ROG IS STILL HAVING DIFFICULTIES ABSORBING JON's BURDEN
JON:
Now I want to suggest that perhaps pursuit of happiness in this day and age
is immoral......... Maybe if we started telling them how terrible the world
is,
our kids would sober up.........And there are too many happy
adults in the world......But the truth is, we *shouldn't* be happy in today's
world. At least, those who love humanity shouldn't be happy.
ROGER:
Jon, you seem to carry a tremendous burden. May I ask if there was ever a
Golden Age where people could be happy? If not, when will you deem that
suffering has been reduced enough that we can celebrate and throw a bit of a
party?
JON:
Happiness would eventually return to the world. A more profound, more moral
happiness than we now experience. Today's happiness is built on a foundation
of death and suffering. We're all guilty.
ROGER:
Guilty? Of not focusing our entire lives on suffering? Of enjoying
conversations in the checkout line? What is this 'foundation of death' that
we are guilty of?
JON:
Maybe one day the average person will wake up and not think: "How am I going
to entertain myself today?" but think instead: "Who's suffering am I going to
alleviate today? Who's life am I going to help save?"
ROGER:
I would hope he starts with his own. The 'average person' in this example
will be living the life of hell. A self -created world where each of us is
like Sysyphus pushing a giant boulder up an infinite hill.
JON:
Would that be such a terrible world?
ROGER:
Yes.
Rog
PS -- Jon, how are you personally approaching life with this vision? I mean,
what do you do all day? Are you studying to be a great doctor, or (to quote
the Wizard of Oz) are you a "phila...phila...phila...Doer of Good deeds?" I
am serious. I think it would be revealing if you could share more on a
personal level of how you build this philosophy into Every Day Direct
Experience.
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