I believe that it is because at the core we see that something is not quite in balance. Nothing is wrong with us, it is the setup of our world.
I don’t think that pain is a universal necessity. The reason why it seems to be is that we look at it through the filter of our existing thought constructs; And they are a necessity there. Here I just mean the much-talked-about sufferings that we go through. An example would be (so that I stop being meaninglessly abstract): When I am not in a loving relationship, I suffer. I give up my own self in return for the connection to exist. So I suffer. Until I can work out such an unsolvable situation internally. This article is not about such discussions, but about an underlying imbalance that is inherent to our world.
Break of symmetry
There is a certain break of symmetry in our world and this is what we respond to. We respond to it in our physical reality, our mental construct mirrors it, and basically, this asymmetry shows up everywhere. To the extent that we cannot even say if the asymmetry causes our responses or our actions cause the asymmetries.
What do I mean by this break of symmetry? It is not my personal opinion or a painful feeling that I would like to dump here.
I can point to a video interview done with the nuclear physicist, Steven Weinberg, where he explains their findings – for which they got a Nobel Prize – that there is a broken symmetry in particle physics. Quite interesting that the building blocks of our physical world are held together with asymmetry in them. In fact, they would not exist the way do without this.
Another example shows up in Developmental Psychology (the first years of life) I believe where the notion of Developmental Trauma is center stage. Those who deal with the subject pretty much agree that the majority of us suffer developmental trauma. Why? Is it normal that it is so widespread? How is it that the fundamental building blocks of our life have glitches?
We like to think (maybe conditioned to think) that the natural world is ‘perfect’ and natural forces of nature are perfect. In the grand scheme of things they surely are. But if I look at life what I see is a constant struggle. From this respect, there is no such thing as self-development, but rather a process of letting go of things or overcoming things that happened to us. It also implies in my opinion that there is nothing wrong with us.
Why is this imbalance there at all?
Does the following make sense to you?: This imbalance is chosen to be there. This is the core reason for the phenomenal world to exist. We created it for this glitch to be there. This is what all religions talk about also: We have been one with God but we decided to separate. Is it normal that we decided to separate or an error?
Just for entertainment; Einstein discovered the need for symmetry in the Universe, and Mr. Weinberg got a Nobel Prize for discovering a broken symmetry in particle physics. Then – with the same token – people like Buddha and Jesus should also get Nobel Prizes too for discovering broken symmetries. And actually providing ways out of them.
About the image I chose for this post: When I look at this bear’s face, I see a hard life that solidified in that face and body.
It is also true that we can see the underlying beauty of things through this hard life.
