Although suffering is very real to us, it's root lies in big misunderstandings... Here's why.
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions … but so is the road to heaven. Good intentions aren’t the problem. It’s their execution that isn’t working out well. There needs to be a better way.” ― Michael Watson[i]
Every challenge in life, every unpleasant or painful experience, every personal trait has a divine root.
How is that possible? Let me explain.
The supposed original state of every living being is Happiness, which manifests as either Peace, Love or Joy. Generally speaking, we may say that people in early childhood experience these three states in their purest forms, although with low level of consciousness.
However, when that being is confronted with a dynamic and non-perfect environment, it develops ways to acclimate to the newly changed surroundings, through a process we’ll call the “Chain of Goals.” It may form beliefs or predispositions which actually limit the being’s perception of the world around it. In this way, the being is no longer in a state of complete or absolute Peace. Consequently, it creates its first goal: to get back the lost Peace. An example of the Chain of Goals is symbolically shown in figure below.
In the example shown above, the individual experiences the new environment as not completely satisfying. Perhaps they think, “I’m not totally safe,” or “my Peace is not complete.” Thus, a goal for getting back that original state of Peace spontaneously emerges: “I want to be safe and happy (again).” It seems like a logical reaction, but in reality, these preconceptions pile on top of each other, burying the original goal deeper and deeper.
Usually, there is a passage of time between the emergencies of each goal. Then, the new environment, which may feel puzzling or challenging due to their skewed perception or belief, induces new, even more limiting beliefs. Those could be “I am not safe,” “this is a dangerous environment,” or similar. Now, the next goal naturally forms within the conscious being: “I have to be cautious in every situation.” That limits them furthermore, putting strict boundaries around the perceived interior and external dangerous surroundings. The individual contracts and becomes more “dense.”
As a result, even more challenging circumstances develop around the individual.
This process goes on and on. Finally, in our example, the individual finds him or herself apparently locked inside a harsh and hostile environment, forced to fight against enemies. At this stage, one becomes extremely heavy, contracted and sealed, confined within firm self-induced borders between inner and outer world.
Of course, there is a way out of this.
From a higher point of view, as the whole chain of goals has been revealed, it becomes obvious that this process of descending from Peace to the current harsh circumstances is actually a big misunderstanding. Despite its best effort and good intentions, the individual has trapped themselves in a cycle of descent. This happens unintentionally, due to error, delusion or misinterpretation of the environment and him or herself.
Let’s elaborate on a few more views on common states of being, which could help to give a clearer picture of the Chain of Goals process in general.
The highest Basic state is the Supreme Happiness of Being, and it is threefold: Love, Peace and Joy.
But, as we can learn from many life examples of the Chain of Goals, these three states might be spoiled or degraded. In fact, people very often try to find these higher states through their degraded forms.
Love in its degraded form is infatuation or obsession. People try to find Love through romantic obsession toward another human being, which ends up in anguish in most of cases.
Peace in its degraded form is drugs and alcohol. Unfortunately, so many individuals try to find inner peace by suppressing their unpleasant feelings. They do so by dulling their consciousness any way they can, often by abusing addictive substances.
Joy in its degraded forms are sensual bodily pleasures. One’s own body is an understandable place to start the search for joy, as the chain of goals causes one to look inward, and seek immediate allayment within the realm they know best.
The lowest basic states are anger, fear and pain. In their original state, all of them were actually positive in nature. Yet, once passed through dense filters of false beliefs, negative rules and other elements of personality which I will elaborate upon later, they become anger or rage, aversion or fear and sorrow or pain.
Anger was originally determination or firmness.
Fear was originally caution or thoughtfulness.
Pain was originally seriousness or diligence.
Every human experience or mind content has elements of at least some of these basic states.
In dealing with emotional difficulties it could also be helpful to know the following:
This will be useful in many situations when we have to choose which higher state is to be reached in order to dissolve some particular lower state of mind.
I have to emphasize that the streak of descending goals and perceptions is not endless. Every single conscious (or temporary unconscious) being will begin the process of ascending at some point in their existence. Initially, that process is very unstable and volatile, with some aspects of life still descending and other ones beginning ascending, but as time goes by, the individual becomes more and more firm and determined in their orientation toward the original Happiness or Source.
