Hello Forum!
I have been practicing for around a decade, primarily Buddhist teachings. I have read widely--- everything from Advaita to Madhyamika to Shaivism to Zen. I have also practiced widely, primarily vipassana, zazen, and self-enquiry, formally and informally; on retreats and in daily life.
Where I am in practice: BURNING. After many years of relative peace, the universe has decided to give me a long, slow roasting leading to this fundamental realization: the problem is not in pain, but in resistance to pain. This resistance actually creates an ongoing discomfort that in many ways is worse than the pain itself (which doesn’t always come).
I came across the post on this forum that most of us are looking for “happiness sans suffering”, and that the pain is the “inability to let go.” That’s the message I’ve been getting fairly clearly. When you approach it this way, pain isn’t even a problem.
The other day, I wrote “I want to be happy.” Looking at it closely, this is just pointing to a set of feelings: the feeling “I”, the feeling “want” (which is a resistance to what is happening) and the feeling “happy” (light, flowing, uplifting). Looking at it in this way, it’s just a bunch of squiggly feelings.