An Explanation of How We Can Reinterpret Suffering into Catalyst for Change
Your Freewill & Meta-Teachings
"To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering." - Friedrich Nietzsche
Prior Reading
Before reading this article, it is advisable to peruse a brief introduction to the wider topic in my recent blog, entitled The Great Way - The Traveller's Journey This covers the background information to this subject, which will prepare the reader and optimise the potential for deeper comprehension, by setting the scene.
The Buddha's Four Noble Truths
It is said that the Buddha realised the following insights about the nature of human life, which he called the Four Noble Truths:
Suffering Exists
He saw that our lives always appear to entail suffering, in subtle and overt forms. Even when our lives apparently feel good, we always seem to feel an undercurrent of anxiety and uncertainty inside.
Suffering Has a Cause
His insight was that the underlying cause of suffering is longing or craving for fulfilment and a fundamental ignorance about the true nature of reality. We suffer because of our mistaken belief that we are a separate, independent, self.
The End of Suffering
He saw that our suffering can be temporary and can come to an end, because obscurations in the mind, which distort our perspective can be purified.
There Is a Path That Leads to the End of Suffering
By living ethically, practicing meditation, and developing wisdom, we can take exactly the same journey to enlightenment and freedom from suffering that the buddhas do. We too can awaken.
"What really raises one's indignation against suffering is not suffering intrinsically, but the senselessness of suffering." - Friedrich Nietzsche
A New Framework of Understanding Suffering
Whilst these statements are true to a certain extent, there is a deeper explanation about the nature of what suffering is, which recontextualises it into a more valuable concept and ultimate practice. There is a framework which we can wrap around the four Noble truths, which will provide a greater setting, which can enlighten us as to why humans suffer. Framework in this setting means a coherent complex of concepts, bound into a belief system, which holds diverse perspectives. This is used to provide constancy, regulation and context, in pursuit of a deep psychological need to find order, meaning and purpose, in a perplexing, uncertain and chaotic universe. When we speak of psychology, it is a reference to what is unresolved in our unconsciousness, which individually and collectively, we are not directly aware of, which drives how we think, feel and act.
Various frameworks that human cultures utilise, have differing levels of perceptual clarity and distortion. The higher the level of clarity, the more encapsulating and unified the perspective towards a universal outlook, which comprehensively accounts for all reported aspects, even those which seem to be conflictual. The framework to which I refer is called the Law of One, which is discussed in my article referenced above, in the prior reading section.
"Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars." - Khalil Gibran
When we are correctly orientated towards the Law of One framework, then the need for suffering can not only be fully explained, but even welcomed. Within the Law of One, the term suffering is replaced with the word 'catalyst'. The dictionary definition of the word catalyst means ' an agent that provokes or speeds significant change or action.' The operative part of the definition is 'significant change. ' The change in particular that we are seeking, is an evolutionary one. The use of this term opens up the possibility that suffering is not altogether a negative experience. The Buddha said that we suffer because we seek objects in the world to fulfil us. What we truly desire is not provided for by these objects, which only provide a short-term fix to a much deeper yearning. Again, although this is correct, it is not the full story. Suffering or catalyst reorientates us in a different direction. Life presents us continually with new experiences which offer us the opportunity to learn, grow and transform, on an evolutionary path, which is known as the Great Way. This phrase refers to an infinite journey of conscious evolution, that each of our souls take. When we don't take notice of these opportunities which are presented to us, then certain archetypes, known as catalysers, are triggered within our psyche. We are born with an archetypal mind, with twenty-two archetypal personas, which is preconfigured to provide souls with certain types of experiences, which lead to certain types of realisations, which invoke transformations in our evolutionary path.
As explained in the article referenced above, we are living inside an illusion, carefully designed by the One Infinite Creator to lead to the Choice by each of us, to select one of two diverging paths, which are fundamentally moral in nature. Within the illusion, which is known as the Choice, is embedded an ethical duality, to either serve others, through unity, love, acceptance and compassion, or serve the self, through fear, domination, manipulation, ruthlessness and control of others. All other considerations are irrelevant to this decision. The service to others (or Positive polarisation) recognises an overarching unity to the entire Creation; and the service to self (the Negative polarisation) only recognises the individual as important. The former places emphasis upon the unconscious, whilst the latter upon the conscious.
