Our suffering unites us
I know you suffer. I can relate to your pain because I suffer too - but in my own ways. We must not compare our suffering because that creates a divide between us human beings. My suffering is my suffering, so it always appears bigger since I don’t suffer in the same way that you suffer. Since we cannot live with each other’s pain, we suffer without seeing the other’s suffering.
Suffering is a thing of the mind. It has nothing to do with reality because suffering is of the future or the past. There’s no suffering in the present. I think you can agree with me here. However, the biggest challenge is to live in the present - it must be. That is the suffering that unites us all. We all suffer from being unable to truly live and enjoy ourselves because we cannot live in the present. No matter how hard we try, there is always something of the past or the future to think and worry about - but we lack the capability of not being constantly worried. I’m not trying to suggest a solution next; I’m just trying to say that there’s much grander suffering that bothers and consumes and unites us all, both you and I and everyone around us - the suffering of the non-present.
Naturally, failing to understand the suffering of humanity, we are forced to believe that we suffer in isolation and our unique ways. The brain, being a rationalizing machine, obviously can’t figure out a logic for its suffering. It then makes up stories on its own or searches for narratives around us that explain our unique situation. And such tales are many. There are stories about karma, and there are stories about past life and stories about demons and gods and whoever else must be pleased and whoever else is discontent with us who must be satisfied. There are stories that the mind also makes up on the spot, stories about how we are stupid or how if we did this, it could have been that, and so on.
But, to me, it is all bullshit. There’s no karma, no past life, and no future life - at least in the way we are supposed to believe it. I don’t think we carry the sins, the mistakes, and the crimes of our past into the future - what would be the point of rebirth if we were just born to suffer? And why does the child not suffer then, and why does suffering begin when we become adults? The point isn’t that you cannot construct a believable story, and you obviously can; the point is that it will be unverifiable. Do you have any recollections of past life? If not, why do you still suffer? And wouldn’t it be better to have had those recollections and fix them in this life? Why would a supreme being (in the textbook sense) allow us to make more mistakes in this life- only to extend the suffering indefinitely? It does not make sense.
In life, there are events and accidents. Every success is a series of accidents, and every failure is a series of accidents. People who believe that they control their destiny or can write their future are bullshitting. The only control we have is of the present. That also is out of control for most of us. You can decide now, but can you be sure of the outcome? No, never. Anyone who has closely observed themselves and the world ( an incredible challenge ) will know that the future unravels in mysterious ways. Sometimes, decisions turn out well, and at other times they do not. We can only hope to do the best now, not knowing what may come of it in the future. That acceptance of the unpredictability of the future brings sanity. And I mean, what is destiny anyway?
If we can embrace these uncertainties in life with all the events and all the accidents and put them behind us, maybe not forever, but at this moment, we can perhaps start to understand what it means to live. To live means to live without the baggage of karma or destiny. It means to live not today but now. At this very moment, are we conscious enough, or are we burdened by the past or the future? Every new moment presents a chance to view the world differently, to view us differently, to look at situations more comprehensively, and to build a new perspective on life.