By Hans S Laney
When you are in search of wisdom, it is reasonable to read books, watch videos, try to find gurus to follow, put a lot of emphasis on learning more to add to your satisfaction and reduce any suffering. We look everywhere for the answer to self help questions like the meaning and purpose of our life and how to be happy. This is normal and natural.
There is, however, some words of wisdom that you might want to consider. There is no Answer to Life!
We run around trying to find the answer to life. We believe that if we can just find the answer, we’ll be happy and full and complete. We’ll be rich and successful and loved. Let’s say we find an answer, like Buddha’s “grasping is the cause of all suffering.” Then we work hard to kill desire within ourselves.
It is then human nature to make detachment and non-grasping the key to all life’s problems. Self Help does not work in that way. They are not the whole answer to life. There are just partial answers.
You can spend years of your life trying to kill off desire within yourself, and all the time you are full of the Desire to kill off desire. After several months or years of this, you figure it out and go Oh well, I guess killing off desire and attachment is not the answer, not the smart thing to do, so Ill look for another answer.
In the same way, people on the search for self knowledge make love the answer, or compassion, or knowledge, or holiness the answer. Then they work extremely hard trying to be holier or wiser or more loving. Only to find after several months or years that it isn’t working. Trying to be more of anything is not the answer!
Here’s the short of it. Any solution you find to make your life better can only be limited. It can not be the complete answer. Loving may be an appropriate solution for you, for a while. So sure, work on being more loving. Don’t try to make love the answer to life. Do not burden love with your hopes and needs to feel better about yourself.
Understand that any answers you find to living a successful and happy life will only be limited and temporary. What you can do that is powerful is begin to let go of needing an Answer. Get more comfortable not having answers. Live more into the question. Obviously, this is a complex subject, but just this can be an excellent start.
About the Author:
You can learn some powerful insights in a free course at Learning Wisdom. Hans S Laney teaches self help wisdom courses, and you can learn more at Happiness Insights.
