The human condition dictates that we only see the partial truth. What do I mean? Can you experience truth in a direct manner? The answer is no. We perceive truth, through our five senses and mind. While the five senses are rather reliable, they are still prone to error. The mind, however, is more so unpredictable.

I shall illustrate this with my own example.

Some days ago, I was upset about what someone had said about me. The moment I heard what I heard, my mind immediately dug up past references of similar events. By the time I had finished replaying my memories of the past and what had happened moments ago, what the person had said became ten times worser.

Very often, things that happen to us aren’t as bad as how we perceive them to be. However, the mind doesn’t let your past hurts be gone so easily. The mind likes to take the good things that happen for granted, and choose to relish in painful memories.

This is the human condition. From moment to moment, we seek to free ourselves from suffering by anticipating and then avoiding suffering. We seek pleasure to numb the pain. We become paranoid due to past incidents.

But think about this, if you continuously try to avoid suffering by being paranoid, isn’t it additional suffering? After all, what we perceive is only the partial truth. Paranoia is the overactive imagination at work.

To truly be free, you have to let go of the bad; if you decide to carry the burden of bad memories, they will fester inside of you and eventually consume you.

Life is just a paradox.

Logen L.