[Machinaforce]

Originally Posted by Swampwolf

Yeah, dude. I'm gonna join in with others here and say "Let it go." Having read a fair number of your posts, it's obvious to me that you're a seeker. That's great! It's also a tough path, because there is no actual goal. Well, there is a goal, but as soon as you reach it, there's another one right over the horizon. There's nothing wrong with that, but you may discover that, for your own well-being, you'll have to discard the seeking and replace it with satisfaction. I'm seeing a lot of intelligence, but also a lot of complexity. Some Buddhist philosophies promote simplicity. ISTM that's something that could be of great benefit to you.

Now, I'm just making this up as I go, so bear with me. Spirituality can be a lot like materialism: "I have knowledge, but there's more out there. I just know it!" is, at its core, no different than "I have money and stuff, but I could have more. I just know it!" If you have the ability to be satisfied with what you have materially, or what can be obtained through the course of your life, you can translate that to your philosophical pursuits. As in, the same mindset of "I have money for bills, a roof over my head, food on my table, and can save for retirement. I don't need to be a millionaire with three houses and a fleet of yachts" can turn into "I know a bit about how life works. I know how to ask for what I need, and to treat people well. I don't need to know how consciousness evolved, or the mind of the creator."

Of course, if what you're looking for is an overall meaning-of-life philosophy to live by, I'm gonna have to suggest the four words that have changed my life. "Don't be a dick." Every interaction with someone, ask yourself, "am I being a dick?" If the answer is yes, interact differently.

See? Simplification. It's a good way to shake off the chains.

To be honest that’s how I felt before.

I thought about the high life, but to be honest that sounded like too much for me. The older I got (still 27 but bear with me) the more I saw that the grand and the exceptional weren’t that important. That I reached for such things because I was told to. I just liked the every day. The mundane, the “ordinary”. I didn’t need some cosmic whatever or insight to the truth of reality. I knew enough and had some. The claims from Buddhism about suffering kind of fell on deaf ears originally since the stuff they said caused it, didn’t apply for me. I didn’t see it that way. The simple life sounded good and while part of me as a kid valued being like those all knowing and wise characters (who seemed to have everything under control) I can’t help but feel secretly that I envied the “fool” (since they were simple, Unconcerned about the capital T and just about the right now).

But somewhere along the line madness descended and then it became a contest of who was happier. They seemed like they were happier than me and that meant I was wrong in some way. They said I was living a lie and what I valued wasn’t real and that terrified me. I guess that’s what chained me to it, and what keeps me from leaving. Fear. 29