilitate insight - both minor and life-altering - and presence (mindfulness)? Insight in the context of retreats. Something along those lines, perhaps.

It seems to me that the question attempts to validate a position of victimhood, ignoring the active role each person plays in shaping their own life. Forget about God. Without a belief system getting in the way, and speaking from experience, what is it that you're trying to ask? And why?