2. Ending Unnecessary Suffering
This week we will look into how we create our own suffering using Peter’s new book, Ending Unnecessary Suffering:
To get a better handle on how much suffering we create solely through conceptualizing, notice rabbits don’t experience this form of suffering. They have no idea that there could be more to life, or that it’s possible to have any other experience than what they’re having. Notice they don’t suffer much of what we suffer. Because of our automatic and natural arrogance that humans are so much better than all the “lower” creatures, we overlook a significant flaw in the makeup of our own experience.
These simpler creatures don’t worry or fret like we do, or fear the future or crave anything not available. They don’t imagine that they are somehow flawed or less than they should be. Have you ever seen a three-legged dog? They don’t seem to have any disturbance at all because of it. Notice, or imagine, the difference between their experience and yours, and the degree of suffering they don’t seem to have, simply because they don’t have the complex conceptual “ability” that for us tends to run amok.
Consider this contrast. Probably from time to time you have come close to a simple and present experience of simply “being” in this moment. I suspect you enjoyed that experience. So, why devote so much time and effort to the plethora of activities that create so much unnecessary suffering? Obviously, because it doesn’t seem to be in your hands. But this book changes all that, and helps put you in the driver’s seat. In order to do that, however, you’ll need to understand how your mind works so you can free yourself from the automatic programming and habits that create this suffering.
You need to experience that all these forms of distress are something you are doing, and not imposed upon you against your will. This perspective is not the norm. Almost everyone thinks suffering is imposed upon them, and not something they’re generating. But once you experience what’s true in this matter, you can stop doing what causes suffering and it won’t occur. Sound too good to be true?
I sometimes use an analogy that may not be the best but it makes the point. Through an impulse created by our greed, if we reach for a diamond resting on the bottom of a bucket of boiling water, we will experience a lot of pain. But as long as we don’t connect the pain with our actions we will continue to stick our hand into boiling water. This might seem a bit obscure, but the point is we are actually doing stuff that creates our suffering. We don’t have to do it, but not doing it requires that we become aware of what we are doing and that we are doing it. It isn’t at all impossible, but it does require seriously challenging overlooked assumptions and ignorance.
Hear Peter Reading this Excerpt Here:
Contemplate during the week:
Observe the suffering that occurs in your experience. Work on “rabbit meditation” – try to create a similar experience to a rabbit. Pretend you are actually being a rabbit or a simple creature for a short amount of time. Focus on the present moment, not on your mind, not in the past, and not on the future. Do this until you feel that there is a shift in your experience away from your usual focus and away from your usual suffering. Experience simply being in this moment. How does that feel?