Some thoughts on SUFFERING

Hi Friends,

I was having a discussion with @wanderlass on her blog earlier today. We were talking about Abundance and the stressful nature of inhabiting the Scarcity mindset. I had referenced a post on the subject. The conversation then touched on suffering - as a factor of one's resistance to the flow of reality (ie to what is). Below are some thoughts which were generated at this stage, edited up a bit from the original. They are not absolutes, regardless of their presented form - they are merely thoughts. @wanderlass considered the possibility that these thoughts might be of assistance to some of you and suggested I formulate them into a post. It is in this spirit and with this possibilty in mind that I am acting upon her suggestion. I dedicate this post to the alleviation and transmutation of suffering; her suffering, all of our suffering (yes yours too tuff guy/gal :) - human and non-human alike!

_{source 1 [images] source 2}

• suffering is born of a resistance to the flow of reality (i.e. to what is; beyond and independent of, the intervention of judgement-based thought which applies labels of good, bad etc)
• we resist reality when we manifest our Control Issues. When we resist reality we try to control it (try to alter it), and we suffer (think about times when you try to get people or situations to conform to your notion of what ought to be!). Control issues can play out at the most subtle of levels, hidden from the conscious mind! Where there is control, there is also fear - an uncovering of one can lead to the other
• if we can accept reality by completely accepting what is (not resisting, not fighting, not trying to change it – maybe just observing it), then we can start working backwards and observing our resistance to its flow (this needs to be keenly done - mindful awareness type thing!)
• our resistance or control issues is/are born of our early traumatic experiences and further layers are added to the core wounds as we gain in experience through life
• life conditioning encourages us to blame (anything external - rather than take responsibility for the consequences of our actions and how we feel). By blaming, we lose the possibility of uncovering what really is going on - lost in untruths. The energy of blame can have many forms – complaining, passive aggression, snubbing, entitlement (compensation) etc, as well as many subtle levels and targets (including, perhaps most significantly, aspects of ourselves!)
• if we are able to set aside blame (sure there may be a stage of being angry, but we need to remember that this isn't the end of it), we can turn our full attention to our real feelings and needs
• we are the only ones (each of us individually) with the potential for a full and complete understanding of why we are the way we are (what governs us un/sub-consciously). We are the only ones who can meet our own deepest emotional and psychological needs. This starts to reveal itself when we turn a brutally honest (but soft and forgiving) gaze on ourselves, and sticking with an alertness of approach that doesn't just accept the diluted answers that the ego mind may offer. Clearly forumlated questions which enquire into the nature of how one feels about things, allowing the answers to come without reaching for them. The suppressed energies (which radiate negatively in the background of our lives) then start to untangle and release as we become aware of the blockages
• the description sounds more complex than the doing. Each of us can do this naturally, and each of us can discover how. If scepticism (and notions of inadequacy, unworthiness etc) can be put aside for this (experimental???) enquiry, then the process itself becomes the teacher
• going with the flow implies a lack of effort (strenuous, heavy energy). Stress is experienced as it is released (suppressed feelings have to be consciously felt to be released). Once you have been through this cycle once, you gain in experience and understanding and the process picks up power and speed. This is a brave undertaking, it can initially be unsettling, but this is where belief in self, universe and process come in - each stage is a stage (finite and temporary) and will pass
• everything is intricately, intimately connected and any point can serve as the starting point for a serious and sincere enquiry into aspects of one's Being! Going with the flow also means (IMO) flowing with the energy of Infinite Intelligence; and this is fundamentally benign, interested only in healing and in raising consciousness and awareness. This very same flow is resisted through fear, control, blame, anger, envy etc etc, leading to alienation and suffering.

Thanks for reading

Namaste
🕉