Suffering

Suffering is self-centered thinking. It is thoughts about "I", what "I" should do, what "I" should be, about "my" life, and so on. If there is no belief or interest in them, they just sail through. They have no real bearing on you or your identity because you are not a thought. And most importantly, you are not the person that the thoughts are ostensibly about. If we find ourselves struggling with thoughts, there is some residual identification with the person concept. Who, what and where is this person at the center of thoughts? This is the root concept that keeps the conceptual cycle in motion. The core belief is the assumed presence of the person, the "I" at the center of the self-centered concepts. So, rather than deal with the thoughts on a piece-meal basis, go for the root. Investigate the person. Where is it? Can you find it? Does it exist? If you cannot find the person, then there is no one to whom the self-centered concepts apply. Without the belief in that reference point, the whole network of suffering thoughts is deactivated. They do not belong to anyone. The self concept is the cause, and the self-centered thoughts are the effects. . . John Wheeler