If everything is taken away from a person, their shelter, home, relationships, job, and everything they hold dear, what remains is the ineradicable suffering of their life. This illustrates the vulnerable and malevolent nature of life. Our entire life stands on the baseline of suffering. This also leads to the idea that the will to act nobly in the face of suffering is the ultimate form of human freedom and the optimal way to strengthen one’s character.
When consciously thinking about our life, we often come to the same conclusion that we are insufficient, willfully blind, and ignorant. This is because life itself is vulnerable, and no matter how bad it is, it can be worse, and we don’t cultivate the necessary discipline to combat its malevolent nature. We never ask ourselves where we are, where to move forward, and how. Years pass by, and we suffer unnecessarily and terribly. Only on the death bed, do we see our true face, and unable to deceive ourselves, we realize that a major part of our life’s tragedy was self-imposed and could have been avoided.
Blaming our condition on the social system and life circumstances does not help. There are two meta-level approaches to life: The first approach is to see ourselves as the product of society, life circumstances, and events. This is a passive approach and a slave mentality. It is dangerous because it makes us resentful, bitter, and angry. The person adopts a self-imposed tragic state and assumes that everything wrong with their life is due to the unfair nature of life. They demand life to be fair. The second approach is to consciously adopt the burden of responsibility for our life and bear it nobly. It is not to demand life for something but to ask ourselves, what does our life demand from us? It is not to see ourselves as a product of life’s circumstances but to see the circumstances and the universe itself as a product of our thought and action. I call this the master mentality. In Sun Tzu’s ‘Art of War,’ it is analogous to the warrior archetype.
To say that life is suffering is to acknowledge the ultimate existential reality of life. It is not to face it naively but to approach this existential matter from a self-conscious perspective. It is like moving forward while also knowing what intimidates us.
But what is the way forward in the face of suffering? It is the desire to reduce unnecessary suffering in a way that we can manifest our true potential and take a proper place in this world. As Dr. Peterson puts it nicely, it is to stand up straight with shoulders back and accepting the terrible responsibility of life. It is to treat ourselves like someone we are responsible for helping and therefore, take the responsibility for our life. This daunting message of taking responsibility for ourselves is our salvation in the face of suffering, chaos, the unknown, and all the troubles that are waiting for us down the road. It is to confront life in its malevolent form and not complain about how we are the victim and a product of a corrupt society and circumstances. It is to give ourselves a sense of purpose and meaning. It is our only chance to take sides in the battle of good and evil.