THE COMMON FORM OF SUFFERING

COMMON SUFFERING and MENTAL STRESS

The first form of SUFFERING is evident. We call it COMMON SUFFERING. When you are ANXIOUS or WORRY about something, that is SUFFERING. When you feel GUILTY, that is SUFFERING. Indeed SUFFERING has thousands of facets. The sad thing is that this suffering surrounds us every day. It is always avoidable. Its base is IGNORANCE.

Actually SUFFERING is so common a phenomenon that most of the time people are unaware of its existence unless it is quite extreme. Look at the hundreds of times each day when a slight unpleasant feeling emerges at work or in your everyday life. When you misplace something and become angry, that is SUFFERING. Do you want something that you cannot obtain? That is SUFFERING. Do you feel disappointed when your expectations are not met? That is SUFFERING. This SUFFERING is a direct result of that great enemy of the human creature: UNNATURAL MENTAL STRESS. Why do we bother to call this MENTAL STRESS unnatural, if its unnaturalness appears to be obvious?

We do so because there is, in fact, a NATURAL STRESS. This phenomenon arises when anything at all NEW happens to the system. Whenever something unexpected or new occurs, the human system responds in a very sensible way. It immediately tries to deduce or find out if this novel situation is going to be a threat to its TRUE COMFORT, SECURITY, or its BELONGING.

This is because the physiological system has to be ready to respond to any possible threat which may be found to exist, so the body can prepare for ACTION. The human system must constantly be in a state of relaxed physical and mental readiness to respond. All sorts of internal operations are constantly taking place in the natural system and the mind is constantly prepared to alert the SENSE DOOR CONSCIOUSNESS. You will remember that this is MANASIKARA, turning towards threat and yoking higher states; ADHIMOKKHA, selecting the particular threatening problem; and EKAGGATA, concentrating upon the threat and alerting and yoking the Mind Door of Perception. This is to find out if the THREAT is real or not.

What the system feels when this is going on is a NATURAL STRESS, which we call "EUSTRESS," and NATURAL MUSCULAR TENSION, a physiological preparedness for ACTION. We call this STRESS and TENSION a NATURAL state of EXCITATION. In other words, there is an EXCITEMENT of the whole system. If the threat is seen to be REAL, then the body automatically takes specific programmed ACTIONS. It is the MIND and the INHERITED PERSONALITY of the person under potential threat which dictates the nature of these responses.

The more extreme the THREAT, the more extreme the ACTIONS, and naturally, the more extreme the EXPERIENCES which accompany these ACTIONS. A person walking towards you with a scowl on his face is likely to be received in a different manner than one running towards you, foaming at the mouth, while brandishing an axe.

If the MIND functions correctly in a NATURAL way, with WISDOM, then both ACTIONS and the STRESS and TENSION will be perfectly NATURAL and CORRECT, for it is clearly in the best interest of each person to be prepared for any eventuality. If the person is WISE, then CORRECT ATTITUDES will engender CORRECT INTENTIONS. These CORRECT INTENTIONS will, in turn, result in CORRECT ACTIONS. The human system, when it is working correctly, is a marvellous thing to behold.

If the MIND, however, due to faulty ATTITUDES and faulty PERCEPTIONS, does not work correctly, then the INCORRECT ATTITUDES of the MIND will set in place UNNATURAL DEMANDS which are not in the best interest of the human system. It is the URGENCY for satiation of these DEMANDS that sets UNNATURAL STRESS in motion.

Instead, therefore, of trying to deduce or find out if this novel situation is going to be a threat to its true COMFORT, SECURITY, or its BELONGING, the system goes into a RED ALERT even when no real threat exists. The system then sets up STRESS and TENSION, the preparedness for ACTION, to defend its UNNATURAL DEMANDS.

For example, if you are operating in a healthy manner, and a person who you have never seen before arrives at a party, there will be an immediate and automatic EXCITATION. Your experience may be of displeasure or pleasure, depending on the threat which may appear to exist. It is important to remember that the basic EXCITATION, measured physiologically, would be exactly the same. It is the state of the MIND which identifies the apparent experience and creates apparent EXPERIENCES within CONSCIOUS AWARENESS which appear different. Experiences of LOVE and HATE, for example, are physiologically identical. It is the MIND which decides which it is to experienced within CONSCIOUS AWARENESS. They feel different, but they are not.

In the above situation, if your CORRECT PERCEPTIONS had told you that the person was a threat, then your responses may have been as mild as a casual turning away, watchfulness, or a disdainful look. If, on the other hand, the threat had been correctly seen by perception not to be real, then there may have been an open-hearted welcoming, a gentle smile of approval, or an expressive embrace. If the former had occurred, the experiences would have been perceived as displeasure in one form or another, if the latter, then pleasure in one of its various forms.

The natural and correct system has the capacity to perceive correctly, but it is possible, in the example mentioned, that you may have completely misjudged the situation. In fact, your DEMANDS in that party environment, a novel situation, may have created an URGENCY of responses, an UNNATURAL CONDITION. The system, based upon DEMANDS for a specific outcome and distorted EXPECTATIONS about possible outcomes, could just as easily have produced irrational actions in response to the situation. The DEMANDS would also have initiated a specific MENTAL STATE and there would have been therefore UNNATURAL STRESS.

It would have been your ATTITUDES which were responsible for setting the TYPE, LEVEL, and PATTERN of behaviour to be followed, and if the DEMANDS had dominated, then it would have been DELUSION, GREED, and HOSTILITY which would have determined whether a threat existed or not.

THE EVOLUTION OF AN UNNATURAL DEMAND

                        NATURAL DRIVE

      UNNATURAL DEMAND

      RAW EXPERIENCE     EXPECTATION     INCORRECT ATTITUDE   

                                         INCORRECT BEHAVIOUR       

   UNNATURAL CONDITIONS          

  UNNATURAL MUSCULAR TENSION

      UNNATURAL STRESS

   UNNATURAL MENTAL STATE                         OUTCOME

                       COMMON SUFFERING

                    Conscious or unconscious