Our Basic Problem

This is an article about the root problem that forms the basis of our many problems, from the shooter who randomly kills on campus, to the worry that plagues us daily; to the restlessness we feel when we are bored. This problem is seldom explained adequately. Tragedies are usually explained by shrugging our shoulders and guessing that a compassionate God allows these things to happen because he lovingly grants us free will. The problem is that this inadequate attempt to explain away our problems doesn't solve the problems.

Our basic problem, however, can be resolved easily, but someone first must alert us that in fact it can be solved, which means we stop turning our backs on our problems. We stop rationalizing that they are beyond our control and are in the hands of an omniscient being, which encourages us to stand there with our tail between our legs. We must take charge of our lives so that we can become free; we must face our problems and understand ourselves completely, which takes work, and this is the problem; people would rather be lazy and live with the results of denying that there is a choice between living confused, careless and without awareness, and living freely and awake.

When we don't understand ourselves, we take things very personally. "I have been harmed, I have been slighted, I have been defamed. We believe that an entity, called "ourselves," experiences the brunt of these things, and therefore attempts to rectify them through means of violence as a last resort. The idea of a self or a me can become so strong that we actually take our own lives, along with the lives of others sometimes, to relieve the awful illusions that we are under.

Most religions talk about giving up the self in lieu of God, which is the key to solving all of our problems. But how do we do that when the illusion of a self is so strong? What is the first step, the second step? Our holy books rarely talk about this personal transformation and how to accomplish it. This personal transformation would be the end of our problems and the complete end of our basic problem – our illusion of self.

Without a shift in consciousness, this illusion of an unchanging, stable self is difficult to see. Therefore, a practice of some kind, i.e., deep, contemplative prayer or meditation is suggested in order to develop a focused, clear mind. With a clear mind, we will understand at a different level from which we regularly understand, where we remain in a fog of ignorance regarding why we have so many problems and why we can't find our way out of these problems. To rationalize our problems away and explain them as "just life" is one thing, but quite another to permanently solve them for ourselves. This is becoming proactive with our lives.

The first step in understanding this self, which is our root problem, is to identify where it is located. When we look at a gorgeous sunset, is our "self" in the eye organ, in the consciousness of the sunset, in the feeling that we have about the sunset, in the memory of the sunset, our thoughts? Or is the self somehow a wispy spirit that peacefully floats above all of this? Have you ever considered these kinds of things before? This is how we get to the bottom of our problems; this is how we build the courage to look our basic problem right in the eye, so to speak.

What if we discovered that our "self" doesn't exist, except in our imaginations? What if everything we have put our faith and hope in (our little self) is only a fairytale? Would this be a disaster, or, would this be, at a very deep level, the absolute end of our basic problem? Would all of our fears then be dissolved, and would God's actions then be suddenly logical, that is, if a self wasn't involved, if there was only God? Think about it; whatever happened, it wouldn't be happening to us, it would only be what is. We would no longer have such a serious stake in everything, where life becomes such a struggle to win constantly, to step over others so that we can succeed.

Begin with step one; study the five cords of your physical wanting; your eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body. Beautiful sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile feelings – all leading us around like rings in our noses yanking us here, yanking us there – music, sex, food, drink, entertainment - and if we don't get what our senses want, like recognition, security, respect, amusements, and all the rest of it, then we become angry and lash out. It's not rocket science; it's not some big deal, psychological conundrum; it is very simple.

So for the first time in our lives, as our first step in discovering our basic problem so that we can solve all of our problems, we study our senses, a very basic simple thing because that's all we are – our senses. The idea that we are something greater than these senses (with all of their automatic reflex reactions that regulate our lives); that we are better than this or greater than this, merely keeps us in a constant state of denial about the realities of life.

But what if we could transcend these instinctive drives that our senses dictate, and that circle around and bite us in the behind? The first step in ending their tyrannical power is to flood them with the clarity of truth, and we do that by airing them out with attention and awareness. Then we get down to the second step - how these senses instill in us a drive for grabbing what we want, and killing what we hate. These are human, instinctive drives, but ones we can transcend if we understand them. If we choose not to understand, then regardless of how holy we become, we will continue to try and kill that which we hate, and propagate that which we love. As long as we don't understand the basic problem, a self, we will continue to be lost.

There are many steps to follow, each taking one a little further until she or he comes face-to-face with God, or enlightened. It is an internal journey that is the most exciting and wonderful thing that a person can do.

And once the journey begins in earnest, nothing else compares.