[i] Michael Watson, International Trainer of NLP and Ericksonian Hypnosis, source: http://www.phoenix-services.org/blog/
Every challenge in life, every unpleasant or painful experience, every personal trait has a divine root.
How is that possible? Let me explain.
The supposed original state of every living being is Happiness, which manifests as either Peace, Love or Joy. Generally speaking, we may say that people in early childhood experience these three states in their purest forms, although with low level of consciousness.
However, when that being is confronted with a dynamic and non-perfect environment, it develops ways to acclimate to the newly changed surroundings, through a process we’ll call the “Chain of Goals.” It may form beliefs or predispositions which actually limit the being’s perception of the world around it. In this way, the being is no longer in a state of complete or absolute Peace. Consequently, it creates its first goal: to get back the lost Peace. An example of the Chain of Goals is symbolically shown in figure below.
In the example shown above, the individual experiences the new environment as not completely satisfying. Perhaps they think, “I’m not totally safe,” or “my Peace is not complete.” Thus, a goal for getting back that original state of Peace spontaneously emerges: “I want to be safe and happy (again).” It seems like a logical reaction, but in reality, these preconceptions pile on top of each other, burying the original goal deeper and deeper.
Usually, there is a passage of time between the emergencies of each goal. Then, the new environment, which may feel puzzling or challenging due to their skewed perception or belief, induces new, even more limiting beliefs. Those could be “I am not safe,” “this is a dangerous environment,” or similar. Now, the next goal naturally forms within the conscious being: “I have to be cautious in every situation.” That limits them furthermore, putting strict boundaries around the perceived interior and external dangerous surroundings. The individual contracts and becomes more “dense.”
As a result, even more challenging circumstances develop around the individual.
This process goes on and on. Finally, in our example, the individual finds him or herself apparently locked inside a harsh and hostile environment, forced to fight against enemies. At this stage, one becomes extremely heavy, contracted and sealed, confined within firm self-induced borders between inner and outer world.
Of course, there is a way out of this.
From a higher point of view, as the whole chain of goals has been revealed, it becomes obvious that this process of descending from Peace to the current harsh circumstances is actually a big misunderstanding. Despite its best effort and good intentions, the individual has trapped themselves in a cycle of descent. This happens unintentionally, due to error, delusion or misinterpretation of the environment and him or herself.
Let’s elaborate on a few more views on common states of being, which could help to give a clearer picture of the Chain of Goals process in general.
The highest Basic state is the Supreme Happiness of Being, and it is threefold: Love, Peace and Joy.
But, as we can learn from many life examples of the Chain of Goals, these three states might be spoiled or degraded. In fact, people very often try to find these higher states through their degraded forms.
Love in its degraded form is infatuation or obsession. People try to find Love through romantic obsession toward another human being, which ends up in anguish in most of cases.
Peace in its degraded form is drugs and alcohol. Unfortunately, so many individuals try to find inner peace by suppressing their unpleasant feelings. They do so by dulling their consciousness any way they can, often by abusing addictive substances.
Joy in its degraded forms are sensual bodily pleasures. One’s own body is an understandable place to start the search for joy, as the chain of goals causes one to look inward, and seek immediate allayment within the realm they know best.
The lowest basic states are anger, fear and pain. In their original state, all of them were actually positive in nature. Yet, once passed through dense filters of false beliefs, negative rules and other elements of personality which I will elaborate upon later, they become anger or rage, aversion or fear and sorrow or pain.
Anger was originally determination or firmness.
Fear was originally caution or thoughtfulness.
Pain was originally seriousness or diligence.
Every human experience or mind content has elements of at least some of these basic states.
In dealing with emotional difficulties it could also be helpful to know the following:
- Love dissolves anger.
- Peace dissolves fear.
- Joy dissolves pain.
This will be useful in many situations when we have to choose which higher state is to be reached in order to dissolve some particular lower state of mind.
I have to emphasize that the streak of descending goals and perceptions is not endless. Every single conscious (or temporary unconscious) being will begin the process of ascending at some point in their existence. Initially, that process is very unstable and volatile, with some aspects of life still descending and other ones beginning ascending, but as time goes by, the individual becomes more and more firm and determined in their orientation toward the original Happiness or Source.
[i] Michael Watson, International Trainer of NLP and Ericksonian Hypnosis, source: http://www.phoenix-services.org/blog/
