Struggles of Happiness

 

Life is a struggle for a continual survival!
When we decode it systematically, we understand:
Life as a complex set of chemical processes; And
The struggle is nothing but the environmental pressure!
Whichever is suitable to the environment survives!
This four billion years of natural selection process,
Created life forms from bacteria to plants to animals!
In this tree of life, there comes an animal species, humans,
Instead of whichever suitable to the environment survives,
They actively try to be suitable to the environment, and
Actively try to modify the environment to suit them!
They produced clothes to suite the environment, and
Agriculture to modify the environment to suit them!
At the end,
Whichever is suitable to the environment survives!

Life is a struggle for a continual survival!
A bacterium may not feel this struggle;
But an animal with a developed brain would feel it.
The end results of these struggles are coded in the brain,
As survival algorithms: instincts, drives, emotions and thinking.
Some of these algorithms create pleasant mental states:
Sweet, pleasure, orgasm, joy, happiness and peacefulness.
While other algorithms create miserable mental states:
Bitter, pain, anxiety, sadness, lonely and depression.
As humans try to suit and modify external environments,
They try to suit and modify internal mental states as well!
They discovered and developed many techniques and methods:
From mind suppression to mind stimulation to mind alteration!
Some are psychological and others are physiological;
Some are needed, some are useful and others are harmful;
Some are temporary, some are permanent and others are addictive!
Psychologically...
Listening to music and enjoying different kinds of arts;
Prayers, meditation and following many kinds of philosophies;
Different forms of hypnosis, psychotherapy and psychology!
Physiologically...
Taking common drugs like caffeine, alcohol and nicotine;
Taking exotic drugs like heroin, cocaine and LSD;
Taking sleep inducing, pain relieving, and other psychiatric drugs;
The magnetic pulse stimulation and neuronal circuit modification!

We grow up wanting to be happy and joyful, but
As we grow old and mature, we slowly realize that
It is impossible to achieve a long lasting happiness!
And we move towards less ambitious peacefulness! At least,
Hoping to minimize our sufferings! Over the years,
Humans developed many psychological methods;
Each consists of its own philosophies and techniques,
Hoping to achieve a long lasting peace of mind!
Some are highly divine and others are just illusion! – literally!

***

Divine method:
Everything is created by the divine including you and I!
Everything has meaning and purpose.!
Things happen as per the divine plan!
Do not worry, just do your duty and relax!
Get connected to the divine through prayers;
Get guidance and support from the divine.
Show your obedience to the divine, and
Do good deeds to get into a heaven or some divine destination,
Or to get salvation or motcha or to achieve some divine goal,
Or to achieve a meaningful journey of life or soul!

Now,
What exactly is the final destination here?
Perhaps a blissful eternal world!? Who knows?
What is the meaning here? It is the faith that
Everything has a meaning and purpose!
Really, what is the meaning of all of this?
The meaning is an assumption that there is a meaning!

But,
This world can be dark, unknown and chaotic;
This world can be lonely, unforgiving and painful;
The divine method offers a meaning and purpose! At least,
It says there is a meaning and purpose!
Have that faith! It might lead to a mental stability!
It might give a sense of hope and a bigger purpose!
The prayers might offer a sense of connection!
Ultimately it might offer a peace of mind!

"Dream as we may, reality knocks relentlessly at the door"
-- Francis Crick

When life shows its ugly side, it is hard to sit and relax;
Prayers may help to some extent; that
Depends on your breakeven level of reality check!
You might have convinced yourself, that
There is a meaning and purpose! And just that
We do not fully understand the divine's plan; but
If you are just daring enough, you may ask:
What is the meaning of dead born child?
What is the meaning of a young deer killed by a lion?
What is the meaning of all these unfathomable sufferings?
What is the meaning of all this evil around us?
If you are just daring enough, you may ask:
Why am I designed such a way that
I want to have something that I cannot have? And
Forever begging for contentment and satisfaction!

"Lord, if I can't have what I want, let me want what I have!"

For the existence of good and bad… Though
The divine method offers no solid explanation,
It accepts them as we perceive; though,
Everything is created by the divine, and
Hence it is logically impossible, yet
It declares explicitly or implicitly that
We've given freewill as we perceive,
To choose between right and wrong! And
A moral character is expected based on
Some reasonable and some unreasonable,
Some outdated and some harmful conceptions! Though,
It motivates some positive characters,
It motivates some negative characters as well! Also,
It creates unnecessary constrains and pressure that
Lead to unnecessary guilt and suffering!
If you are just reasonable enough, you may have:
Many questions, doubts and confusion that
Lead to just the opposite of peace of mind!

"So many unanswered questions live within me
Afraid to uncover them, Because of the blasphemy!
If there be God, please forgive me.
When I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven,
There is such convicting emptiness that
Those very thoughts return like
Sharp knives and hurt my very soul.
I am told God loves me and yet the reality of
Darkness and coldness and emptiness
Is so great that nothing touches my soul.
Did I make a mistake in surrendering
Blindly to the Call of the Sacred Heart?
Lord, my God, who am I that You should forsake me?
The Child of your Love and now
Become as the most hated one; The one,
You have thrown away as unwanted, unlove
I call, I cling, I want and there is no One to answer
No One on Whom I can cling; no, No One! Alone...
Where is my Faith; Even deep down right in there
Is nothing, but emptiness and darkness; My God,
How painful is this unknown pain
I have no Faith, I dare not utter the words
And thoughts that crowd in my heart
Make me suffer untold agony"
-- Mother Teresa

***

Illusion method:
Pain and pleasure are just mental illusions – Emptiness!
Greed and desires create expectation, pressure and anxiety;
That ultimately lead to suffering; so, be content!
There is no good and bad in the nature;
It is us who divide and classify the nature,
Into good and bad, and right and wrong;
When the nature is just one and the whole – Connectedness!
Just observe the nature as it is!
Remove the boundary between things!
Remove the boundary between you and the rest!
Practice meditation to achieve this realization!
To attain enlightenment! A blissful state!

