Does Anyone Else Feel Depressed After They Find Out The The Sheer Amount Of Ignorance And Suffering In The World?

[nexusoflife]

    I don't really know if anyone will ever read this post or even understand what I am saying. Whenever I express how I view the world I am met with confusion, resistance and anger by others. I have gone through a few messed up events in my life however I lived what I would consider to be a good life on an external level.I was born in America to a middle class family that cares about me. Events that have contributed to my personal depression are when my mom died when I was 16 as she was the only person I could talk to openly, family instability, and loneliness from not having anyone to relate to because of my viewpoints which i will get to later. My depression is not so much about my life, but the state of the world that I live in. I would say that 15% of my depression is about the state of my life and 85% is about the state of the world we live in. Before I was 17 I was largely ignorant to the amount of suffering on the planet. I began to largely expand my knowledge and open mindedness when I was 17 through doing things such as spending the majority of my time reading, meditating, went vegan, started doing calisthenics and learning to see outside of my own culture. I am now 20. Within this time frame I the way how I view the world has greatly changed. This radical change in my life did yield positives however it has also opened the door for serious depression in my life.

     Let me explain how I view life and the world. We live in a world where 56 billion+ land animals and 1 trillion+ marine animals are killed by humans every year for food that we have no nutritional requirement for. We live in a corrupt unjust and unsustainable monetary system where money is valued over human life. In society people can’t just live their life as they want. They have to work to earn money. I feel that that is very concerning as this can lead to financial slavery. It is one of the largest systems of suffering on the planet and yet the vast majority seems to blindly accept it without question. There are roughly 1 billion humans on this planet who face devastating poverty, starvation and water shortages because the allocation of resources is inadequate due to ignorance and greed. Schools don’t actually teach. They are systems of conformity that only encourage memorization. The vast majority of students dislike school in some way and in many ways it is like a prison for growth and creativity. The majority of people go through life completely unconsciously. It's as if nobody can see outside of the culture that they were born into, people fail to look at situations from the perspective of another. The vast majority of the population could care less about their health, yet will become sad when they are diagnosed with an illness. We have ongoing epidemics of obesity and starvation happening in the world. With all of this being said people still go on having children. With people having children at the current rate it creates a massive overpopulation problem which further puts a strain on resources. I feel that it is abhorrent to subject a child to the mess that we have created on this planet. Degenerative disease runs rampant because the population consumes animal products and processed foods which are only slowly killing themselves and the biosphere. Environmental degradation is widespread because of the unsustainable ways in which we live our lives. Fossil fuels are still used even though we know that they are destroying the environment and will run out. Species extinction is widespread because forests are cut down to create farmland to feed livestock that we don’t need to eat. All of this however is caused by the human ego. Identification with the ego is perpetuating massive suffering worldwide.

     Nearly every human on the planet is suffering in one way or another and it is largely caused by identification with the ego. People are caught by the lies and stories of religion regardless of how much fighting and suffering it causes. Almost nobody truly understands what they are on an existential level or what the term “god” really means. People are too busy believing in their dogmatic belief systems. Psychedelics and consciousness exploration are marginalized. People perpetuate their suffering by trying to obtain happiness from others or their beliefs when this can never give a human lasting happiness. What is very frustrating is that even though I know many things that would help my state of mind I still have neuroses and egoic identification that I find very difficult to get past. This in turn makes my life more difficult as I intellectually understand how to get past these things but emotionally I lack the development.

     I feel that the world has much potential to provide for a mind blowing beautiful experience and I wish that the human species would really begin to behave at its full potential. I still have a lot to write down but it’s so much that it probably wouldn’t fit into a single post so I’ll stop here. So I ask is there anyone else out there that feels like this?

[egoeimai]

Make positive changes. Think positive about the world and by habit it'll change soon. Your perspective is subjective anyways,so why not making it a positive one ? 

