The Proof of Absolute Suffering and My understanding of an Absolute Bliss
Suffering is like temperature. You'll understand why I'm making this statement. Ask yourself what suffering is. You won't be able to define it without some concept of happiness or bliss. Suffering is like a spectrum; suffering is like temperature. Don't get me wrong. I'm not meaning this as Batman-Joker kind of way where they create each other. I mean it more like a scale or a seesaw. Less suffering means more bliss and more suffering meas less bliss.
People spend a great deal of their time and life trying to find happiness. Some start chasing things that are supposed to give them happiness and end up being slaves of the object they pursue. Some find money but not happiness. Some find fame but not happiness. Some gain power but not happiness. Lots of people make posts about these kind of things. But I'm going to say screw them. Let's not waste our time talking about the deadly thorns that cover up the elixir. That's just going too low and mainstream for me. Let's say someone gained ll the fame, fortune, power etc and also become really really happy. Let's say this individual got everything that is to be gained.
Let's get abstract and objective
Take a look at history. Take a look at life. There is always the need for more. People are always looking for better and cooler things. The coolest high-tech smartphone of 5 years ago is a total mediocrity today. The average person today lives in far greater luxuries that kings and nobles used to have. For an example did the Kings have A/C or gigantic music libraries or libraries with a million books they carry in a pocket? How about lights? Lamps and candles just look preemptive these days. Even the internet got better and better. We went from taking few seconds to load a picture to be able to stream 4K video and we still haven't had enough.
Why am I taking about these tings? Well think about how individuals would figure out new "Sufferings" for them. When you solve one problem you figure out that there are more things that can be solved like a climber who climb to a top that realize that there are higher tops or a diver who dive into a trench and figure out that there are deeper bottoms. But then again you have things like The Mariana Trench or The Mount Everest.
Taking things even further and The Proof of Absolute Suffering
Let's go for the exception of exceptions. The edge case of edge cases. After all everything that is remembered throughout ages and everything that transform the ages are exceptions. Let's get abstract and mathematical. Let's say there is actually a thing called the highest bliss. Let's say a certain individual reach this hypothetical highest bliss. Now a question:
How is this person going to realize that he/she reached this highest bliss?
See why I mentioned temperature at the beginning of the post. For this person to realize that he/she has conclusively reached the highest bliss, that individual has to face/experience something less than the highest bliss. In relative terms that person has to suffer to realize his/her bliss even though that individuals "Suffering" could be a blissful state beyond imagination for the masses.
This is my proof of absolute suffering. The only other way out is transcendence. Now what's this transcendence I'm talking about? You might have already had the thought "What if that person never face that relative suffering?" If there are no differences, the spectrum disappears. It's going to be a single state with no fluctuations. Without these differences, the seesaw breaks apart and the only proper word I can find o describe this is Equanimity (Upekkhā) and here is a description by Bhikkhu Bodhi:
"As a spiritual virtue, upekkha means stability in the face of the fluctuations of worldly fortune. It is evenness of mind, unshakeable freedom of mind, a state of inner equipoise that cannot be upset by gain and loss, honor and dishonor, praise and blame, pleasure and pain. Upekkha is freedom from all points of self-reference"
"True equanimity is the pinnacle of the four social attitudes that the Buddhist texts call the 'divine abodes': boundless loving-kindness, compassion, altruistic joy, and equanimity. The last does not override and negate the preceding three, but perfects and consummates them."
The Buddha described a mind filled with equanimity as "abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility and without ill-will." I have only a theoretical understanding at the moment and what I see as Equanimity or this state beyond absolute suffering is not really a state of nothingness. What I see is a transcendence of everything. Freedom is a lack of restrains. Absolute freedom is the absence of restrains. At that point there would be no struggle between control and freedom. Control would have simply ceased to exist.
We have absolute suffering in varying degrees. We can struggle with the degree of suffering or we could attempt to transcend the spectrum. The best part is that we don't have to have reached any extremes of the spectrum to start transcending it. We can start out right from where we are in our daily lives.
![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSQnxEBigCNXYe3hUB5ujRMmAvq1r851wGFc5LwZTkfRv/rebelheart.png)
once we are merge with AI; we could achieved immortality with the advance biotechnology it's only a matter of time, that case our emotions are no longer exist and the program focuses only to solving a problems, that chip that merge in our brain could be 1000x smarter than the average person and it's quite scary to think about it, but all of it is possible once biotechnology will advanced into a new level and merge it with AI and with our brain. Though the chip is just a leverage for the survival of mankind.
Great article ViMukthi
I love that you have concluded that transcendence goes beyond this whole bliss / suffering paradigm, which seems to be just another duality of mind.
Through the lens of self inquiry we might start to ask who is the identity who is placed on this spectrum, are we that? Who is observing this whole play of duality, and can the observer be the play its self?
Transcendence and non identification with the characters who inhabit the spectrum of duality seems to be the only way to be free. I guess this is why so many traditions have such an emphasis on oneness.
It seems your article really got me contemplating! I am looking forward to more of this content from you :)
What we are is like what a rive is. The river exists. But every time you point at the river, it's a different river. I see that the reality has 2 layers of truth like that of a mirage. People who see mirages aren't schizophrenic. The mirage exists. But it's just a phenomenon that is ultimately empty.
The single best sophisticated example would actually be a dictionary. Each word has meaning in reference to few other words. At the end of it all thee is not a single origin point or original word. There is the relative truth of dichotomy and the ultimate truth of nothingness. (This is a point where I differ from most non-dualists. I say there is no oneness. The two sides of the coin didn't sprung out of one side. The 2 extremes create and define each other. They are each other's origin point like the word and its meaning in a dictionary. Our reality is like a complex web like words and definitions of a dictionary. --Remove the duality and you don't get 1. What you gain is something that isn't defined by the 2. Transcendence is Zero. Zero stands o its own.)
Here are some additional stuff you may enjoy reading:
https://steemit.com/spirituality/@alexaventuria/don-t-trust-my-words
https://steemit.com/quote/@vimukthi/10-philosophical-and-spiritual-life-lessons-from-jiddu-krishnamurti-my-own-commentary-and-personal-insights-regarding-them
https://steemit.com/buddhism/@vimukthi/a-gateway-into-buddhism-not-a-step-by-step-venture-dive-right-in-with-6-powerful-verses-and-3-profound-books-to-read
https://steemit.com/philosophy/@vimukthi/relational-quantum-mechanics-solution-for-the-paradox-of-the-ship-of-theseus-with-a-touch-of-zen-and-cryptocurrency
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagarjuna
https://plumvillage.org/news/thich-nhat-hanh-new-heart-sutra-translation/
http://diamond-sutra.com
I’m so proud of being your follower and thankful for your quality content. 😊
You are welcome!
😊
Great post @vimukthi
@mistermurcury would also like this post.
really you have a very high motive in life,every man as to sufferer one or two things in life to have that great moment he desired,so boss you indeed wonderful...
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