It Is Understandable

Much of what humans do . . . is understandable.

 

A human is suffering.

He suffers endlessly.

There is perhaps no aspect of his life in which he does not suffer.

Even a trip to the supermarket brings an element of suffering.

 

From his finances, to his work, to his family, to his dreams, to his relationships . . .

All things in life bring him suffering.

 

This is unbearable.

So he seeks doses of pleasure . . . for relief.

It is understandable.

 

He is struck constantly by bouts of unhappiness, sorrow, confusion, fear, and disappointment.

So he seeks methods and practices in order to feel a sense of relief.

It is understandable.

 

He latches on to principles espoused by spirituality and self-help.

They promise that if he practices X, Y, and Z it will bring him more happiness, or more calm, or whatever it may be.

So he spends his entire life chasing and practicing, trying one thing after another.

It is understandable.

 

He listens to experts.

And psychologists.

And guru’s.

And influencers.

And motivationalists.

And podcasters.

In an attempt to attain what he has been searching for.

It is understandable.

 

He spends his entire life doing this,

And in the last days of his life . . .

Despite the decades and decades of practicing and chasing and listening and reading and chanting and meditating and whatever-ing . . .

He still has not found what he has always been in search of.

 

The next generation does the same.

The next generation does the same.

 

With each new generation comes a proliferation of new practices.

New spiritualists.

New influencers.

The latest X.

The best and the greatest Y.

The fresh new Z.

It is understandable.

 

And with each generation that finds itself in its final days of life,

It still has not found what it has always been in search of.

Despite the latest and greatest’s.

Despite the fresh new Z’s.

Despite the hot new best-seller’s.

 

A human could be told

That The World can never give him what he wants.

 

He could be told

That no matter how many books he reads,

And how many how-to prescriptions he practices and follows,

It will not give him what he has forever been in search of.

Because what he is searching for

Is not found in those places.

 

But he will find this too fantastical a notion to accept.

It is understandable.

 

Yet though it may be too fantastical a notion

To accept that nowhere in the world of how-to prescriptions . . .

That nowhere in the land of self-help and spirituality . . .

Will his heart be satisfied,

And his longings be satiated . . .

 

It will perhaps not be too fantastical for him to understand

That a Human Life . . .

Is a tragic thing to waste.

 

Namaste.