Illusory Nature of Thoughts: All Sufferings Are In Your Imagination
“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality” – Seneca
There are two fundamental realities that we live in.
1- An internal landscape with thoughts and feelings.
2- A physical environment where we interact with objects and people.
Most often in life, we tend to confuse the two. These two merge in together. Some of the thoughts we have in our internal landscape never quite materialize.
We have anxiety and worry about circumstances that are yet to come.
You may have this thought of one day becoming successful in your career. Congratulations!
But realize that this is only a thought – pure fiction. You haven’t accomplished anything yet.
The elusive nature of thoughts brings us more misery than just meaningless armchair philosophy.
When we get deeper into human consciousness, we realize that almost all human sufferings (excluding physical pain and discomfort) are created by our thoughts.
These are fiction stories created by our imagination. 99% of these stories, thoughts, worries, anxieties never become materialized.
Let’s look at one of the most common problems of our society: depression.
What is the root cause of depression?
A thought. Having a momentarily deceptive thought about how unworthy and insufficient you are as a human being.
But how true is this?
No one seems to argue the validity of your everyday thoughts. As Sherlock Holmes does, we all need to be keen observers of our thoughts.
Depression is a fictional story your mind has created. If you choose to believe it, you become depressed.
Your quality of life decreases and so does your overall happiness. All of this happens just because you believed in a fiction story that doesn’t actually exist.
Deception of thoughts applies to anxiety, stress, worry, fear, laziness and much more.
Imagine all negative feelings and circumstances – I guarantee that every single one of them starts with a thought and becomes a suffering as you start to believe in their validity.
If we look at our ancestors and current society, creating fiction and believing in things that don’t exist is really nothing new.
Limited liability companies exist only on paper but seen and treated as human beings in the court of law.
Founders of Microsoft can die, but the name and legacy can continue to exist.
History can be described as our attempts at creating a fictional meaning out of fragmented and potentially corrupt bits and pieces. All of our deductions might be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Religion is based on the assumption that there is more to the physical world. The faulty assumption that having faith – thinking that something exists – actually makes it so.
Let me break down the bad news: Your culture, religion, beliefs, and upbringing don’t actually exist.
Through evolution, as our cognition has improved, so did our irrational fears and sufferings.
I want you to see the lies you’ve been telling yourself all these times. All your sufferings are mentally created. But see, this gives you the power to get rid of all your sufferings as well.
As you study more self-development work, the more mindful you are of your thoughts; the less illusion you’ll see.
If you want to have fewer sufferings in life, start doing some conscious inner work. (ex. meditation)
When you wake up tomorrow, don’t multitask. Be as mindful and present to your thoughts and actions as possible.
If the feeling of boredom or frustration sets in, don’t just distract yourself with social media. Stay with the feeling for awhile. Start observing the thoughts that led to the emotions.
Become a detective of your thoughts. Make mindfulness a constant habit.
Your future self will thank you for it.
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- What is Stoicism? A Definition and 3 Stoic Exercises To Get You Started
- Negative Visualization: An Ancient Stoic Technique For Creating Happiness
