Nothing can give us better insight into the misery of people than to examine the true cause of the constant agitation which accompanies their lives. The human soul is sent into a body to live for a short time. The soul recognizes that the period of embodiment is limited and mostly consumed by tending to the natural needs of the body, leaving little time for reflection. Even this little time for reflection causes so much distress and confusion that the soul tends to avoid it.
To live with itself and to think of itself is unbearably painful for the soul. Therefore its main effort is to blind itself to its own needs and allow time to slip away without reflection. This is the origin of all the busy pastimes of mankind and all the things referred to as diversions. In these, people’s real goal is to thoughtlessly while away the time and remain oblivious to the bitterness and disgust they would feel if they sat and thought about their true condition. The soul sees nothing internally which brings contentment; every inward though brings only pain. For this reason, the soul looks outside itself to external objects as a distraction. Its only satisfaction is in losing awareness of itself lest it be forced be alone in contemplation and to see how miserable it is.
We are trained from childhood to be concerned primarily with our reputation and status. We force everyone to go to school, to get a job, to work diligently at creating wealth and achieving a good position in life. We tell them that if they fail at this, they will be miserable. So we all end up working at things which for the most part are frustrating and tedious. What a strange formula for making people happy. Truly, would there be any better way to make a person unhappy? Actually, yes. If we relieve a person of all these tedious cares, and leave them with nothing to do but think about themselves, their lives would be unbearably sad. Knowing this, we fill even our leisure time with pursuits which will engross our attention and save us from having to reflect on our true condition.
For this reason, once I decided to investigate the various things that agitate people and the dangers and troubles they encounter at work or in their leisure, things which cause so many quarrels, arouse such deep passion, I came to the conclusion that people’s miseries arise from not knowing how to be comfortable in their own skin. A person who has met the basic needs for life would not find it necessary to occupy himself with troublesome distractions if he was satisfied with his inner condition.
Upon close examination I have found that there is only one reason why people try so hard to avoid relaxation and self-examination: they are not satisfied with their frail and mortal condition. To think clearly about the condition of the human soul makes people feel depressed and inconsolable.
Since death, trouble and ignorance are inescapable, most people have determined not to think of these things at all in the hope that the absence of consideration will make them happy. But this is actually no help at all, since avoiding troublesome thoughts merely conceals their presence for a time, and by concealing them, prevents people from attempting to find true relief.
Please note, however, that I am describing the state of only those persons who look for answers within themselves, without having felt the power of religion. One of the astonishing facts of the Christian religion is that it reconciles man to himself while reconciling him to God. This makes it possible for a person to be comfortable with himself and therefore to find more pleasure in solitude and reflection than in the various activities of life. And it is not by directing people to focus inwardly that this satisfaction results. Rather these pleasant effects are produced by leading a person to consider God’s care for him and the promise of a better future free from life’s miseries.
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