It's Just Suffering, Get Over It.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

I feel like writing, but I am not inspired to write about anything. The writer in me is somewhat fast asleep. Knock, knock. Get up! Nah, it's not working. Now what? What should I write about?

I can't think of a single specific thing. Or if I do think of a subject, I’ll end up typing a single sentence about it, and have no juice to squeeze out for a full story. Gosh! Wait. Let's see. Something is coming. Brittany Murphy died. She died at the age of 32. Death sneaked in and caught up with her. Shocking! But you’ll say people die everyday. Come on, she was one of my favorite actress! Of course, I get a little affected, but just a little. It is still a shock, though and a real tragedy because I'd love to see more of her movies.

And saying that I’m all broken up about her death seems presumptuous as I did not even know her in person! Being a troll, I did watch a couple of her interviews on Youtube, and I thought hey she would be easy to make friends with. She was lovely!

But then again, death is a transition, as echoed by Ryhen, the cosmic comedian. So, what do I have to complain, but sit and meditate on it? Ha-ha. Knowing about it does not change the way I feel about it though.

Instead of rambling about nothing, let me just blab a little about the first Noble Truth of Buddhism. You’ll see that it ties back to the talk of death. The first truth settles around the idea of the impermanence in the existence. It sounds terribly cliché though when you hear or read the line saying “Nothing lasts forever.” But it is the truth.

An example of impermanence would be easy to find. Just look at the weather. One day it is blue summery sky with no hint of malice. Next day, a rain storm out to bite you in the hind. Sorry, exaggeration. But, you do see my point now don’t you. One day, you have money, the next day, you’re broke. That sort of thing.

Some of you may already be thinking, surely suffering is a state of mind and if you know how to transcend it, you’ll beat it. Yeah, easy said then done. Just think of a single thing that is very personal to you. Your car, maybe? Okay, now think of it as gone, disappeared into a hole of vast nothingness. Stolen. You have no leads of getting it back. What now? It’s gone! You’re sitting there crying. You’re suffering, squealing in sorrow. Why? Why me? Now somebody smart comes around, and tells you: Transcend the pain, man, it’s easy. Who’s going to flip out and be a murderer? Yeah, you’re looking at you.

According the Buddha, suffering is a fact of life. There are 4 types of physical sufferings; birth, old age, sickness and death. Mental suffering falls into 3 categories; separation from the people we love, contact with the people we dislike and frustration of desires.

I’m sure just reading the lines in the previous paragraph puts you in the right state of mind. You sense suffering. I don’t know who doesn’t, but if you do, smack him or her in the head just a little. But wait, the person might have transcended it! Now don’t you go judging them, they might just be our new generation of Buddhas or your neighborhood madmen.

Anyhow, impermanence does seep through this existence, whether we like it or not. Some days I just delude myself into thinking that everything is going to stay forever merry. No wait, I don't do that. I'm the most pathological pessimist you'll ever find! Even in suffering, there is impermanence, we don't suffer forever. So, there's your blessing. Everything has its seasons.

On a side note, know that there is also a fine line between being excessively dark and gloomy in thoughts about this life and being fairly realistic. You gotta strike a balance. Don’t say my words make you crawl into the dark cave of doom to die and never to see light again!

If you like this post, please leave some insightful comments as I will try to give you some insightful come-backs. But if you hate it, let me know your name, phone number, and address. Don’t worry, I’ll just keep your personal data as a waste-of-space in my hard drive, for fun. Ciao!

Ps: I realize I did not attempt to leave any kind of solution to the suffering we as humans experience. It's intended because I have no creative solution to offer. Yeah, I'm sad like that.

"Do not speak- unless it improves on silence." -Buddhist saying
"Words make known. But we live in the unknown." -Marty Rubin