Introduction
We tend to choose the path of suffering because we are ignorant of the incidents of suffering that lay ahead. We tend to go along with the crowd - those we think are knowledgeable about life.
We are conditioned to believe the promises that are given in the material world by well-meaning but ignorant people. This conditioning starts at birth and for many, this conditioning ends at death. This situation is a spiritual dilemma.
The dilemma is that we have to make a choice between the priorities of (1) material pursuits and (2) spiritual ones. We begin our lives with material pursuits - learning social behaviors of getting along with others, getting an education, seeking a career or a profession, finding a partner…and the list goes on. The majority of us lean towards the material world - of being a “good” person, educated, professional, employed, with friends and relationships. These are the basics.
Overtime, these material pursuits disappoint us. The list of suffering that comes from the material realm appears to be endless. We do not get along with others, our education does not pay off in the way we thought it would, we find a partner only to lose the partner, we are employed but it isn’t satisfying…and the list goes on.
The pursuit of material things, such as persons, places, and things, is called by different names: a rat race, a dog-eat-dog world, a seemingly endless trap, living a pointless life. Even when we pursue a spiritual life it is often considered secondary to the pursuits for material things akin to one foot on the dock and the other foot in a boat tied to a dock. We get stuck.
We get stuck in a stalemate in the form of dissatisfaction, unhappiness, restlessness… these arise from our greed for things, our dislike of things and our delusion of reality. This stalement keeps us confused and at a standstill with one leg in the relentless, tethered boat and one leg on the rocking, unstable dock.
This situation is the path of suffering. And we are on it.
What we must to do is seek help from those who know how to get our boat out of the water and into a dry dock.
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