[Michael569]

 My heart goes out to you for the tragedy in your family in your youth. Years have now passed leaving you pessimistic and nihilist. Yet you see that massive judgement and wishing that world was otherwise only brings you more suffering. World is what humans made it. It is not evil and it is not good. It just IS. The BEING part is important. Start by identifying yourself with it, accept it or be ruined by it. 

In the same time, start thinking on how you can contribute. You cannot cure the world but you can contribute to less cruelty with animals, to building water wells in poor countries of Africa, to help endangered species....whatever rocks your boat.  Once you identify your meaning and learn to love the world and accept it, you become free. Because you will know that you are already doing your bit to help. And that is what matters !

Your actions will inspire others, your light will shine upon the unconsciousness of the darkness. 

stay true to yourself and stay positive. 

 

 

[Nahm]

@nexusoflife I felt like that in my past. The current state of the world is where the current median of consciousness is. Do you want to go back? Me neither. All the darkness in the Universe is not enough to extinguish a single candle. (Rumi?)  You will get more of what you focus on. Your awareness of it is the biggest step. This is a giant trap though, letting your thoughts astray to the shortcomings of the world. Pick one thing and help. Let the world go. Be the change you wish to see in the world. (Gandhi maybe ?) 

These saying mean very little to youth. They are of the deepest wisdoms to the experienced. Do yourself a solid and get what you want to be focusing on in front of you. Do it, say it, think it, play it, watch it....and you will become it. Be like water (Bruce m'f'n Lee). Then, your're in a real position to do anything about anything. Very sorry to hear you lost your mom so young. 

[S33K3R]

I went through this stage for many years. It is hard to accept the world for its ugly self. But it is what it is and the best thing each of us can do is change ourselves for the better. Hopefully others around us will become better as a result and theoretically if one person changes the ripple effects can really reach far and wide. Changing yourself is the best thing you can do for the world. 

I know this is easier said than done. As I said I struggled with this anger for 8 years. It held my progression back substantially while I waited to let it go. Now I see society for something different. We all have our karma. Who are we to try and work out these complex reasons for why things are this way? Seems like a mighty big weight for one person to take on. 

Something that helped me get beyond this frustration is this. 

Each person has a different level of awareness like the whole systems thinking Leo mentions. But as a collective we all have a collective awareness too. Each of us participate and cannot escape this. The collective consciousness is at a pretty low level of awareness. People like you and me who are becoming aware we are pulling this collective consciousness slightly to a more awake status. Society will never be as aware as we are, we are the ones leading the way to change. We are literally paving the way for the rest of humanity when it comes to awareness evolution.  

[Visitor]

@nexusoflife Does Anyone Else Feel Depressed After They Find Out The The Sheer Amount Of Ignorance And Suffering In The World?

Perhaps you are feeling depressed about your own isolation from the world.

Be grateful that you no longer have to be as ignorant as you were. Despair that you are still ignorant but don't know it. For if you did, then you would also know that everybody, including self, is still ignorant. Though you may not suffer as much fear as others, there are still others who would feel the same way (the sheer amount of ignorance and suffering) about yourself. So accept it. Don't waste your time on being depressed...that is exactly where the ego wants you. It is a way for it to say, "see, I am above all others".

[nexusoflife]

@egoeimai Thanks for taking the time to read through my post I really appreciate it. You're right about perspective being subjective. The more I meditate and read the more I understand this. The difficult part for me is developing the emotional development necessary in order to avoid becoming saddened every time I think about the circumstances of the world currently.

[nexusoflife]

@Michael569 Thanks for your reply and taking the time to help me out. I think that you are absolutely right about finding a personal meaning and ways to contribute. I've been thinking about my life purpose a lot lately and I am beginning to realize just how profoundly important that is in a human's life. I think that Leo's life purpose course may help me out with this. Thanks for helping me to see things in a more positive perspective.

[nexusoflife]

@Nahm Thanks for taking the time to read my post and respond. Your references to the quotes of Rumi, Gandhi and Bruce Lee are indeed powerful words and are some of my favorite quotes about life in general. I'm glad that you bring up the fact that I need something like a serious goal or endeavor in my life to focus on in order to do my part to help the world. I really think that I should take Leo's life purpose course, lately I have been thinking about my life's purpose, what it truly is and it's level of importance in my life. 

