Home→Forums→Emotional Mastery→Coping with Suffering of Other Beings?
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April 16, 2021 at 11:56 am #377889AnonymousGuest
Dear Tina;
I would like to read more about your personal suffering that was inflicted on you by other people, which led you to being “fed up with the human species”. If you feel okay sharing, please do.
anita
April 24, 2021 at 3:08 pm #378647DianaParticipantHey Tina,
I have been coping with this for years now, sometimes I forget about this issue and sometimes immense pain comes up again..other times i feel excited and optimistic about our future-as you can see human emotions come and go without a certain pattern. This however, i try to change because feeling anger and frustration with humanity won’t help the energy fields around us. positive thoughts vibrate at a higher frequency, I know that for sure!
What i like to do is whenever a bad thought or image comes up of animals suffering, i block it with an image of animals being free..walking and running with their babies, with no humans trying to exploit them. Just imagine, because projecting positive thoughts is so much stronger then negative thoughts. Trust me, I have been there, I still am but with each time I block the bad thoughts, it gets easier. Now I feel so much better because I don’t sink into a black hole anymore like i used to do.
Hope i helped you,
Diana
September 29, 2021 at 3:15 pm #386821ErikaParticipantYes, thank you for keeping this conversation open and searchable. I found it by searching “how to deal with suffering of other beings.” Pascal’s words especially resonated with and helped me. Thank you!
December 28, 2021 at 11:04 am #390436JulieParticipantPascal, I cannot tell you how this has helped me. Being a consummate realist, I have used this approach before trying to remind myself that nothing happening here even registers on the universal scale, and so it feels good to know I wasn’t completely off base. Trying to understand why, when nature has allowed for ALL of this, my human sensibilities are so offended by it all and therefore don’t seem to function within the “system” as it exists, is another matter. Thank you so much for your post here. Gives me hope : )
January 26, 2022 at 12:04 pm #391875SarahParticipantHello, like others who have commented here, I found this post after a Google search on empathy & animal suffering. These posts really helped to put things into perspective. Thank you for taking the time to write this content & for making it accessible. The post written by Matt was especially helpful for me. I tend to go through cycles with these immense emotions regarding this issue (last night I could not sleep at all). And it is only contributing to the overall “pain burden”. Seeing it in that way is so helpful…and I will try to remember that the next time the downward spiral takes off. Thanks again – S
January 26, 2022 at 12:21 pm #391879AnonymousGuest* Dear Sarah:
You are welcome to start your own thread on the topic of empathy and animal suffering by going to Forums at the top of the page and taking it from there. Maybe sharing more about your pain burden will help you. If you start your thread, I will be glad to read and reply to you there.
anita
July 13, 2022 at 8:05 pm #403939PParticipantI would like to thank everyone on here who has posted and I think there is some great advice on here. I also have been through great suffering over the past few years due to the cruel acts done to animals which led me to some very dark places. At one point I felt as if my soul had finally broke and that I was living in an actual hell. This deep suffering eventually turned to anger against the world and I found myself despising humanity. I could barely function in the world anymore.
I eventually realized that I needed to get help and I began to go to a psychiatrist to help rid myself of this anger and pain. Over many months I learned how to become aware of my emotions and to let go of what I could not control. I turned to mediation and let myself grieve for all of the suffering I had witnessed. It has not been an easy battle and I still struggle day to day. However the struggle has eased and the pain is not so great.
The greatest lesson I have learned throughout this process is that the suffering of other beings will always be present in the world. This is the nature of existence and it is not something I will ever be able to end. I have come to accept this. However I do what I can and I focus on the good that I have done. Do not focus on the bad or you will go crazy.
I truely believe those that feel suffering as we do are all going through this process for a reason. I know it has made me a more compassionate person on a much deeper level then before. I am starting to realize the magnitude of the suffering in those that are inflicting pain on other living beings. The bigger picture has begun to come into focus.
I felt very lost for many years but I would not give up this experience. I feel like I have evolved as a human and that I am reaching a small, but measurable level of contentment. The world is not such a terible place and is actually filled with a lot of beauty and beautiful people with kind souls.
I didnt mean to come on here and just talk about myself but I hope that my story will help someone else that is suffering. You may be in a very dark place now but keep on working through it. It will get easier and you will be a better person for it.
July 14, 2022 at 9:13 am #403955AnonymousGuestDear P:
Thank you for submitting this amazingly insightful post on this very difficult topic. Your genuine feelings and evolution of awareness are remarkable. It’s worth repeating:
“The greatest lesson I have learned throughout this process is that the suffering of other beings will always be present in the world. This is the nature of existence and it is not something I will ever be able to end. I have come to accept this. However I do what I can and I focus on the good that I have done. Do not focus on the bad or you will go crazy…
“It has made me a more compassionate person on a much deeper level then before. I am starting to realize the magnitude of the suffering in those that are inflicting pain on other living beings. The bigger picture has begun to come into focus… The world is not such a terrible place and is actually filled with a lot of beauty and beautiful people with kind souls…. You may be in a very dark place now but keep on working through it. It will get easier and you will be a better person for it.”
January 17, 2023 at 10:33 am #413981HannahParticipantI just created an account in order to reply to this thread, as I found it so helpful. The pain I feel when thinking about animal suffering can feel crippling. It seems to be getting worse as the years go by, to the point that even cartoons and films will bring me to tears. Loved ones will tell me “it’s just a film” but it simply reminds me of the truth behind them and the realities so many of us turn a blind eye to. The same applies for human cruelties and violence.
I, like many others on this thread, recognize these feelings are not productive, beyond changing my own behaviour, i.e. going vegan, supporting animal welfare charities, working in a hospice. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to shake the guilt that comes with knowing that every minute of the day, there is suffering and death of innocent, sentient beings while I am safe and fortunate in my own life.
