Does the average person really suffer?

[Firmament]

I think most humans are suffering greatly, but we turn a blind eye to it. People can pretend to be content for a period of time, but eventually the effect of not living in alignment with your true, deep desires catches up with you. Imagine all the suffering that may take place unconsciously, or in silence, especially in the later years of life. In nursing homes. On the deathbed. And does determinism count as suffering? When your life is run mostly by the coping mechanisms of the unconscious mind rather than by the free choice of the conscious mind, then that's like failing to show up to your own life!

[isabel]

yes, I asked myself that for my whole life

why did I go through such horrific suffering? 

it was because I never wanted to live a superficial life

do I want the blue pill?

no way! 

how can having a "good" relationship or a "nice" car compare to being on a quest to see the face of god?

lol! 

 

 

 

[TeamBills]

http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/global-poll-shows-53-of-the-world-is-happy-but-what-about-the-us-1636612.htm

This pole is in line with the articles I have read from Google. So yes, most people are not unhappy.

Here is an interesting stat (I can't remember where on the Internet I read this) every single country in the world thinks that the people in their country are more commonly unhappy then they actually are.

I once asked my grandparents if people were happier when they were younger. Their response was "oh my god yeah". The way they emphasized those words was very strong. They also stated that "back then people actually cared and looked out for each other".

And hell yes I would take that blue pill.

[Brittany]

One of the "curses" of this path, is that you will see with crystal clarity how much people are suffering.

Your friends are suffering, your parents are suffering, your siblings are suffering, your lover is suffering, your boss is suffering, the strangers you meet on the street, etc.

It is my least favorite part. It's a horror film.

And you will see the suffering in celebrities, suffering in your leaders, suffering in everyone you used to "look up to".

It is the end of competition. The end of comparing yourself to other people.

The end of seeing people on a hierarchy scale.

Edited September 19, 2018 by Brittany

[cirkussmile]

Yes, they suffer. A lot. 

But they don’t see it as suffering. They never stop and feel what they are feeling and that is the ultimate suffering. 

[TeamBills]

4 hours ago, Brittany said:

One of the "curses" of this path, is that you will see with crystal clarity how much people are suffering.

Your friends are suffering, your parents are suffering, your siblings are suffering, your lover is suffering, your boss is suffering, the strangers you meet on the street, etc.

It is my least favorite part. It's a horror film.

And you will see the suffering in celebrities, suffering in your leaders, suffering in everyone you used to "look up to".

It is the end of competition. The end of comparing yourself to other people.

The end of seeing people on a hierarchy scale.

 

3 hours ago, cirkussmile said:

Yes, they suffer. A lot. 

But they don’t see it as suffering. They never stop and feel what they are feeling and that is the ultimate suffering. 

I think you guys are over estimating the amount of people that suffer. If someone is truly suffering a lot, whether they notice it or not, they are going to answer a survey about how happy they are as unhappy. Deep suffering  leaves one unhappy. I don't believe you can be suffering a lot and not be unhappy. Well, maybe. But that percent is super small. 13% of the world considers themselves unhappy. 

Going back to the fact that I read on the Internet every country  in the world over estimates the amount of people that are unhappy and every country over estimates the amount of people that are truly suffering.

 

 

 

Edited September 19, 2018 by TeamBills

[Joseph Maynor]

The more intelligent/wiser you are the more you suffer because the more you see the illusion for what it is.  Once you see the illusion for what it is, you don’t really wanna have any part of it.  That creates a certain kind of suffering because you can’t just ‘be normal’.  I’ve seen through the illusion of culture my whole life — it started when I was a kid.  I was always a loner off by myself as a kid.  I’ve always felt like an outcast.  And even when I have had friends, none of my friends were ever on my level thinking-wise.  It was like me tolerating them.  The best friends I ever had were people that drew me out of my shell, and where we didn’t compete with each other.  People who can bring my humor out are great for me to be around.  And these are usually laid back, fun loving types.  Ditto for girlfriends.  It’s a disaster for me to have a girlfriend where I gotta be the one drawing her out of her shell.  My best girlfriend was the one I had in college who just wanted to do fun things all the time.  And she didn’t really care squat about my philosophical ideas.  We got along great and she was always pushing me out of my shell.  And I did it too because she was always wanting to do something fun.  She would drag me out of my apartment literally.  She’d say, ‘we’re doing this today’ — and I’d be like ‘ok.’  And after we broke up, all I did was sit in my apartment alone, and I was totally content with that too.

Edited September 19, 2018 by Joseph Maynor

[Nahm]

Suffering is the norm, so people don’t realize the average diet, average weight, average degree of overthinking, the average stress level, average # of pills taken, the average level of fitness, the average level of dreaming - etc - etc. Suffering has so deeply become the norm. Suffering is a-maze-ing oneself. Liberating one’s self from it, is connective; amazing. 

[cirkussmile]

7 hours ago, TeamBills said:

 

I think you guys are over estimating the amount of people that suffer. If someone is truly suffering a lot, whether they notice it or not, they are going to answer a survey about how happy they are as unhappy. Deep suffering  leaves one unhappy. I don't believe you can be suffering a lot and not be unhappy. Well, maybe. But that percent is super small. 13% of the world considers themselves unhappy. 

Going back to the fact that I read on the Internet every country  in the world over estimates the amount of people that are unhappy and every country over estimates the amount of people that are truly suffering.

 

 

 

Anything that is not peace and contentment is suffering. ’Normal’ people can never be still and so they are never content. 

