| Prerequisite: if it's not pleasurable in your head right now, there is 3 possible reasons: your ego, the fear of death or both. Let's examine some examples you'll find all over the internet. Maybe you are physically sick. You can still be happy right? We all have experienced that before, being happy and sick at the same time. Maybe you've killed someone years ago and you're still suffering about it. You are suffering from your ego. You are suffering from the look of others (including yourself). Maybe you've lost someone and you're still suffering about it. You are suffering from the fear of death. And your ego. You want to control your environment and you don't feel whole. You dont have gratitude. That prerequisite is well known and documented all over the internet and in books. The problem is: the proposed cures dont work. For some reasons we might understand later in the discussion, meditation for example will get you nowhere (or not very far). But the following might. --------------------------- Ask yourself the following question once per day for 5 days: is it pleasurable in my head right now? There is quite some subtleties at play here. Since this is HN, I'll be happy to discuss them with you even though it's better you experience them yourself. |
The "ego" is the structure in your mind that mediates between your unedited desires (the "id") and reality. It is a system of adaptations and defenses.
It is not simply a "collection of unrealistic inflated self-images" which is what most people think it is.
Now it could be your ego is not very adaptive and doesn't defend anything worth defending, but that's because your ego is broken not because the ego is a bad thing.
----
As for your question I'd say my answer to it varies a lot and in a good week I would answer positively 80% of the time and in a bad week I would answer positively 40% of the time. There are times I am "struggling" with a problem but I always get some escape from it and I get a lot of satisfaction with being engaged in the world itself.
I can simultaneously believe "this specific situation is unacceptable" and "I have gratitude for ...".