Essentially, it is best to accept that life in the illusion of the Choice is conflicted. Suffering or catalyst arises to resolve that conflict. If we are not aware of that conflict, which is really a moral choice, then we can perceive suffering as nonsensical, or just part of the fabric of being human, or as the Budha stated, unavoidable. If we recontextualise suffering as a pointer towards resolution of the conflict, then the necessity of suffering becomes more obvious and even necessary. Suffering arises because we have not polarised towards service to others or towards service to self. Suffering arises because we flip backwards and forwards between these two poles, not actually making our minds up, one way or the other. Thus, we are caught in the tension between the two, in what is known as the 'sink-hole-of-indifference.'
So, the reason for suffering is not that life is itself painful and difficult and negative, which arises out of the random chaotic nature of the world. It is that the illusion that we currently are travelling through, has a built-in system which motivates individuals to desire to evolve, and have faith in the process by offering opportunities through the catalyst to polarise in a chosen direction.
The Buddha was correct in saying that objects do not ultimately fulfil us or make us happy and bring us peace. What begins the process of this understanding is the deeper realisation of the connected universe in which we live in, which arises from a unifying consciousness, which we all share, known as the One Infinite Creator. The experience of catalyst is our opportunity to delve deeper within ourselves. Instead of looking out into the world for events, substances, relationships and sensations, we are being called to look deeper into ourselves focusing upon what is beneath the suffering, seeking a resolution to what the catalyst is pointing towards.
When we can exhume the theme which the catalyst is pointing to, then the opportunity to experience what it refers to at a deeper level arises, which can lead to transformation along the Great Way. The Great Way is itself an archetype, which guides us along the evolutionary spiritual path, through higher Densities. The Great Way is in a sense a universal archetype. Within the cycle that the catalyst promotes, is a Choice that we all have to make. One such choice involves the cessation of victimhood. This is a set of experiences which isolate us from the deep connection referred to above that we all have. This catalyst promotes despair, shame, self-loathing and self-destruction. Victimhood will be visited upon us again and again, in the lesser cycle until we learn its lesson, and make the choice to let the victimhood go, and properly begin to look after ourselves, to love and to forgive ourselves.
The interesting thing to note is that the more that we experience catalyst as painful, sorrowful, sad, despairing and miserable, which promotes apparently a tougher, harder, crueler experience, the more likely that we are to positively polarise. This suggests that an easy experience promotes polarisation towards the negative path.
The Body Complex
The body is not just a temple, it is a home, it is a garden, a gym, a mountain, a forest. It is our physical vehicle, which provides feedback as to the state of our divided and conflicted mind. The body complex has conscious and unconscious aspects. When we feel anxiety, or anger, or sadness, we don't always know or understand why this is so. If we have an injury or illness, we don't always understand why this is going on. When we have an accident, or our relationship ends, or the flow of abundance dwindles and dries up, we look to the heavens and ask why me? Dis-ease in the body principally arises from our divided and conflicted mind. If the mind complex has been initiated and transformed, then dis-ease can arise because we have not initiated the transformation of the body complex. This is a process of molding the physical vehicle, so that the impacts of the catalyst can first be understood by the mind and then transmuted by the body. Each iteration of the cycles purifies both mind and body. Bodily manifestations allows us to discover the hidden subtleties of our inner veiled states that we could not otherwise do.
"Nature shows that with the growth of intelligence comes increased capacity for pain, and it is only with the highest degree of intelligence that suffering reaches its supreme point." - Arthur Schopenhauer
Unconscious Orientation Towards Service to Self
Because the totality of the mind is veiled from itself, through the division in the psyche between that which we are conscious of and that which we are not aware of, which resides in the unconscious. Even though we may have made a conscious decision to polarise one way or the other, there are shadowed aspects of ourselves which act unconsciously, driving cognitive dissonances, biases and limiting patterns. Therefore, if we have chosen to polarise positive, we need to look at all of our beliefs and behaviours to discern if there are unconscious negative patterns at work, at deeper hidden levels.
