Is Enlightenment The End Of Suffering?

[rrodriguez11]

Currently, ending/reducing suffering is what motivates me to pursue enlightenment and the dissolution of the ego.  Is this a feasible approach? I know that a deep desire for truth is necessary for awakening, but what about a deep desire to release suffering?

Edited March 2, 2017 by rrodriguez11

[Telepresent]

Can you define for us what you mean by suffering?

[Prabhaker]

@rrodriguez11 Ramakrishna paramhansa died of cancer, Maharishi Raman died of cancer, J. Krishnamurti suffered for forty years continuously with a terrific migraine. Gautam Buddha died of food poisoning; Mahavira died of diarrhoea; Jesus Christ died on the cross, existence did not come to help him.

An enlightened person becomes a witness of all pains and pleasures. The moment you become identified with your suffering you want to discard it, you want to get rid of it, it is so painful. But if you are a witness then suffering loses all thorns, all stings. Then there is suffering, and you are a witness to it. You are just a mirror; it has nothing to do with you. Happiness comes and goes, unhappiness comes and goes, it is a passing show; you are just there, a mirror reflecting it. Life comes and goes, death comes and goes; the mirror is not affected by either. The mirror reflects but remains unaffected; the mirror is not imprinted by either.

[Leo Gura]

Depends how deep your enlightenment is. It will definitely help. But you'll require a lot more additional work beyond your first enlightenment experience. Years and years, thousands and thousands of hours.

But on the bright side, you got nothing better to do, so why not get started?

In the meantime, learn to enjoy your suffering. That's all enlightenment will really teach you in the end: how to enjoy being.

The deep awareness of the suffering of duality is an important step towards the peace of nonduality. Keep noticing how much you suffer, over and over again.

[Natasha]

@rrodriguez11 This will help understand.

From the enlightened person's perspective on suffering - Lisa Cairns :

 

[Loreena]

Enlightenment and consciousness work will surely help you in realizing how your ego fools you into believing and grasping the illusory nature of things. It will make you self-aware and increase your tendency to perceive things with greater awareness and insight. So it does help in reducing the suffering caused be the delusions of the ego. It also shuts down the monkey mind a bit, relieving you from the cycle of incessant negative and ruminating thoughts. However suffering in a more general sense, such as world suffering, is  very complex and difficult to solve. In my opinion, it can be lessened by spreading more love, compassion, spirituality, positivity, truth and wisdom and by eliminating evil, ignorance, hypocrisy  and falsehood.

[aurum]

@Prabhakerbasically nailed it but I'll throw in my thoughts as well.

Enlightened people still experience the ups and downs to life. That's what it means to live in duality.

However, they don't view it like we do.

During a 10-day meditation retreat, I had what some people would consider an "enlightenment" experience. I temporarily dropped identification with myself.

One thing of many that sticks out for me about this experience was my relationship to suffering.

Sure, there was suffering. But it wasn't happening to me!

It was so obvious at that moment that everyone was simply operating under a misunderstanding. The only reason people had any problems was because they thought their problems were happening to them!

I laughed and laughed and laughed. I had to control myself in order not to disturb the other mediators. The rest of the day I spent in a deep sense of peace.

Eventually I "lost" the insight as is very common with this work. But I still have the memory which serves as a useful guiding point.

So yes, Enlightenment is the end of psychological suffering. But the dream goes on, which is why for practical purposes we do what we can to create an extraordinary life.

Of course nothing I'm saying will compare to you proving this for yourself. But hopefully this will serve as some motivation.

 

 

[Natasha]

9 minutes ago, aurum said:

The only reason people had any problems was because they thought their problems were happening to them!

That's exactly what Lisa Cairns talks about in the short vid I posted above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 2, 2017 by Natasha

[Loreena]

@Prabhaker does this mean that we should not find solutions to suffering ?

[Prabhaker]

1 minute ago, Loreena said:

does this mean that we should not find solutions to suffering ?

If you are a searcher after knowledge then you lose your roots in being; or if you search in your being you lose your roots in the world, in the scientific world, in the scientific realm. Both are half of the reality. Religion is half; science is half. Something has to happen to bring religions and science together to a greater whole, where science does not deny religion and where religion does not condemn science.

We can find solutions to suffering, even if find solutions , it will not make us calm, contented and blissful. 

[Azrael]

3 hours ago, rrodriguez11 said:

Currently, ending/reducing suffering is what motivates me to pursue enlightenment and the dissolution of the ego.  Is this a feasible approach?

No, it's childish to belief you can get rid of a subset of your emotions (suffering). It's also childish to belief that destroying a part of your motor will solve your problem (dissolution of the ego). Put yourself for one moment in the role of suffering and the ego and realize that you treated them like shit for all of your life. That's why they make your life horrible. As soon as you treat them with respect, they will instantly - and I am instantly - be on your side again and you'll feel awesome. No 10,000 hours of work, no mastering nothing. This is nothing you learn. This is something you deeply know by default. You just need to be shown how to get there again.

[PureExp]

@rrodriguez11 IMO, you need not end it, you only detach from it.

Realize that suffering is only an illusion, the real you cannot suffer, it is incapable of it, it just watches it. Abide there.

Suffering - a state of mind,  comes and goes just like clouds in a clear sky.