beliefs are the root cause of agony (Introduction)

by dhw, Thursday, February 03, 2011, 14:51 (5042 days ago) @ whyamihere

Whyamihere: WITH THESE IMPOSED MORALS I BEGAN TO LIVE A LIFE WHICH ONCE AGAIN HELPED ME TO SELF GRATIFY MY EXISTENCE BY NOT HARMING THE OTHERS AND NATURE. BEING ACCEPTED IN THE SOCEITY AS A GENTLEMAN I NOW WANT TO KNOW WHY I AM SO GOOD TO THE SOCEITY OR WHY AM I RESTRICTING MYSELF TO BE GOOD AS PER THE NORMS OF THE SOCEITY. i AM FEELING THAT I AM THE SLAVE OF MY BELIEFS WHICH ARE IMPOSED UPON ME BY THE NATURE THROUGH VARIOUS MEDIA. ALL MY ACTIONS AND THOUGHTS ARE INSPIRED BY MY BELIEFS AND THE NEED TO GRATIFY MY EXISTENCE. I THINK THAT A CHAMELEON WHICH AHANGES COLORS AS PER THE SURROUNDINGS IN WHICH IT IS IS THE APT EXAMPLE OF THE LIFE WE ARE ALL LIVING.SO THE BELIEFS OF ATHEISM, AGNOSTICISM OR THEISM ARE ALL THE PRODUCTS OF OUR PAST AND IF AN OPEN MIND IS APPLIED TO THE CONCEPT WE WILL COME TO KNOW THAT WE ARE STILL THE SAME ZERO KNOWLEDGE SELF GRATIFYING PESTS SHOOTING THE ARROWS IN THE AIR WITHOUT ANY AIM.-First of all, a warm welcome to the forum. Your pseudonym asks a big question, and your last sentence suggests an answer ... i.e. that we have no purpose. However, if you say that beliefs are the root cause of agony, perhaps we ought to know which beliefs you're talking about.*** In my experience, the only causes of such pain are 1) fear of some kind of punishment (e.g. endless suffering), 2) persecution, and 3) being trapped in a society whose ideas we do not share.-In terms of a philosophy for life, I agree with you that we have zero knowledge, in the sense that there is no set of beliefs accepted by general consensus as being true. But millions of people find purpose, comfort and hope in their religious beliefs, while others don't need any such props to help them enjoy the here and now ... which as Matt (xeno) will tell you, is more real than what was and what will be.
 
Whatever people's beliefs are, I would have thought we were all in pursuit of happiness, we all have to find our own way in accordance with our individual needs, and so long as that way causes no harm to others (and ideally if it also helps others to be happy), it gives us a target for all our arrows.
 
*** I've just read your response to David, and your penetrating questions about Jainism. I'm not sure, though, whether you're suffering because you accept the tenets of Jainism (e.g. that Nirvana is the goal) but find them confusing, or because you have to pretend to accept them owing to social pressures. It seems to me that philosophically you're on the way to finding your own solution: "If we leave our ego, our pre-conceived notions, and our emotions then the pleasures of nirwana can be enjoyed here too along with the pains of this selfish world." Personally, I don't share the view that the ego and our emotions are necessarily some kind of obstacle. I'd say that this world is both selfish and unselfish, and our ego and emotions can be the source of pleasure and good deeds as well as pain and selfishness, but each of us has to find his own balance. I'll stand by what I wrote above about the pursuit of happiness, but if your problem is a social one, I can only offer my sympathy.