In Buddhism there are what they call The Four Noble Truths. This is their path to nirvana and peace in nothingness. But this is not where I am headed. What I am going to focus on is their number one truth/realization:
"Life is Suffering"
How simple. It says something that makes your reaction something around "duh." But isn't this the anti-thesis of our existence? Do we not fight with all our might to ward off pain and suffering? I find not only this true, but also that I go out of my way to ward off even the slightest discomfort.
Prepare yourself, I am about to disclose some personal information. I own about 20-ish pairs of shoes. I have not counted in a while. (In high school I had about 17, but 12 of which were specifically for sports, and one or two nice pair for church, a pair to get dirty, and two for school, now they are all casual shoes). But to get to my point, I usually only wear my one white pair of Vans. Why is this? Because they are the most comfortable pair of shoes I have. No other pair fits as well as these and looks good all the time.
So what is my point in all of this? I have spent a lot of money to look cool just in the area of footwear, but when it comes down to it, I bypass all others to wear my most comfortable pair (which ironically cost the cheapest). This is how far my avoidance of pain goes.
The point isn't about wearing uncomfortable shoes, but instead the fact that we run away from pain at almost any cost. Life is Suffering. Everything hurts. Exercise hurts, work sucks, love stinks, et cetera. Get out of your bubble of Americana and this ideological dream of endless money so that you can insure your way out of problems. Welcome to Life, Life is Suffering.
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Intentionally, this was going to be the one and only post specifically on this topic, but for explanation's sake, here is part 2.
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3 comments:
well, i suppose you could just read ecclesiastes (written 400 years earlier), genesis, and plato and yet come to the same conclusion, but it isn't as trendy as buddhism or a pair of vans.
pathete mathete! (we learn through suffering - plato) as one of my fifth grade students would put it -- DUR!
Hey Colin! I follow you on Twitter and had no idea you had a blog too. I don't have a facebook or myspace page but I do blog :) I have a family blog and a blog for my photography business. It's nice to find people I know on blogger :)
Here are my blog addresses
http://acehyoung.blogspot.com
http://photosbycourtneyyoung.blogspot.com
- Courtney
Yes, S, I guess you are right, it isn't as trendy, but the content is the basically the same. yet so quickly skipped for something happier.
And Courtney, I'll definitely start looking at your blog, I knew you were doing photography, that is awesome. I'm glad you found my blog. I hope you enjoyed it.
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