[nexusoflife]

@S33K3R Thanks for taking the time to read and reply to my post. It's good to know that there are other people who have felt similarly to how I do. I love your last paragraph regarding collective awareness and individual awareness. Thank you for writing it, I really needed to read that right now. That makes me think about all of the people who are working on self actualization and those working towards making this world a nicer place to live. 

[nexusoflife]

@Visitor Thanks for reading and responding to my post. You're right. I am ignorant and the extent of that ignorance is yet to be known. For If I had more knowledge and awareness of my own psychology and various areas of life I would not be feeling this way. I would know how not to fall into suffering due to external circumstances. I really appreciate the fact that you mention how being depressed is what the ego wants. I never really thought of it that way. However when I do self inquiry and meditation I can see that the ego gets a sort of sick satisfaction from suffering. 

[Visitor]

20 minutes ago, nexusoflife said:

@Visitor... However when I do self inquiry and meditation I can see that the ego gets a sort of sick satisfaction from suffering. 

Interesting insight. Thanks.

[Prabhaker]

7 hours ago, nexusoflife said:

Does Anyone Else Feel Depressed After They Find Out The The Sheer Amount Of Ignorance And Suffering In The World?

If you are depressed, then you are contributing to the suffering in the world. If you feel negativity all around you, it simply shows you are negative within. The world is just a mirror, and you are reflected in it. 

Become more meditative, more blissful so that you can bring more joy in this world , or at least don't contribute more to the suffering in the world.

[ajasatya]

@nexusoflife i've been through your phase myself. the best thing we can do is not to be part of that sick theater of suffering. it's the only way to serve as an exemplar human being, just like the historical buddha himself.

in other hand, notice the fact that suffering is necessary for human beings to wake up. i am immensely grateful for all the suffering i went through for it guided me towards liberation.

[nexusoflife]

@Prabhaker Thanks, you're absolutely right. My depression is contributing to the overall suffering in the world. The more I work on myself the more apparent this is becoming in my awareness. I am going to make an effort to break out of this mindset as I can see that it is not only counter productive for what I want for the world but it is destructive as well. 

[nexusoflife]

@ajasatya Thanks for reading and replying to my post. Right now I am doing my best to work through this phase in my life in order to not contribute to the amount of overall suffering in the world.

[nexusoflife]

@Morrtiz I understand that you do not mean to come across as mean, however I would like to ask you a question. Have you ever heard of a post scarcity resource based economy? Additionally I understand the fact that for most of human history humans had to fight to survive and that humans today have more time to think than they ever have and I am grateful for it. However the state of this world can be massively improved in almost every aspect? Humans must move past scarcity driven motivations if we are ever to see anything resembling widespread self actualization. Here is a documentary detailing a post scarcity resource based economy and the thinking behind my statement, " In society people can’t just live their life as they want. They have to work to earn money." It's quite interesting.  

 

[egoeimai]

2 hours ago, Morrtiz said:

That's rich lol

What ? 

[puporing]

@nexusoflife I can relate to just about every statement there and have gone through a similar period of learning and becoming aware of what goes on around us. There are however, hopeful stories around us as well and I seek to be part of those from day to day. Every little action counts and feels empowering if you follow through on what feels integral to you - such as working for an employer that you feel is contributing to a greater cause than itself, starting your business that will help solve some of these problems, choosing to live minimalistically, etc (or like being vegetarian as you've mentioned). One thing I feel positive about is the role the internet is playing in raising the collective conscious or in making such endeavor more accessible to those who seek it. As well it is more possible now to be in business for yourself than previous days and to create industries that were never dreamt of before. I still suffer from depression but I think taking steps/actions to live the way I envision helps with that. Could start by creating a vision of what you want your life and your work/contribution to look like (this is touched upon in Leo's course as well). Having a vision helps to motivate you to take actions towards that. Hope that helped!

[Truth Seekah]