Rants

Life is full of pain and suffering. Everything that we do involves pain. That life is full of pain is already a universally-accepted truth. From the moment we were conceived until we die, everyone experiences pain. And what causes these pains that we get along with in life is the fact the we desire infinitely. We get something but we strive to get more. And because we want to get more, we work harder, and in the end, suffer greater. But Buddha points out that the only way to end these pain is to give up our desires. And in the end, after we experience the eight-fold path can we only experience real happiness.

In life, people of today preoccupy themselves with a lot of things so that they would feel a great sense of being. Most of us believe that what defines our humanity is how much we have done in the past, how much we are doing in the present, and how much we are planning to do in the future. there is an emphasis on doing rather than being. We feel a great sense of urgency to keep ourselves busy so that we could experience a great sense of worthiness. But in the end people would complain that life has been very difficult and painful for them. What we do not realize is the fact that what makes life difficult is our desires. Our desire to work infinitely to please everybody makes life harder for us. (Or maybe we don't have the time to reflect because we are so preoccupied with busyness?) Pain comes from not being contented with life alone but rather asking more of what life has to offer. We search for infinite capabilities though we are finite beings. We ought to live like we will not die but in the end we will feel that we are dying without having lived.

What we are can never be defined by HOW MUCH we have done but by WHAT we have done. It is not a matter of quantity but of quality. Choosing the good in everything that we do is one thing and is already enough. Exerting a lot of effort to make people appreciate you for all your deeds would be an entirely different thing.

It is not bad to desire. In fact it is what keeps us focused and directed in our life. Yes, because of these desires we experience pain but it is also essential to our life. And in our desire to do the good we experience pain—a needed pain.

Giving up our desires—the unnecessary ones, will make our life a lot less complicated, and a lot more enjoyable. Because when we give up our unneeded wants and when we start to not preoccupy ourselves with a lot of work can we only see the beauty of our life and of our world. Then we can reflect on things which are essential to us—on doing what is right.