The Belief That Something Is Wrong
La creencia de que algo está mal
A student raises the question of whether dissatisfaction is simply a perspective rather than something earned or constructed. The teacher explores the deep-seated belief that something is fundamentally wrong with this moment, and how that belief follows us everywhere we go.
The Belief That Something Is Wrong
A student raises the question of whether dissatisfaction is simply a perspective rather than something earned or constructed. The teacher explores the deep-seated belief that something is fundamentally wrong with this moment, and how that belief follows us everywhere we go.
It's a perspective, not something I've worked toward or created for myself as an experience. It's just the perspective.
The perspective I'm referring to comes from buying into a narrative that this moment has something wrong with it. In a sense, it's a denial of creation. By identifying what's "wrong" with this moment, we can rationally convince ourselves to chase a narrative. But the fundamental error is in the belief that something is wrong with this moment, that something is fundamentally wrong with this moment. And that belief is something we carry with us wherever we go.
The belief we carry everywhere
We project it outward. "It's this relationship." We leave that relationship, enter the next one, and it's the same thing. "It's this job." We leave that job, start the next one, and it's the same thing. We're actually walking around with this fundamental belief that something here is not okay, that it's not right. The explanation shifts to whatever is convincing enough: it's me, it's this person, it's the government.
It's as if all our pain and suffering gets projected into the world that we see.
It depends on the personality. More often it's projected onto the world or onto oneself, and it moves from one thing to the other, but we have preferences.
Or both.
Yes, both. It moves back and forth. Some people focus entirely on the government, especially in places like Argentina, where the government really is a problem. It's a very convincing narrative.
The partner is a good one too. Money.
Partner is a perfect narrative. Money. There's always something. If you ask yourself, "What is inherently missing or not okay with this moment?" how often will you say "absolutely nothing"?
Never.
This is a belief, not a fact
What I'm pointing to is that this is a belief. There isn't anything wrong with this moment. Now, this can create complicated debate, because someone is going to say, "But what about all the dying children and all the wars?" I'm pointing to something deeper than that, something that doesn't deny the fact that there are things right now that would be better if we changed them. But at a deeper level, there's a belief. It's so fundamental that we don't know it as a belief. We actually know it as a sense of "I." This sense of "I" is the belief that something is wrong right now. When you see it clearly and directly, that's what it is.
To see that something isn't necessarily wrong right now can be very scary, because it brings a sense of something almost life-threatening.
I don't think I've ever experienced a time in my life where I feel like nothing is wrong.
Question (second student): What about right now?
Giving the question real consideration
This is a deep question, really. Just contemplate: what if nothing is wrong right now? See what comes up in your experience. There's going to be, possibly, an eruption of sensations, emotions, thoughts. The more deeply you consider the question, the more it will stir. If you hear the question and repeat it internally but don't really consider the possibility, it's not going to do much. But if you give it the benefit of the doubt, if you genuinely entertain that there is absolutely nothing wrong with this moment, what if that's actually a true, deep possibility? A reality, actually?
I feel like there are times where I've felt that way, but only because I've been so immersed in something that I've escaped my thinking. But that's just an escape, no?
It's actually a taste of reality.