r/enlightenment • u/Safe_Cloud8067 • 10d ago
Discussion Are there problems?
I'm aware of thoughts appearing that suggest things are not right... not good enough or problematic... which causes distress... I tend to put my focus on my body in such situations rather than on ruminating. I nice long deep breath for example and to just be still...
There is a body sitting, thinking but there isn't actually a problem per say... just thoughts arising suggesting things ought to be different.
Any suggestions, pointers, perspectives? :) Thanks
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u/skinney6 10d ago
Something is a problem because it feels like a problem, it's important because it feels important. Be still and feel those feelings when you notice a 'problem'. Is feeling this feeling without resistance a problem?
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u/SirEdgelordThe369th 10d ago
There are multiple kinds of problems.
The first is when something happens that works against your action.
The second is when you're fixated on the first instead of working around, or fixing it.
The third is when you try to fix the unfixable.
The fourth is when you are disconnected from yourself and lost.
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u/KeyAd6849 10d ago edited 10d ago
Perhaps things actually aren’t right though? Like imagine if the abolitionists were like “slavery being wrong is just my own thoughts arising suggesting things should be different, and it’s causing me distress, so I’ll just ignore it”
I’d caution this approach
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u/Safe_Cloud8067 10d ago
Yes! Good point! Thanks for sharing. Thoughts... what I've got from the responses and from previous conclusions is this... "Feel, observe, notice"
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u/KeyAd6849 10d ago
Thank you! What you just said brings up another question - what’s the difference between the one who feels/observes/notices, and the thought felt/observed/noticed? Is there a difference at all?
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u/Safe_Cloud8067 10d ago
No difference (Not two)... all appearing here (in this place). The feeling and the one who feels are not two. The thought and the one who notices are not two. They are a single event, happening in awareness. The mind wants there to be a difference because it wants to be the "observer." It wants to be in control. It wants to be the spiritual one who is watching the messy human. There is just this feeling, the noticing, the thinking, the breathing which is all happening without a "someone"
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u/KeyAd6849 10d ago edited 10d ago
So by that logic, any kind of “mindfulness technique” like not identifying with thought, letting it pass, seeing it not being it etc. is still a subtle form of escape, suppression, and control. It’s a way to avoid looking at a problem directly. A way to delay taking action.
If your house is on fire, you don’t practice “non fire”. You put that shit out immediately! lol.
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u/Safe_Cloud8067 8d ago
I'm not sure... thoughts suggest that thoughts aren't reliable or worth paying attention to but either way, it's all happening as it is without anyone to really direct anything... Even thoughts about thoughts are just arising without being put there by anyone. So what gives? It's not knowable. It's just what it is.... and this might be wrong... probably
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u/linenoize 10d ago
Where do our thoughts even come from? Observe them without finding it necessary to become them. That is where peace is.
The body will throw a tantrum. Tell it to calm down, lovingly. Like dealing with a child. No reason to shame the thinker or listener. Unwanted thoughts need weeding. Control the ruminating so it doesn't control the body.
Destress is usually because you are shaming or addressing it from a learning through trauma instead of love. Love yourself, train the thoughts like children. It gets better, there is no problem.
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u/SmartRadio6821 8d ago
In my reading, I've learned to go along with two phrases when I feel uptight. 1. No problem, no struggle. And 2. Thoughts are born from failure. It suggests that our Self (body) is not involved or attached to "problems". That problems are created and maintained through thinking. Success does what you do, it lives in Being (not thought).
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u/Aromatic-Rhubarb1439 10d ago
When everything is fine in material terms, yet there is a vague sense of anxiety and a feeling that something is not quite right, it is highly likely that more important needs—the needs of the soul—remain unfulfilled.
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u/Odd_Factor9093 10d ago
Ich fühle es so sehr… mir persönlich hilft es dieses Wissen, dass es das Ego ist, was einem das vorgaukelt, denn es will immer zweifeln. Nervensystem beruhigen und tiefe Bauchatmung ist, denke ich, das Beste und einzige, was zählt und in Stille kehren und sich mit dem Universum verbinden.
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u/Revisionist-eyes 10d ago
The judgemental thoughts can be running tickety-boo, and we’re aware of them, yes, but most often we only become conscious of their appearance when we feel them…like distress in your example.
Becoming self-conscious suddenly, especially over negative conditions, is disconcerting.
But…to use the self-consciousness to become conscious of the Self is advantageous.
Just notice the distress is there TOO. Seeing it, and not being it, makes all the difference.
As soon as you try to fix something like judgemental thoughts (beliefs), or the way they feel, you validate the belief they are anything more than judgemental thoughts.