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What is the real cause of suffering? Suffering is only and always the result of not accepting the present moment as it is, of not accepting the current life situation. It’s the refusal of any unpleasant emotions. It’s a rejection of reality, the denial of life, and the denial of the natural laws. Suffering is an indication that you are resisting reality.
According to Buddha, the cause of human suffering is a mind that’s not free from desires. So, it’s our own mind that causes delusions of pain, distress, and suffering. Desire is bondage. Desire is dis-ease. Desire means that right here, and now you’re not at ease, and something else in the future, if fulfilled, will bring you peace and happiness.
This tension of the mind for the future is desire. Hence, whether fulfilled or not, every desire leads to misery.
In essence, people are tempted by the desires of their five senses: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and touch. To overcome emotional pain and suffering, one should learn not to grasp at things and become accustomed and attached to them. When you see a beautiful person, or hear pleasant sounds, smell pleasant fragrances, taste delicious things, or touch beautiful objects, you should not become attached to them, having a craving desire to possess them. Instead, you should carefully guard the doors of your five senses. The reasoning here is that all objects of desire are impermanent and uncertain, and therefore, even the fulfilment of your desires leads to suffering.
If you give up your attachments to your desires, to those imaginary and artificial things in the material world, you’ll free yourself from suffering. Then, you’ll know the peacefulness and happiness that comes with that freedom.
Our birthright is to be happy and joyful every moment of our life. Happiness is our natural state, although often, many of us deny it to ourselves. Hence, it’s vital to discover what brings joy and happiness in your life. You can reduce or eliminate the pain of suffering in your life by making wise choices that will make you happy, without any regrets during the hours of your days. Remember that at each moment, you have a choice about what you want to do or experience in your life. And your daily choices will determine your level of happiness and the quality of your life.
As Heraclitus said wisely, “Day by day, what you choose, what you think, what you do is who you become.”
You are what you choose to love. And whatever you choose to love, you will become. Love is alchemical. If you choose to love money, you‘ll become like money and start to acquire the qualities of money. You’ll become cold, loveless, and lifeless, and you’ll lose your true self.
Look carefully at those around you, and you’ll see that people who accumulate money cannot love truly because, in essence, money accumulation is a substitute for love. These people believe that if they have more money, they’ll feel more secure. They accumulate money because they fear that they cannot trust and cannot rely on others. So they choose to rely on things, to rely on money, and other material possessions.
However, you need to understand that all material possessions can give you a false sense of security. Only love can give you a real sense of security. As Billy Graham said beautifully, “Nothing can bring a real sense of security into the home except true love.”
Find out more about how to achieve ultimate freedom from suffering, and discover the path to authentic happiness and joy in the life-changing book “Another Way of Living: A Journey to Infinite Peace, Immense Joy and True Freedom (Book 1)” by Dr Snezhana Djambazova-Popordanoska, MD, PhD
Read more about understanding the cause human suffering on our blog here.