There are many theories about the cause of human misery and its solution, and they all have something in common, which is the view that it is in the way in which the life unfolds, the way your life looks (your mind, your thoughts, your desires, your intentions, your understanding or lack of understanding, the way you relate to your life and to one another) that the problem and the solution to the problem are to be found. It seems to be the unanimous opinion of those who have reflected upon and spoken about these matters that the nature and characteristics of a life are the source of all the problem. The things that we do or that are done to us are the cause of our confusion, misery, self-hatred and hatred of others, and the general miasma of craziness that human life seems to be for all of us. For instance, it is our ignorance that makes us unhappy, or the sickness of the body, or our aggressiveness. And it is our understanding, our ability to change our relationship to the life and to each other, that can solve that problem for us. There is a kind of tautology in all this: If we are happy, we will be happy. If we are peaceful, we will be peaceful. Of course, this is not the only point of view that has appeared in the last thousands of years of attempting to solve the problem of being a human being, but it is certainly the one that has held sway among all of us for all that time: What I have to do is fix the way I think about things, or rid myself of my desire for things, or my separation from things, I have to come to a deeper understanding, I have to be more loving, compassionate and less attached. And so forth.
Complete, live recording of A Worldwide Meeting with John Sherman on February 28, 2009.
MP3 File
Length: 2 h 3 min.
File size: 29.56 Mb
