The root cause of suffering is ignorance, not bad karma or sin

There are evitable and inevitable suffering in this selfless impermanent worldly life existence of the perceptive cognitive intellectual emotional thinking and acting mind functioning under the selfless impermanent existence and function of the limited and conditional body.

Regardless of evitable suffering (inflicted by ignorant hurtful ideas, desires, behaviors, actions and reactions under the influence of ignorance and impurities), or inevitable suffering (due to selfless impermanent changes in all kinds of names and forms), the mind is experiencing or undergoing a state of suffering is due to the mind is functioning under the veil of ignorance.

Out of ignorance, many minds think and believe that suffering is due to bad karma or sin, based on their particular worldly egoistic thinking and belief, values and practice. That's their freedom of thinking and belief.

The minds that are free from ignorance and the by-products of ignorance (the idea of 'I', egoism, impurities and restlessness), that are resting in unconditional peace, transcending all kinds of evitable or inevitable unpleasant, undesirable, and disagreeable names and forms, experiences and impermanent changes, being undetermined or undisturbed by the absence and presence of pleasant or unpleasant, desirable or undesirable, and agreeable or disagreeable names and forms, experiences, and impermanent changes. It doesn't mean that due to the presence of good karma or the absence of bad karma/sin, that these minds only perceiving and experiencing pleasant, desirable, and agreeable names and forms, experiences, and impermanent changes, and hence, that's why they are free from 'suffering'.

By knowing the truth of selflessness and impermanence, devoid of ignorance, the idea of 'I', egoism, impurities, and restlessness, where the mind sees all kinds of selfless impermanent changes that are not necessarily pleasant, desirable or agreeable, as they are. Such as hunger, thirst, decay, weakness, illness, injury, old age, sickness, pain, discomfort, heat and cold, separation from the loved ones, coming in contact with the unpleasant/undesirable/disagreeable objects/affairs/beings/conditions/situations, and vice versa, and/or death/disintegration, where all these are just being what they are. They don't, and cannot make the mind to be in a state of suffering.

Meanwhile, for the minds that are under the influence of ignorance, the idea of 'I', egoism, impurities, and restlessness, all these unpleasant/undesirable/disagreeable names and forms/experiences/impermanent changes are being perceived by the minds as the object of suffering, or the cause of suffering.

Many different kinds of evitable physical suffering and mental or emotional suffering that could have been avoided in this world of many diversities that doesn't belong to anyone are nothing but the products of ignorance, or the consequences of ignorant egoistic thinking, belief, values, practice, ideas, desires, behaviors, actions and reactions.

The mind perceives suffering, or is in a state of suffering, upon being determined and disturbed by the presence of unpleasant, undesirable and disagreeable names and forms/experiences, or the absence of pleasant, desirable and agreeable names and forms/experiences, is due to the presence of egoistic attachment, identification, desire of craving and aversion, comparison, judgment, and expectation in the mind under the influence of ignorance, that give rise to all kinds of impurities and restlessness, that give rise to all kinds of ignorant harmful and hurtful ideas, desires, actions, and reactions, and the consequences of all that, unto oneself and others and the surrounding environment, that give rise to all kinds of evitable suffering/problem/conflict/hardship/difficulty/pain/fear/violence/disharmony/peacelessness that don't need to be existing at all, that could have been avoided.

It's also due to under the influence of ignorance and the by-products of ignorance, the mind perceives suffering, or is in a state of suffering, upon being determined and disturbed by the presence of unpleasant, undesirable and disagreeable selfless impermanent changes, or the absence of pleasant, desirable and agreeable selfless impermanent changes in life, in nature, in the world of selfless impermanent names and forms, in the surrounding living environment, in the selfless impermanent physical body, in the selfless impermanent modification of the mind, or in all kinds of momentary worldly ties, relationships, connections, conditions, and situations, that are unavoidable which is happening in all kinds of names and forms that have a beginning and an end of existence, that are merely being what they are - selfless and impermanent, however, the minds that are under the influence of ignorance see all these selfless impermanent changes as 'the object of suffering' or 'the cause of suffering', under the presence of attachment, identification, and the desire of craving and aversion.

