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Desire is the root of human suffering. This is a widely held belief to put it mildly.
by mentat 11y ago
Desire is the root of human suffering. This is a widely held belief to put it mildly.
- eli_gottlieb 11y agoWhich is pretty ironic, considering that the people who completely lack desires tend to be those suferring major depression much more than those who have achieved an enlightened serenity.
- duaneb 11y agoAs someone who has grappled with fairly severe depression, it's not that you have no desires. Your body does a decent job of making sure you maintain your body by giving you plenty. I would merely say you have no rational desires. As a human your are functional, but as a rational human you've hit a wall.
- lfowles 11y agoI can't definitively say I've been depressed, but is it fair to say that you still have desires and want things, but it feels like there are insurmountable barriers between you and desires/things?
- duaneb 11y agoYea, I think that's fair. I think it's also pretty subjective, so it wouldn't surprise me for people to experience it differently. But whatever is wrong or blocking one or one's desires (or whatever) is in one's brain, if not one's control.
- rhizome 11y agoMore precisely, desire is seen as the root of human suffering by, most commonly, Buddhists.
- zkhalique 11y agoIsn't it interesting that she was seeking out Buddhism? The other philosophy that thought about this, but on a more intellectual level, was Stoicism, which was very popular in the Roman empire.