Dialectic Two-Step – Self-Realization & Great Suffering

Dialectic Two-Step  is an ongoing series of my thoughts on questions that come my way.

Wisdom lies neither in fixity nor in change, but in the dialectic between the two. - Octavio Paz  

Does Self-Realization Come Only After Great suffering?

Suffering offers, in the clearest possible terms, all  the ingredients for insight into self-realization. But you certainly should not seek suffering or wait for it to pursue it.

A devastating experience offers us a scientific experiment into the causes of suffering. If we can step back a little during trauma, we can discover that much of our suffering is self caused.  I don’t mean physical pain, or the loss of a loved one.  I mean the suffering that comes from worry, disappointment, and regret. These secondary forms magnify real suffering, and generate suffering from nothing.  At the root is a  misguided set of expectations and a confused sense of self.Circling back, we realize that self-realization is realization that self is a barrier to realization!Get Each Week's Dialectic Two Step in your email box.mc4wp-form input[name="_mc4wp_required_but_not_really"]{display:none !important}

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