Let's take an example of unconscious service-to-self reactivity and behaviour. Whenever we defend ourselves from attack from the outside world of any kind, subtle or overt, by pushing back, we are unconsciously serving our selves. The experience that we are having which promotes the feeling of attack, is itself catalyst. Normally we assign the experience as suffering. However, it is a pointer towards something within ourselves, which is seeking change. Until we go within and take full responsibility for the experience, we will experience the catalyst of attack, anger, shame and isolation, etc. again, and again. We need to dive deep into the feeling and dig out the lesson, which will alter our experience. A certain individual that you know may repeatedly cause the experience that you are having. However, that individual is an aspect of yourself, assisting you to see something which is shadowed to you. The world around you is a 360-degree learning-experience.
This is the nature of the illusion that we find ourselves within. You are an aspect of the One Infinite Creator experiencing itself, from your subjective experience. The illusion is designed to teach through experience, so that you can decide through your own freewill to choose the path of service to others, or service to self. Within the nature of this illusion, this is all that is at stake - No more, no less. The suffering we experience is nothing other than the failure to root out our defended unconscious action, beliefs and thoughts, through whatever healing modality is appropriate and choose love or fear, compassion or manipulation, acceptance or control.
Any boundary that we set up or attempt to control or manipulate the environment to make us more secure, even though it is necessary in that moment, is unfortunately a negative path action. The experience of needing to set a boundary or control the environment is catalyst which has not been fully used up. The experience will cease when the mind unveils to itself that it is the One Infinite Creator, experiencing an opportunity for growth. Whereupon the realisation that only loving the experience and the source of the experience, which is usually the other, in the form of our partner, friend, boss, is the only course to take.
This will take scrupulous examination of all of our actions. We are so used to justified defence and attack, it has become unconscious normality, automatically kicking-in. If we believe that we are right, guess what? - we are defending. If we feel that the other has betrayed us, guess what? - we are judging, which will lead to a push-away? If our logic is undeniable, guess what - we are judging once again, which defends our position. It's not about right or wrong, good or bad, it is only about using up the catalyst and choosing either the positive or negative path, both of which are viable, because the One Infinite Creator plays all parts.
Any resistance to the moment, which is making us feel uncomfortable, by wishing it to be different than it already is, is placing our need for comfort and safety above the flow of the experience. This is a defence against the fear of uncertainty, which does not trust our lives and/or, the universe at large. This will cause dis-ease in the body, through dysregulation. We can either move forward, pushing it away, fall back into retreat, or remain balanced in loving compassion for ourselves and the experience of the other. The last position of non-reactivity allows everything to be as it is, which signifies transformation along the Great Way.
The following is a list of typical human behaviours which we all undertake at one time or another, which have hidden shadow aspects, which are service to self in nature. Yes, they can appear to be positive or neutral, or even absolutely necessary to be a human, but none-the-less, if they are not examined deeply, they cover up our wounded and defensive selves, which require service to self-behaviours, to maintain our stability:
My Personal Experience of Catalyst
On a personal note, I would like to share how reinterpreting suffering as catalyst has helped me to recontextualise my emotional responses to difficult, challenging and at times, excruciating incidents in my life. I experience what would be called suffering at a body level, through negative emotional occurrences, which I have labelled, sadness, despair, anger, frustration, irritation, grief, etc. However, the understanding of these emotional experiences can be expanded by my mind by stepping back from their intensity. This is achieved by perceiving them as just certain frequencies of energy that move through my body, which I have associated with certain types of events, which I have categorised in certain ways. In other words, I have conditioned myself to respond to certain events, with specific feelings. These 'feelings' are pointers, which indicate to me that I am experiencing a pattern again, which I have not yet fully healed within myself. These are patterns that I have experienced all through my life. They have probably originated in past lives, the impact of which has accumulated in my trans-incarnational light matrix, which is the repository of all my experiences. Almost always, the patterns of thinking in response to an incident with my partner, or friends, is the 'poor me', victimhood variety, which have specific emotional energy tones, that I feel in my body. These feelings completely suffuse me, so much so that I live inside them. The thoughts that I have about the incident, drop the frequency at which my overall system vibrates at. At the lowest frequencies, I experience death-urge, which is a heavy, gloopy, self-destructive, 'can't go on ... ness', where I want to fall into oblivion and end it all.
