Sometimes I get rather irritated with numerous vehement statements pouring out of blogs, web-pages, new-age books, about how incredibly beautiful life is, magical, great… All we ever need to do is to open up to the beauty of it, do something with our mindset, not much really, and the rainbows will rise, the angels will sing, money will start pouring and there will be no end to our happiness. Yes, life is really easy and beautiful, isn’t it?
But, are we talking about life in general or our lives, lives of the privileged ones, who were lucky enough to be born on the right side of this planet? And so we can, with our stomachs full of all the grand organic food, in our cosy little rooms, talk about the beauty of life and perhaps comment a bit about the injustice over there, on the other side of the world. And deny and suppress these images and thoughts, when they become to uncomfortable.
So, is life really all that beautiful in general, for everybody? Because if it is so, than we can just simply go down to Ethiopia and other places and tell them they need not worry, they just need to believe their inner power and open up to the beauty and things like that. Because it is really so easy and simple, isn’t it?
I once read somewhere that Buddha said: “No matter how enlightened you are, as long as there are people suffering, you still have plenty of work to do.”
The older I get, the more I understand that.
You nailed it on the head!
All I would add is that physical suffering is not beautiful but spiritual suffering is much worse–i.e., the starving and maimed masses are a bit better off then the people who sit, full of food, limbs intact, permitting a flash of sympathy to run scared through their hearts…
~ Alex
Comment by amzolt — June 27, 2008 @ 10:11 pm
And then to translate that into the beautiful need of wanting all people to thrive, to live in peace and harmony in good health and with full bellies and the laughter of children everywhere……..
And to answer your question, =is life really all that beautiful= I want to say YES! To be able to feel compassion for those suffering, for those in pain and for those who cannot deal with the pain of the other, That makes life beautiful and meaningful for me. Cause from that compassion I get the energy to Do something. even if it is as small as keeping them in my prayers.
(and to answer your question IF I am able to feel compassion for those who cannot deal with the pain, and who use strategies that really irritate me at times, well….. every now and then I can :)) but most of the time I am just ‘happily’ feeling irritated just like you)
Greetings from a fellow East Europe NVCer from Istanbul
Comment by sija — June 27, 2008 @ 11:20 pm
Alexander - thanks for your comment. Interesting point of view.
Sija - thanks for visiting. Another interesting point of view, a new dimension to the issue. My point was actually, now I see it, about the problem of generalisation. It is, of course, absolutely OK to be happy with life and the progress one makes towards happiness. But to generalise that life is actually easy and full of happiness and beautify and that all one needs to do is to change the mindset is, to put it mildly, denying the situation of billions out there, dying of starvation. And, as I understand your point, I do not think we have no right to be happy if there are people suffering out there, I just feel ignoring these sad facts completely is rather problematic.
Comment by Robert — June 28, 2008 @ 2:12 pm
hi,
I read on Alex’ comment that spiritual suffering is worse than the physical one. I’m intrigued by this statement. What lead you to think this, and how do you rate the suffering?
Comment by Anne-Claire C — June 28, 2008 @ 3:31 pm
You’re right in saying that not all life is beautiful.
When I see how some unfortunate people live, I know MY life is beautiful. I know I’m privileged and I constantly contemplate how fortunate I am. I also feel I don’t have the right to complain about much or to ask for more.
I wrote about something similar on my blog but my issue was with the fact that we who have so much, complain a lot about such little things.
If you’re interested, copy and paste “Chiaroscuro” into the search box on my blog (I don’t put in direct links because akismet will treat them like spam)
Comment by razzbuffnik — June 28, 2008 @ 3:44 pm
Anne-Claire, this is a good question indeed. I was puzzled by Alex statement but it didn’t cross my mind to ask for some explanation…
.
So, Alex, would you be willing to clarify your comment a bit more?
Comment by Robert — June 28, 2008 @ 4:24 pm
Yes, Razz, our lives are beautiful yet I guess we complain more than those less unfortunate.
I think you can put in direct links (I would be happy if you did), akismet will let you through if I mark you as an approved person. And I definitely will, you are my main man.
Comment by Robert — June 28, 2008 @ 4:46 pm
OK, Razz, I have read the post and I definitely want to have a link to it here, so here it goes:
http://blog.allthedumbthings.com/2008/05/28/chiaroscuro-and-the-need-to-harden-the-fuck-up/
Thanks
Comment by Robert — June 28, 2008 @ 6:10 pm
I am feeling a bit sad after reading the post of Razz. I so much would like compassion available for every single human being, whether they really “deserve” it or not. I see deep pain behind people’s motivation to complain and recently I got into dialogue with a person I judged as a complainer for years and saw all this persons pain and misery and felt guilty and so sorry for always having judged without seeing the person behind it. It is so easy to give compassion to those who we think need it, the poor and sick, the helpless. But it takes real courage to have compassion for those that we judge as spoiled, complainers, whiners…… to see the human behind the behavior. Only to find out that those people want to be listened to, cared about, understood and seen, to find out that they are human beings in need too….
Comment by sija — June 28, 2008 @ 10:22 pm
Hey Sija, thanks for this, it really adds another dimension to the picture. Thanks.
Comment by Robert — June 28, 2008 @ 11:11 pm
Anne-Claire,
I base my idea about spiritual suffering being worse than physical suffering on my own life. Of course, there are many writers and passages in Holy Books that also say this, but…
Consider a minor example:
Would you rather bear the pain of a severed limb or a broken heart?
Naturally, those lost in the desert of materialism would not necessarily see this perspective…
~ Alex
Comment by amzolt — June 28, 2008 @ 11:31 pm
If you are just talking about your own world; it could be beautiful.And that too depends on the day.
Comment by footiam — June 30, 2008 @ 10:07 am
Hi Alex,
Thanks for the clarification. Robert’s post is mainly about the danger of generalisation, so I’m kind of surprised that you generalise from your own experience, but hehe, it’s great that we don’t all think and react the same!
Comment by Anne-Claire C — June 30, 2008 @ 5:39 pm
Not if you feel that ‘beautiful’ always means ‘good’.
I have been through some incredibly painful things in my life, gone through incredibly hard times (nowhere near like what a starving, abused, female child can go through in a 3rd world country) - but would I say that it isn’t beautiful because it was horrific? No.
What is beautiful? Feeling the fullness of my experience. Rising to the challenge. Seeing the world through a totally different life. The triumph of my spirit, even if it’s only the triumph of perserverence - the triumph of knowing I have to wake up and go through the same thing the next day, yet still wakening upon morning.
I get what you mean, though. It’s one thing to talk about the pursuit of happiness while others are pursuing their right to live.
Comment by Hayden Tompkins — June 30, 2008 @ 6:33 pm
footiam, thanks for visiting. Yeah, things are really relative, aren’t they?
Yes, Hayden, this is preciselly what I was trying to say. And thanks for sharing your story. Whenever I catch a glimpse of it on your blog or within your comments on other blogs I always get a feeling it all must have been painful beyond belief.
Comment by Robert — June 30, 2008 @ 8:02 pm
Time has definitely tempered the terror. I’m not afraid of men anymore.
Comment by Hayden Tompkins — July 1, 2008 @ 6:18 pm