The illusion method helps to find a neutral mental state,
To avoid extreme swing between pain and pleasure.
To find mental balance and mental stability.
The nature is just one and the whole; dividing it,
As pain and pleasure, good and bad, you and the rest,
Pushes the mental state away from the neutral.

"If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him" Because
You are still dividing the nature into the Buddha and the rest!

But,
Life is a struggle for a continual survival!
Good and bad are part of our survival techniques!
Pain and pleasure are part of our learning mechanism!
Dividing, classifying, labeling and understanding things,
Into many categories are the end result of our learning;
How things behave and what are their characteristics,
How cause and effects work and what are their characteristics,
Are part of our learning! Our survival techniques!
But really to stop all of this, we have to stop thinking!
Though we have mind, yet we have to behave like a stone!
Exactly opposite of the way, we are evolutionarily designed!
It is an odd hope to achieve mental balance by going against it!
Then how to achieve the illusion method?
Go away from the normal day to day life!
Go away from the normal desires and wishes of life!
Alter the way the mind works using meditative techniques!
Meditation goes through a series of stages, and
The climax is an enlightenment! The illusion of all illusions!
A blissful state! The ultimate mental illusion!
It is a life long struggle! In the end,
We may or may not achieve it or get a glimpse of it!
It is a temporary mental state, but highly addictive!
This lifelong psychological mind alternation,
This lifelong psychological struggles,
Can be achieved in a minute by physiological methods,
Like simply taking drugs like LSD!

***

Life is a struggle for a continual survival!
Pain and pleasure, happiness and suffering,
Are part of life and part of survival mechanisms!
However painful the sufferings might be,
Time cures them like a magic! Because,
These are all survival mechanisms, not death traps!
However, the nature is not perfect and not fair;
Where extreme sufferings and depression are possible;
Where a proper treatment is indeed needed.

Whatever is suitable to the environment survives!
Life survives because of the environment,
Not the other way around in the causal chain of events!
The sun is here not to provide light and energy to us,
We are here because the sun is here!
We are here because the earth, air and water are here!
We create a knife with a purpose to cut things;
We create a chair with a purpose to sit on it;
We create things with a purpose and meaning,
As part of our survival mechanisms; but
It is a misuse, when we assume a meaning of the sun!
It is a misuse, when we assume a meaning of life!
But we do create meanings as part of learning;
If we need a meaning for our own mental stability,
We could very well create our own meaning of life!
But we should not force it upon others! And
We don't have to force it upon ourselves!

Our brain is a kind of differential machine;
We aware of any stimuli when there is a change.
After a while, we may no longer smell the same odor,
Or hear the same sound or feel the same sensation!
A night long cricket sound or the sound of rain fall,
A constant sound of stream or a melodious music,
Would allow us to focus on the stimuli,
And yet we slowly lose its awareness and its meaning,
Thus it quiets our mind and creates a sense of calmness!
Likewise, a rudimentary mantra or a sophisticated meditation,
Might allow us to focus and help us to quiet our mind!
Yet, there is a simpler method: just don't think too much!
There is no point in looking for a meaning or a purpose,
From our everyday day-to-day life events and actions!
Possible just try to understand the cause and effects!
Because knowledge is power! A real human signature!

"Keep your feet warm, your head cool,
Be careful what you eat and don't think too much!"
-- Mulla

Happiness cannot be found anywhere else, but within us!
Happiness does not depend upon anything else...
Anything that happened in the past or might happen in the future,
But just depends on whether or not we decide to be happy!
If it is that simple, then, why is it so hard to achieve?
Because life is not evolved to achieve happiness!
We are not evolved to achieve peacefulness!
Life is just all about a continual survival! Where,
Happiness or peacefulness is just a temporary state!
It will be the end of life as we know it, when
We achieve a lasting happiness or peacefulness!
Yet, we can be happy when we decide to be happy!
This is not an onetime or one shop solution,
But a constant continuous lifelong reminder!
To soothe our sufferings and painful emotions!

Happiness or peacefulness is just a mental state!
It cannot be found anywhere else, but within us!
It is all about finding some right mind tricks, But,
Let that trick be natural and free from anti-natural elements,
Free from unnecessary and harmful constrains that
May lead to close mindedness and oppression of progress!
It is hard to be peaceful when we hate ourselves or others!
It is easy to be peaceful when we love ourselves and others!
We don't have to be a saint or an angel,
But forgive others and forgive yourselves!
Happiness or peacefulness is just a mental state;
It is all about finding some right mind tricks...
Individually, socially and perhaps systematically!

***

Life is a struggle for a continual survival!
In the tree of life, here is an animal species, humans,
Instead of whichever suitable to the environment survives,
They actively try to be suitable to the environment, and
Actively try to modify the environment to suit them!
Not just the external environment, but internal mind as well!
In this journey,
They may succumb to the anti-natural methods;
Or succeed with some natural methods! Or even,
Transcend with some trans-natural methods!
In the end,
Life is a struggle for a continual survival!

Source: http://ecortext.blogspot.com/2010/08/struggles-of-happiness.html

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