This is the well of non-being, where all my shadow experiences of rejection, betrayal and abandonment congregate, into a morass of near infinite desolation and hopelessness. This is the superimposition of the collected past life experiences, resonating in unison across time and space, of multiple incarnations, which have ended in death, torture, incarceration, mutilation, loss etc. The Traveller persona within me recognises what is going on. It realises that the current emotional manifestation is just catalyst, which is here to re-mind me that whatever I'm feeling is an old story which needs to be transmuted through the learning of its lesson. It causes me to drop within and centre myself within the ever-present presence which is the One Infinite Creator at the centre of all of us. From here, my Traveller persona, can ask 'what is it that I need to know about this experience? Where am I playing small, resisting, distracting, hiding and acting out? Sometimes the experience humbles me into submission, allowing the situation to just be what it is, without need to make it mean anything, but simply allowing the processing of past-life trauma. Sometimes an insight drops in, providing a new angle of perception, which clarifies my negative service to self, hidden belief or pattern. Sometimes my grief just needs to be met right there with forgiveness and compassion for it. I know that resisting the catalyst can cause more pain, more anguish, more lostness in me downstream. Sometimes I need to do some energy clearing, by identifying what resistant patterns I'm holding and how far back they go. I call in my higher self, my guides and advocates and release three times whatever blockages I have identified.
Ultimately, I see that the way that the other is treating me, which apparently causes the negative emotional response, is the un-owned shadow aspect of myself, fully projected into the other - it is not them but me. Rejecting the moment or them is only really rejecting me - one way or another, I'm fighting with myself, which causes the suffering pain. The only way forward is to see it for what it is, own it, forgive it, and take it back within me and attempt to love it into compassionate integration. This is what catalyst really is, an opportunity to retrieve the misplaced, lonely and forgotten parts myself, which have been lost along the trans-incarnational arc of my Earthly journey. My suffering diminishes when I pay attention to the cluses scattered before and behind me and take responsibility and accountability for the wake of despair that ignorance, distraction and unconscious living produces.
The following is an invocation I sometimes use, to properly orientate myself towards the catalyst I'm experiencing:
Dear Catalyst
Thank you for your gifts -
Thank you for your teaching -
Thank you for my realisation ...
For you are the crucible, the might and the healing ...
I welcome your guidance,
I welcome your activation,
I welcome your trigger -
For you are the attractor, the grace and the restoration ...
You are the illusion reflecting, my need,
You are the projection, reminding me of my power,
You are the canvas on which I play ...
Direct me to my renewal,
Steer me to my resolution
Pilot me to restitution -
For you are the mirror, the smoke and the mystery ...
You are the burning fire helping me reclaim my lost selves,
You are the light by which I steer,
You are the thorn that breaks the bubble of my pain ...
You are the hidden truth of my own Divinity ...
Hope arises from your tutoring,
Steadfastness ascends from your genius,
Faith springs eternal in the wake of your synchronicity,
Thank you for your gifts -
Thank you for your teaching -
Thank you for my realisation ...
The Great Way
The Great Way is a continual sequence of transformations, into higher and higher perspectives which promote new levels of consciousness for each of us. The Great Way is our path of destiny to our highest and best selves. That path also leads to the Creator, from whence we came and to which we joyously travel to. The Traveller is our enduring self, that which survives all incarnations. The One Infinite creator has divided itself into an infinite number of parts, each part is veiled from itself and is provided with free-will, to lead an infinite number of incarnations, each a path of heading back to the one infinite creator.
Summary
Whilst the Buddha's Four Noble Truths speak of the nature of unavoidable suffering, the Law of One expresses it as catalyst, as means to polarise towards the positive or negative paths of evolution.
Living on Earth in the Third Density of Choice has wounded us, which conditions us to certain unconscious defended biases. Careful self- observation has to be applied to discern, own and root out, unconscious defending beliefs and actions which cause us to wobble between the conscious choice to serve others and the need to defend against an apparently aggressive and uncaring world.
The body manifests physical experiences that can help us to root out unconscious biased condition, to enable us to come to the choice of which path to polarise to.
All catalyst is designed to assist us in choosing many transformations, which enable us to move through the Great Way, which are an infinite number of incarnations in search of the One Infinite Creator.
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