Everyone must face the same Great Human Conundrum, but how we each individually approach it is a matter of personal choice from a spectrum of options. The low effort required end of this spectrum is for those who choose to know only the minimum amount required by their immediate circumstance. At the high effort required end of this spectrum is for those who want to know it all. The majority of humanity tends toward the low effort end.
The choice to subsist on knowing only what is needed to just get by seems sufficient in one’s early years, but as time passes and the trials of life beset us, the answers to these more difficult questions become a greater priority. Eventually, everyone wants more than just the bare-bones survival this basic understanding of these immediate surroundings is able to support. They also want to be happy and content, and they eventually realize more knowledge enables this better quality of life.
One approach frequently used by those who want to prolong their avoidance of these most difficult questions is to adopt some of the many off-the-shelf solutions that are readily available. These off-the-shelf solutions are offered as a one size fits all solution to large portions of the conundrum problem, but all too often, the material in these all inclusive declarations is actually wild speculation that is glossed over as fact. Another common problem with them is the fact that they don’t suitably overlap with other off-the-shelf solutions about other parts of the problem. In most cases, they generate more darkness than illumination.
The time comes when these off-the-shelf solutions don’t really address a particular life situation. These times are generally the result of some situation, usually traumatic in nature, that forces deeper consideration of these difficult things. It is in those trying moments when we desperately need the answers to some of these hard questions and that we are willing to accept just about anything to find comfort. It is so much better to have considered them properly in advance.
Considering these seemingly imponderable things is not just an intellectual folly. It is a necessary choice to optimize success in life. In fact, it is the only choice that will lead you to the ultimate truth about life and the liberation that truth entails. Simply accepting what someone else claims to be true is not enough. These questions actually need to be personally considered by everyone who really wants to know the truth.
The matter at hand here, the all-that-is of reality, is a vast concept beyond comprehension in all its detail, and language is not sufficient to describe it. The words chosen by one person to describe it might not be the same words that someone else would choose to describe the same thing. These words can convey an impression of their understanding of the all-that-is and a description of the methodology they used to approach the concept of the all-that-is.
The truth of enlightenment is not a concept to simply be intellectually understood. It is a state of being that is comprehended by experiencing it. From these impressions and application of the methodology share through the words of others, someone else can position themselves to see it for themselves and choose their own words to describe it. The only way to know it is to personally consider it and derive a personal understanding of the all-that-is.
The material offered in this discussion is not meant to be taken as yet another of these off-the-shelf solutions. Rather, it is meant to illustrate the process of considering these seemingly unapproachable questions and offering some possibilities to consider in one’s personal quest for answers. The real intent of this discussion is to prime and fuel this personal consideration. The answers to these questions are truly meaningless unless you have really consider them for yourself.
When it comes to understanding your own personal truth, there are those who can assist you, encourage you, and inspire you, but no one can give you with your personal truth. You travel that path alone.
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