“When someone seeks,” said Siddhartha, “then it easily happens that his eyes see only the thing that he seeks, and he is able to find nothing, to take in nothing because he always thinks only about the thing he is seeking, because he has one goal, because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: having a goal. But finding means: being free, being open, having no goal.”
—Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha
Have you ever felt that whatever you do, you never reach your goal? Or once you’ve reached it, you’re still not satisfied? Our main problem is not gaining more worldly possessions than others, but rather constantly feeling like something is missing. In order to fill this void we mistake materialism for happiness.
The world we live in keeps us perpetually chained to our desires. After we satisfy one, we immediately feel a strong urge to satisfy another, and so on and so forth. We fall into a downward spiral of never-ending dissatisfaction. Even if we are constantly told material things won’t bring happiness, mass media and advertisements make us believe we need to possess certain objects to be happy and fulfilled.
On the surface, Buddhist philosophy consists of rejecting consumerism and directing your life’s path towards a search of true happiness and fulfillment. But then, what is true happiness? According to Siddhartha Gautama —commonly known as Buddha—, the first teacher of Buddhist doctrines, the main obstacle that keep people from finding happiness is precisely that constant and obsessive search for happiness. Nowadays, this obsession manifests more often through consumerism, but any other kind of obsession is as detrimental. The final goal of Buddhism is to attain absolute peace of mind and spirit.
Through its meditation practices, people can learn to contemplate their suffering and learn from it.
According to the logic of Buddhism, an individual suffers because of the need to satisfy the desire to leave that smothering cycle of suffering. However, the inability to completely satiate these desires fills the mind with frustration and sadness.
Buddhist people are at peace with the Universe; this the only way humankind can find a balance between body and psyche. This means learning to accept those circumstances of our lives we cannot change or are beyond our control and dispersing pain through reflection.
Once we reach a harmonious mental state, we gain the ability to perceive the world in its purest state, without prejudices or whimsies that may tamper with our thoughts. This point in which we reach enlightenment is called Nirvana, a word that means “blown” and refers to “extinguishing the three fires of greed, delusion, and hatred.” The aim of Buddhism is to help people reach that point, but very few succeed. The reason behind this low rate is because enlightenment requires discipline and very rigorous meditation practices, in which contenders must not feel desirous or capricious in the slightest.
Buddhism isn’t an absolute path. Sometimes, Hindu adepts, as well as leaders like Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, seek the help of their gods and pray to strengthen their willpower during meditation and as such reach Nirvana.
Did you ever suspect that your desire for a better life could be the source of your suffering? Many religions regard happiness and sadness as emotions we must live as part of our faith and devotion. Notwithstanding that, Buddhist wisdom has been proving, since many centuries ago, that to find your path towards fulfillment, you must first detach form your view on these concepts.
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Sources
Harari, Yuval Noah (2014). From Animals into Gods: A Brief History of Humankind. Amazon.
BBC
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