Cause Of Suffering "The cause of all your sufferings begins as a seed"
Introduction
Defining Suffering
1. Suffering is a negative state of the mind.
This includes every negative emotion and mental state you can imagine: anger, fear, jealousy, doubt, judgment, impatience, regret, guilt, and so forth.
Essentially, it is anything you do with your mind that generates a state of unhappiness—no matter how big or small, subtle or intense. As long as you are experiencing any form of unhappiness, you are suffering.
2. Suffering is also a negative state of the body.
When you suffer in the mind, it will also manifest on your body
- Constant worry can manifest as a physical headache.
- Fear can spike your heart rate and tighten your breath.
- Feeling abandoned can show up as a literal ache in your chest.
To Simplify
When you are unhappy, you are suffering.
What is the Cause Of Suffering?
On The Surface
When we look outward for the cause of our unhappiness, it is easy to blame external events or other people—a rude remark, a failed job interview, or unexpected bad news—as the source of our suffering.
But when we turn our attention inward, into the world of The Self, we begin to discover the deeper causes.
And in turn, the deeper solutions.
The Water Puddle Analogy
The deeper you understand the cause of a problem, the more permanent your solution becomes.
Imagine discovering a mysterious puddle of water on your living room floor. If you only clean up the surface without investigating where it came from, the puddle will keep reappearing.
But if you investigate further, you may start to uncover deeper causes:
- Perhaps, it’s a hidden leak inside the wall.
- A loose pipe behind the washing machine.
- A crack in the roof letting rain seep through.
- Or even a complex combination of moisture and air pressure in that corner of the house.
It’s important to face a problem by first exploring the cause.
Because once you discover the true cause, the true solution will naturally present itself.
It's inefficient to do it the other way around, to attempt to apply a lasting solution without first understanding the true cause.
That is why no technique in the world—no matter how popular—will ever truly solve your suffering unless it can guide you directly to its true cause.
The deeper you know the cause to a problem, the deeper solutions you will find.
That is why it is important to know yourself.
Developing Self-Knowing will save you years of wasted effort.
Instead of spending your entire life fighting your suffering like an endless fire by attacking it at the flames, use your energy wisely to extinguish it at the source.
That is precisely why this article was written: to save you a lot of headaches on your journey!
Now, let us explore the Seed Cause Of Suffering.
Suffering As A Tree
Suffering is a multi-dimensional experience because The Self is multi-dimensional.
To simplify this complex process, you can imagine the structure of suffering as a growing tree:
- The Seed: The Level of Beliefs (Idea Dimension)
- The Roots: Negative Thoughts & Emotions (Emotional / Mental Dimension)
- The Branches: Physical Sensations & Habit Patterns (Physical Dimension)
Let us explore how suffering first begins as a seed.
Suffering As The Seed
How Suffering Begins As An Idea
The Seed of Suffering begins as an Idea—specifically, Ideas that promote Self-Rejection.
Consider these common beliefs:
- “Failing is terrible”
- “Arrogant people are the worst”
- “I must never be selfish”
When we become attached to these ideas, they drive us into the state of rejection. For example, we can begin to reject ourselves when we fail, reject others who act arrogantly, and reject ourselves whenever we act selfishly.
To simplify, I call these Ideas that promote Self-Rejection Negative Ideas.
As Negative Ideas can come in so many different forms, we can just simplify these Negative Ideas as Ideas that begin with “It is not ok..”
For example:
- “It is not ok to fail”
- “It is not ok to be arrogant”
- “It is not ok to be selfless”
Once we become attached to these Negative Ideas and adopt them into our belief system, they will trigger various forms of suffering throughout our entire being whenever they are activated.
Let us explore what happens in the Emotional / Mental dimension of The Self when these Negative Ideas are triggered.
Suffering As The Roots
How Suffering Manifests As Negative Thoughts And Emotions
Once a Negative Idea is activated, it expands into the mental dimension as the Roots of Suffering—manifesting as anger, fear, judgment, worry, shame, and so forth.
