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Frustration
Some of things I've found in my study of the self have liberated me in many ways. Something that makes me incredibly frustrated is my inability to share it with others. The English language just isn't colorful enough to describe it. There simply are no words.
I've found that I cannot speak truth.
I can only speak words about truth.
I look at the people around me and I see that most of the time they suffer needlessly. Oftentimes, I feel bad because I know that if they just understood a few things they wouldn't have to experience that pain.
Once, I was talking to a family member and I tried to subtly convey a question that I thought would provoke thought. Instantly, they dismissed the question as something 'impossible' because 'that isn't the way the world works'. In their head, they had already made up there mind that the world was this way, and there was no other way of looking at it. It hurt because I could tell that this person was trying to understand and see things from my perspective, but no matter how I phrased the concept, it was completely foreign to them.
Do you remember when you were 10 and you thought you knew everything? Then when you turned 12 you looked back and realized "huh, I really didn't know anything back then, but now I've got it figured out!" Then you ended up doing the same thing when you turned 16, 18, etc...
I think I read somewhere that buddhists don't try to teach others unless a person seeks them out for answers. How do you deal with the frustration? Honestly, I feel helpless and inadequate. People walk around hurt and afraid and they don't know why.
Even if I was able to convey these things, it would mean nothing to them unless they experienced it for themselves.
I refuse to believe that "this is just the way things are".
I've found that I cannot speak truth.
I can only speak words about truth.
I look at the people around me and I see that most of the time they suffer needlessly. Oftentimes, I feel bad because I know that if they just understood a few things they wouldn't have to experience that pain.
Once, I was talking to a family member and I tried to subtly convey a question that I thought would provoke thought. Instantly, they dismissed the question as something 'impossible' because 'that isn't the way the world works'. In their head, they had already made up there mind that the world was this way, and there was no other way of looking at it. It hurt because I could tell that this person was trying to understand and see things from my perspective, but no matter how I phrased the concept, it was completely foreign to them.
Do you remember when you were 10 and you thought you knew everything? Then when you turned 12 you looked back and realized "huh, I really didn't know anything back then, but now I've got it figured out!" Then you ended up doing the same thing when you turned 16, 18, etc...
I think I read somewhere that buddhists don't try to teach others unless a person seeks them out for answers. How do you deal with the frustration? Honestly, I feel helpless and inadequate. People walk around hurt and afraid and they don't know why.
Even if I was able to convey these things, it would mean nothing to them unless they experienced it for themselves.
I refuse to believe that "this is just the way things are".
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Comments
A valuable lesson to learn in life is to love people for who they are even if that means watching them fall down but always be there to help them back up.
There's no need for you to feel bad about these things. You have given people the opportunity to learn the dhamma, but it's left entirely to them to make the effort to understand. You cannot force it into them if they do not want to make the effort or if they are not interested. But your heart is in the right place... your acts are one of generosity and compassion.
Peace _/\_
Suffering is how we learn.
The wonderful compassion and concern you have for the people you see suffering needlessly can only be developed through your own suffering. you can empathise for these people because you know how they feel.
Try to think of it as a learning process that they must go through themselves. Similar to the Buddha teaching that we must not accept the truth of other people but to find it ourselves through experience- you can't tell people they are suffering unnecessarily. They must find that truth for themselves.
Palzang