The only way to find out is to see your own suffering. Then you understand that every single one suffers deeply but the only difference is that you know it and they don’t. They may not be unhappy but they are not peaceful and relaxed which is suffering. 

Normal people doesn’t even know what ’Happy’ means and so they don’t know what unhappy means either. 

[cirkussmile]

1 hour ago, Joseph Maynor said:

The more intelligent/wiser you are the more you suffer because the more you see the illusion for what it is.  Once you see the illusion for what it is, you don’t really wanna have any part of it.  That creates a certain kind of suffering because you can’t just ‘be normal’.  I’ve seen through the illusion of culture my whole life — it started when I was a kid.  I was always a loner off by myself as a kid.  I’ve always felt like an outcast.  And even when I have had friends, none of my friends were ever on my level thinking-wise.  It was like me tolerating them.  The best friends I ever had were people that drew me out of my shell, and where we didn’t compete with each other.  People who can bring my humor out are great for me to be around.  And these are usually laid back, fun loving types.  Ditto for girlfriends.  It’s a disaster for me to have a girlfriend where I gotta be the one drawing her out of her shell.  My best girlfriend was the one I had in college who just wanted to do fun things all the time.  And she didn’t really care squat about my philosophical ideas.  We got along great and she was always pushing me out of my shell.  And I did it too because she was always wanting to do something fun.  She would drag me out of my apartment literally.  She’d say, ‘we’re doing this today’ — and I’d be like ‘ok.’  And after we broke up, all I did was sit in my apartment alone, and I was totally content with that too.

I feel you

I would say that girlfriends are the best spiritual practice. They tell you directly when you are ignorant with their feelings and behavior. They never say it directly but if you feel a bad vibe it’s certainly your own fault ? Took me over a decade to realize it’s completely my own fault. I came to see that it all stems from my lack of being who I am, I cared to much about them and being liked. 

After my awakening I met a girl again. But this time I wasn’t scared and I had nothing to lose. I told her everything what I will do in life and all my behaviors. I literally said that no girl can make me happier than being who I am and that includes being lazy and, from her perspective, inactive. I didn’t hold anything in. To my surprise, that made her love me even more. 

Without love, my life is only emptiness. She paints my world in colors.

 

 

Edited September 19, 2018 by cirkussmile

[TeamBills]

2 hours ago, Joseph Maynor said:

The more intelligent/wiser you are the more you suffer because the more you see the illusion for what it is.  

Interesting point. I never thougt about it like that.

 

2 hours ago, Joseph Maynor said:

 And after we broke up, all I did was sit in my apartment alone, and I was totally content with that too.

You sound like me.@Nahm Let me be clear. I'm not saying people don't suffer. I'm saying not many people suffer deeply. 99% of people that are suffering deeply are going to respond to the pole I posted as unhappy.

[kev014]

25 minutes ago, TeamBills said:

I'm not saying people don't suffer. I'm saying not many people suffer deeply. 99% of people that are suffering deeply are going to respond to the pole I posted as unhappy.

So  everyone is fully conscious of their levels of happiness and fulfillment within their lives? And on some random poll they are going to be fully honest and disclose their true sentiments? People try to hide their feelings and deny them. There is a spectrum of happiness and suffering, the two are not necessarily synonymous. One can be suffering some serious emotional pains but still very content and at ease in the grand scheme of their life. Meanwhile, someone can be super happy about their new car and hot girlfriend but a growing feeling in their core of meaningless and emptiness.

Someone earlier explained this, the worst suffering is shutting yourself off from feeling because the pain is too much - this is what is happening largely throughout the world. Our modern society has people moving less and less and spending more time stagnant at work, in their commute, watching television, etc. and their bodies are becoming increasingly rigid and lacking of motility (i.e. energy and ability to feel and express emotions). If you look at the rates of depression, anxiety and suicide rates (and the corresponding BS pharmaceuticals prescribed) around the world it is increasing rapidly. It's like the pain inside gets worse and worse but your body literally does not allow you to experience it by contracting your musculature and inhibiting the flow of energy and emotions. 

[WelcometoReality]

@MM1988 most people are content as you say. Then they hit there 40's and start to question things. ?

 

[TeamBills]

3 hours ago, kev014 said:

 

People try to hide their feelings and deny them. There is a spectrum of happiness and suffering, the two are not necessarily synonymous. One can be suffering some serious emotional pains but still very content and at ease in the grand scheme of their life. Meanwhile, someone can be super happy about their new car and hot girlfriend but a growing feeling in their core of meaningless and emptiness.

Someone earlier explained this, the worst suffering is shutting yourself off from feeling because the pain is too much - this is what is happening largely throughout the world. Our modern society has people moving less and less and spending more time stagnant at work, in their commute, watching television, etc. and their bodies are becoming increasingly rigid and lacking of motility (i.e. energy and ability to feel and express emotions). If you look at the rates of depression, anxiety and suicide rates (and the corresponding BS pharmaceuticals prescribed) around the world it is increasing rapidly. It's like the pain inside gets worse and worse but your body literally does not allow you to experience it by contracting your musculature and inhibiting the flow of energy and emotions. 

You haven't changed my mind. I believe people are being honest with the polls. I believe if people are truly suffering to a large degree they will not hide it, instead they will complain about it because they want to feel sorry for themselves. 

"And on some random poll they are going to be fully honest and disclose their true sentiments?"

This wasn't one random pole. I read about 20 and then picked one that was closest to the averages that I saw.

The suicide rate in the United States is definitely increasing. That I agree with.

Edited September 19, 2018 by TeamBills

[Barna]