A permanent Self — cause of unhappiness

There is suffering

The answers to our sufferings and understanding of reality have all been widely discussed and made available to us a long time ago through Vedas, Upanishads, and Buddhist literature. Yet, the human race in totality is nowhere near these realms. Even if we argue that the answers laid out in those scriptures were incomplete, considering that we are evolving and the long timeline since these grounds were set, we should have narrowed it down and come closer, rather it seems we are lost away!

Suffering is rising when the human race is(supposedly)developing with time. Everyone feels it superficially in the form of unhappiness/ void but a majority of us haven’t built a proper cognition yet. Distractions at every step and blindness to any other way apart from societal norms restrict us in the trap of victimhood and take away our ability to understand anything beyond the superficial feeling of unhappiness/ void. The way to break this loop is by questioning and inquiring within ourselves. We need to sit down calmly and ask these important questions to ourselves. Why am I feeling that something is missing in my life? Why am I unhappy when my materialistic standards of life are slowly improving? Why am I believing what I am believing now?

Buddha laid out his first noble truth, acknowledging that there is suffering. If we silently sit down to observe ourselves and start with a gentle introspection, slowly no amount of distraction would be enough to hide the fact that the real reason for us not feeling happy and contended is suffering; mental and physical. We are in the shackles of depression, anxiety, stress, low self-esteem, etc. As we are moving forward, our mental and physical sufferings are increasing rather than decreasing. This should not be confused with the ability to treat illness with modern medicine. If the ground understanding that there is suffering and it is on the rise is laid then it opens up the space for further examination.

A false belief system

If growth in terms of physical wealth alone is measured then definitely prosperity is present. Year by year the disposable income is increasing, progressively we can afford health care, we are getting educated to be employed by the system and the story continues. Still, we keep on feeling unhappiness, unwholesomeness, unfulfillment, and unexplainable pain. On introspection, we find that suffering is uncorrelated with materialistic growth once our basic survival is met. We keep on living with this illusion that materialistic growth leads to happiness. As long as this veil exists, the false causality of materialism and suffering will remain ingrained in our belief system.

If the belief system itself is illusory then it shouldn’t be a surprise that the actions to alleviate suffering have no effective results. These sufferings that exist deep down keep piling up at every stage since the efforts are not addressing them, then surface as a feeling of void or disconnect from self. We need to isolate ourselves for some time, calm down, and question our belief system. Only when we recognize that the goal we believe in may not be the ultimate one that this life warrants, can we contemplate what elements have been responsible for upholding such a belief system.

From the moment we take birth, we are subject to the conditionings of the society and the norms. We are only led to believe and affirm the supposed reality of the people around us. Our parents/ teachers/ guardians/ elders subconsciously download us with all the biases and limitedness of their beliefs. The entire education, social, and financial ecosystem helps to corroborate that. All of these contribute to developing a deep-rooted false belief system within us. A belief system that centers around one principle i.e. a permanent self. We are taught this doctrine and are then thrown into a reality where the laws governing it are opposites i.e. impermanence.

In our nurturing days, we are programmed to function with a clear ego boundary of I, self, and mine filled with delusional values of permanency. Our minds then start to build up and operate in these narrow bandwidths. We grow up with a clear intention of securing everything that would make it feel safe and nurtured all the time. Society presents and enforces a specific path for an individual to uphold the identity of its collective ego. We are made to believe that we are the center of our world. It teaches us that the purpose of life is success and it can be achieved by securing our position in this society. All of this sounds good but sadly isn’t true. 

And yet again we need to sit down, calm down, and ask ourselves whether there is a permanent self; whether anything is permanent at all.

Once we have understood the building blocks of our illusionary belief system, a power unleashes that guides us to the truth and aligns us with the actual cosmic laws; The Dharma. This is not the end, where we start to feel blissful and complete rather this is just the beginning. We have just begun the alignment of self with the universe. The path is long and arduous till we reach the final goal of sat-chit-Anand( the state of never-ending blissfulness) but with every step we take towards the truth we would feel more and more fulfilled.