For example, let’s use the belief: “It is not ok to be lazy”
The moment this seed is triggered, the mind can branch in two directions:
- Inward Rejection: "I must not be lazy!" (Leading to self-judgment and guilt whenever you rest.)
- Outward Rejection: "They should not be lazy!" (Leading to irritation and judgment toward others.)
Negative Emotions will also surface as a consequence
For example:
Anger: We can get agitated or annoyed at people who appear lazy.
Fear & Anxiety: By declaring that "it is not ok to be lazy," The Self starts to constantly worry about being perceived or judged by others as lazy.
And the chain reaction goes on.
The deeper our attachment to this Negative Idea, the more intense our negative reactions will become:
Realize how many different kinds of Suffering a Negative Idea can generate!
Now, let us explore how this suffering moves beyond the mind and takes shape on the body.
Suffering As The Branches
How Suffering Manifests As Physical Sensations / Habit Patterns
The mind and body are intimately connected.
When you experience negative emotions and thoughts, negative physical sensations will always follow. Of course, some are so subtle that it requires a high degree of Self-Awareness to detect—while others are unmistakable.
Continuing with our example of an Intense Fear of Being Lazy, that single fear can manifest physically as:
- Sweaty palms
- A racing heartbeat
- Tightness in the chest
- Mental confusion
- And so forth
These negative physical sensations create genuine discomfort in the physical body. Not only do they drain your physical vitality, but over time, they can place overwhelming stress on your immune system—eventually leading to physical illness.
And to escape the discomfort, one may unconsciously develop defensive habit patterns.
- One may overwork compulsively just to outrun the fear of being perceived as lazy.
- One may isolate themselves or avoid working with others to prevent being judged.
And so forth.
If you look closely at your daily habits, you will come to discover that many of them are actually driven by your Sufferings.
So from One Negative Idea
All forms of Sufferings can blossom!
What to do with this information?
There’s a lot that you can do with this information.
By realizing that Suffering comes from the Ideas we have become attached to.
Suffering no longer becomes mysterious and you no longer will feel helpless.
And in time, you will realize that to truly free yourself from Suffering, you must journey into your belief system to uncover its true cause.
And as you realize what the Seed Cause of Suffering is.
The Solution becomes clear.
If beliefs that cause us to Reject are the cause, then what is the solution?
The solution is to transform them into Accepting beliefs.
Think about it:
- How can you ever be angry if you accept everyone in the world as they are?
- How can you ever be fearful if you can accept all possible outcomes?
- How can you ever judge yourself if you can accept every part of who you are?
Once you become more accepting, you will stop stressing your immune system with suffering and activate the true healing potential of the body.
That is in essence, the ultimate solution to your Sufferings!
∞Path Of The Creator∞
You have the power to transform the mind.
You just need to learn how to use that power.
If you want to accelerate your journey of Self-Transformation, I have designed a course called Path Of The Creator. It is a 4-stage course where we learn how everything works within the mind and how to transform our Sufferings at the deepest level.
What you have just read is merely a small glimpse from 1 of the 44 Self-Transformation Lessons.
- In Stage 2: we will dive even deeper into the seed causes of suffering, uncovering what Rejection and Acceptance truly mean at the deepest level of the mind, which is quite different to how the surface mind perceives.
- In Stage 3: You will be guided on an inner experiential journey to master the blueprint of the mind. Reading about a concept is one thing, but experiencing it firsthand is how you can realize the most efficient way to transform your Negative Ideas.
- In Stage 4: We will examine suffering from the higher perspective of the soul—giving you the complete picture of why suffering exists and where it is really from.
The Path Of The Creator Course is housed inside a dedicated community platform where you can connect with fellow Creators on the same path, ask questions, and receive ongoing guidance from me along the way.
I am currently refining and finalizing the structure of the course and community space. If you are interested, you can join the newsletter below. As soon as the doors officially open, I will send an email straight to your inbox so you can get early access and founding member discounts!
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