Why we suffer (even when life is "good")

Feb 11 • Events

A very common misunderstanding is that suffering is caused by external events.

We think we suffer because of our job, our bank account, our relationships, or the state of the world.

But if we’re honest: have you ever changed your circumstances, only to find the same anxiety and dissatisfaction creeping back in?

I'd argue that suffering is not caused by reality.

The real issue is that we live in a world of “𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜𝘀𝗻’𝘁.”

We layer a massive conceptual world on top of real life. Even when we are safe and sitting in a comfortable room, the following things happen:

We obsess over a future that hasn't happened yet.
We replay a past that is already gone.
We judge ourselves against an imaginary standard of who we "should" be.
We resist the present moment because we think it needs to be different.

We are constantly hallucinating a reality that does not exist, and then we react to that hallucination emotionally. That is a structural problem, and there is no way to fix it with positive thinking or stress-management techniques.

We need to go deeper: we need to distinguish 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜𝘀 from 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜𝘀𝗻’𝘁.

Next week (Feb 21-22), we're running our 𝗘𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗨𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗦𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 weekend workshop.

It's about identifying the core mechanisms that generate mental and emotional turmoil.

When you learn to separate your concepts from reality:

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝘀: You see that your "problems" are often just thoughts you are having.
𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗘𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘀:You stop being a slave to your own mental narrative.
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝘀: You become capable of responding to what is actually happening, rather than what you fear might happen.

𝗔 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:

Most "spiritual" practices fail because they don't give you a way to bring the insights into daily life.

We want this to stick. So, included with the workshop is a complete support package:

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸: So you don't have to scramble to take notes.
𝗣𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗮𝗹𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻’𝘀 "𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀" 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲: A 6-week deep dive.
𝟮 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴: Led by me, so you have a place to bring your real-world challenges.

We're keeping this affordable, and the early bird pricing is available until this Friday, 13th.

Learn more here: https://chenghsin.link/workshop/es-weekend

Looking forward to working with you.

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