It helps to know there are others feeling similarly and am glad I Googled my way to this thread. So grateful and will re-read this when I need it. 🙏🏻
January 17, 2023 at 10:41 am #413987AnonymousGuestDear Hannah:
Welcome to the forums, good to have you here. As I read your post, the thought occurred to me that if you expressed your own pain about your own life-experiences, it may alleviate how badly you feel about animals’ suffering. It occurred to me because we can’t feel others’ suffering unless we have our own reservoir of personally experienced suffering.
anita
January 26, 2023 at 2:52 pm #414494IrinaParticipantDear Contributers,
I have been suffering with the same issues as the people before me. It has been less than a year for me to really learn about the abhorent cruelty that animals have to suffer by the actions of human’s.
My cats have been my compassion connection & thanks to them I recognized that every animal is a unique individual and has wishes, fears & feelings. By supporting animal welfare organizations that help strays I naturally learned about industry farming, industry fishing & the uncountable horrors of hunting, fur farming, animal testing, pouching. Paired with the ongoing biodiversity loss & the 6th mass extinction, I cant help but despise humanity for destroying this planet & torturing helpless animals on a daily basis for consumption, entertainment, money. I have immense guilt for having contributed to this as a human and as a meat eater. Eventhough I started to advocate, donate & turned vegan, I cant stop having obsessive & suicidal thoughts as the suffering seems never ending & the animals beyond saving. My soul is broken & often feel like I have swallowed the Red Pill & like in the Movie the Matrix have come to know that there is an evil kind abusing sentient beings. But knowingly the majority participates. For months I have been daily reading News, watching documentaries & cant let go of this topic. I dont feel happiness anymore & I dont think I deserve it, for all the suffering I inflicted with my actions & because every moment there are millions of animals suffering.
BUT I have to thank to the writers before for writing about the little time we have had on this planet & that the earth will survive us.
I also understand now that I have been inflicting pain to myself as a punishment & by also feeling that I am doing something for the animals by gathering all the gruesome facts, instead of taking action.
I understand now that I wont help any kind with hatred & sadness in my heart & will try to heal by not getting so emotionally involved and becoming stronger, so that I can eventually put all this time & emotions into action instead of doomscrolling & paralyzing.
January 27, 2023 at 9:33 am #414520AnonymousGuestDear Irina:
“& also have immense guilt for having contributed to this as a human and as a meat eater“- we all contribute to the destruction of our planet, and in more than just one way: driving a car, even if it’s a smart car; using electricity.. even using the computer as you did to submit your post, and as I do now: Sciencing. com/ how do computers pollute the environment- “Computers also contribute to energy waste. Waste creates needless pollution… This energy waste translates into greenhouse excess gases that contribute to pollution and global climate change”. Unless we live completely off grid, growing our own food, purchasing nothing from any kind of retail establishment.. we pollute.
“Even though I started to advocate, donate & turned vegan, I can’t stop having obsessive & suicidal thoughts as the suffering… I understand now that I won’t help any kind with hatred & sadness in my heart & will try to heal… so that I can eventually put all this time & emotions into action, instead of doomscrolling & paralyzing“- thank you for your work on minimizing human-created damage to all that is alive on our planet, and for preventing more suffering of animals, including humans. Please do heal and minimize your own suffering as well: after all, you too matter!
anita
January 27, 2023 at 5:01 pm #414525TeddyParticipantWhen I first became a vegetarian, I started leaving copies of “Eating Animals” in libraries and I even gave it to someone I knew, one of my few acquaintances, a spiritual leader, and she decided to become a vegetarian because of that book and because her daughter is a vegetarian…. And now at community functions, she sometimes in this irritated way introduces me as The Person Who Made Me Give Up Meat, and I’m like 😯
So I give up. I stopped promoting that book. But, I also never ate another animal.
Sometimes people suck; they can’t figure it out. They just look around them at the other people, you know. 🤧
…. I don’t know, right.
January 28, 2023 at 1:45 am #414529HelcatParticipantHi Teddy
Are you upset by a lion eating a zebra? By cats and dogs eating meat?
Historically, humans evolved to catch and eat prey. We are as much animals as they are. Perhaps you would blame yourself and other people less if you acknowledged that on some level meat eating is part of human nature due to history. It is how we survived as a species.
January 28, 2023 at 4:27 am #414532TeddyParticipantHmm, I manually checked back here and found a reply, but I actually checked the box that said for the site to e-mail me when this thread was updated, which did not happen—does anybody who knows the site understand this?
As for the content, although I certainly didn’t join this site to argue with people, anymore than I “blame” people I don’t know for things—factory farming did not exist before the 20th century, although it’s how 99% of meat is processed in the USA today. I read “Eating Animals”, which, although I was trying to be funny, was actually a great book, which you might consider reading, or some other book like that, as I don’t expect anyone to have a conversion experience from me writing one or two paragraphs. But just briefly, our ancestors are far less meat than we do today, which was acquired far more humanely, and there were far fewer of them. The environmental effects of factory farming today actually have a negative influence on the human race surviving.
But I also don’t go around “blaming” people, as I thought I made clear. I actually think meat eaters are far more likely to spout off about vegetarians than the reverse (Anthony Bourdain made this joking comparison of us to “terrorists” I guess because we don’t eat the “American way”—even if it tastes the same!). People can get incredibly blame-y at the very idea of other people trying to make good choices, even if those people never blame or even ad-blitz them the way that the 95% of the food industry that eats meat ad-blitzes everyone else.
My apologies if that sounds angry or whatever; sometimes I think I sound angry even when I am not. I just like to line up all the arguments into a satisfying little row, you know.
have a nice day.
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