That's why the essence of the yoga and/or buddhism teachings and practice is all about coming from the initiative and freewill of the mind itself, to be eradicating ignorance, to be disciplining, purifying and quieting itself, to be freeing itself (the selfless impermanent perceptive cognitive intellectual emotional thinking and acting faculty of the selfless impermanent body) from the influence of ignorance and its by-products, and hence, be free from suffering, being undetermined or undisturbed by coming in contact with (the presence of) or not coming in contact with (the absence of) pleasant/unpleasant, desirable/undesirable, or agreeable/disagreeable names and forms, experiences, and impermanent changes.

The liberated mind stops generating harmful and hurtful desires, behaviors, actions, and reactions that harm and hurt itself and others and the surrounding environment, while being undetermined and undisturbed by the mind perception of all kinds of selfless impermanent names and forms, or experiences, or selfless impermanent changes, that are pleasant/unpleasant, desirable/undesirable, or agreeable/disagreeable, that are evitable or inevitable.

The mind that is being limited and conditioned and over-powered by corrupted thinking and belief, passionate egoistic ideas, values and practices, selfishness, possessiveness, separateness, offensiveness, defensiveness, anger, hatred, violence, restlessness, desire, discontentment, dissatisfaction, greed, jealousy, lust, pride, arrogance, superiority/inferiority, shame, guilt, regret, fear, worry, grief, sorrow, and etc, is under the influence of ignorance.

The mind that inflicts physical/mental/emotional suffering unto oneself and/or others, either intentionally or unintentionally, is under the influence of ignorance.

The mind that is being determined/disturbed by evitable and inevitable physical/mental/emotional suffering, is under the influence of ignorance.

All kinds of 'problems', of evitable physical/mental/emotional health problem, personal problem, self-esteem problem, family problem, parenting problem, childhood problem, adulthood problem, relationship problem, financial problem, social problem, community problem, behavior problem, national problem, regional problem, global problem, and etc, are all inter-related/inter-affecting among one another. And all these 'problems' are nothing but the products of ignorance and the by-products of ignorance.

There's neither right nor wrong. It's merely whether the mind is free or not free from being determined or disturbed by whatever it perceives/experiences through the senses, under the absence or presence of ignorance.

Inquire towards the truth of everything.

Being aware of 'problems', is different from thinking that we have problems...

Think again, if we think we 'have' problems. As 'problems' don't recognize anyone as their master or their owner. They don't intent to attach to somebody and say, "Hey! You are our owner now. We are yours. We are your problems."

So, why do we go and pick up 'problems', and possess it, and own it, and think, "I have problems now. These are my problems." And be troubled, worried and unhappy.

Let the problems be what they are, if they exist.

But, we don't own the problems, nor the problems are ours. We don't 'have' problems. The problems are just being there, but it is not 'our' problems.

Just be aware of the problems, without attach onto them, nor possess them, and do our best to help them to dissolve, out of compassion.

If they don't dissolve after we give help or assistance, then we have to let it be. Just like we can't bring life back to a dead person. And death is not a 'bad', or 'horrible', or 'sad', or 'negative', or 'suffering' thing. Neither is 'problems'.

If they don't exist, then no need to go everywhere to find them, nor expect them to be appearing in front of us.

Usually we (the ego) don't treat 'problems' this way. We like to look for 'problems'. If there's none, we feel bored, and we want to generate one. It looks like we enjoy having 'problems', and we spend so much time and effort on 'problems'.

We attached to our family, we think, "We have family problems."

We attached to our health, we think, "We have health problems."

We attached to our wealth, we think, "We have financial problems."

We attached to our relationship, we think, "We have relationship problems."

We attached to our country, we think, "We have national problems."

We attached to our race, we think, "We have racial problems."

We attached to our culture, we think, "We have cultural problems."

We attached to our career, we think, "We have career problems."

We attached to our feelings, we think, "We have emotional problems." 

And so on...

If there is no attachment, not even towards this body and this mind, where are 'problems'? There's no problem.

If we are looking for 'problems', we will see and find 'problems' everywhere, in the home, and outside the home. If we don't look for them, they don't come to trouble us. If we want to help to dissolve other people's 'problems', then just give help without attachment. Without being disturbed, nor determined by 'problems' that don't belong to us.

Whether we are aware of it or not, 'problems' are being what they are, and they don't belong to us. If we want to help the problems to be dissolved, then do our best to help, out of compassion, and let go of the fruit of 'giving' help.

Om shanti.