I was watching one of the episodes of Ghost Whisperer and it made me ask about earth-bound spirits ~ those who haven’t crossed over yet, ‘Why are they not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel? Why do they have to stay and choose not to transcend?’
The questions made me realize one thing though, perhaps, the answer.
“We have become so attached to life, that we prefer to stay rather than move on.”
It is exactly the same thing with what we are trying to do while we are still in this land of the living. We torment ourselves for something that we don’t even have any control of. Some people who have experienced a loss, whether it is a life, an object, or a relationship, becomes so depressed to the point of destroying his/her own life and no longer enjoying what the world has to offer. Though we can not ignore that pain does exist and it is a reality, it does not mean that we have to linger on it forever. An American Buddhist, Bhikkhu Bodhi, said,
"Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional." Pain and suffering are not the same thing. Pain is a physical sensation; suffering is how we choose to experience it.
The Buddha compares being afflicted with bodily pain to being struck by an arrow. Adding mental pain (aversion, displeasure, depression, or self-pity) to physical pain is like being hit by a second arrow. The wise person stops with the first arrow.
Suffering comes from our attachments, as the Buddhist’s Four Noble Truths emphasizes,
1. Suffering exists
2. Suffering arises from attachment to desires
3. Suffering ceases when attachment to desire ceases
4. Freedom from suffering is possible by practicing the Eightfold Path
Perhaps, an earth-bound spirit’s ‘unfinished business’ is just essentially a simple case of attachments. Depending on how attached you are to earthly pleasures or even to life, will determine your state in the after life.
Found you!
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