My take on suffering, nihilism and mortality.
A while ago I completed the GOT series. The series is phenomenal but let's talk about the famous Valyrian saying.
Valar Morghulis which translates to "All men must die" If there's one thing that's certain, it's this that you are mortal and one day you are going to die. We are all mortals. Your friends, your family, your colleagues, your heroes, everyone is going to die. That's a whole lot of suffering, but it doesn't end there. Suffering comes from earthly things as well. All prominent religions believe this, that Life is suffering. People who don't believe this tend to live in a world of self-created fantasies and generally consist of children who are living under the protection of their parents. Fantasies hurt you sooner rather than later. Reality hits and it hits hard! No one can be happy all their lives. When people find this out few of them tend to become nihilistic which is certainly not the answer.
There's a part in the movie Avengers: Age of Ultron where the Ultron says Humans as a species are doomed and the Vision agrees. He couldn't have been any right. We are doomed, we are going to die, but we don't stop there; we create suffering for ourselves and for each other through our greedy motives and actions. The Vision also doesn't counter this and agrees straight away. Mind you, Vision picked up Thor's hammer and also carries one of the infinity stones. So he's worthy and can't be wrong :P
Though coming back to the point, the Ultron believes the only way to free humanity of suffering is by completely destroying all humans by killing every person on the planet. Again that's certainly not the answer. I believe Ultron is a nihilist like many humans. But how can one escape nihilism if there's one thing that's certain: Suffering followed by death.
This reminded me of a joke "Life is a sexually transmitted disease with a 100% chance of fatality" The great Stoic Marcus Aurelius once said "Yesterday a drop of semen tomorrow a handful of spices or ashes"
If there's one thing that's certain it's, Life is suffering and you can't be happy all the time. But then I saw a small video on YouTube by Jordan Peterson where he said Life isn't about being happy all the time, in fact, it's about finding meaning. A meaningful life is a much better life and what's important is, chasing happiness is in itself a source of unhappiness. So you're better off searching meaning rather than happiness. That is when it dawned me, in GOT the saying doesn't end at Valar Morghulis, it is followed by Valar Dohaeris which translates to "All men must serve"
Though you must not start by serving the world, if you do there's a chance for Nihilism to creep in again. The world is very big and you're not enough to change and save it. If you've seen the movie Avengers: Age of Ultron, remember Tony Stark creates Ultron to protect the earth. To make it a better place. What does Ultron end up doing? So it is better you start with yourself. Ask yourself what are the bad things I am doing, that if I stop doing will make my life much better? What is the one thing I could do today that will help me have a better tomorrow? That's delayed gratification and possibly the greatest service to self. Do what's right rather than what's expedient. Be truthful, or, at least don't lie. Have noble aims. Practice delayed gratification. Harm no one but don't be naive and harmless. Fight if it's necessary, but never for selfish motives. Then when you think you are living a life of meaning you could try and help someone else. As your life becomes meaningful it will be your duty to help others who are trying to do the same. Remember this though you have to strike the right balance while serving others. Also, be careful about who you're helping and make sure if they really want to be helped? As the old saying goes "How many psychiatrists does it take to change a lightbulb? Just one. But the lightbulb must want to change"
Valar Morghulis. All men must die.
Valar Dohaeris. All men must serve. Just because life is full of suffering doesn't mean you're allowed(Notice the use of the word "must") to be lazy. Instead, strive for a meaningful life and serve!
