One of the trickiest discoveries you will ever make is in realizing that without thought you would have no troubles. You could be dying, but without thought, you would not be bothered by it. Survival presents periodic problems, (such as the need for food), which are either satisfied in a timely fashion, or else you become someone’s. Under primitive conditions, such needs can be met without the brain having to call upon its thinking; instinctive programming does the job. But living amidst man’s manmade second reality (civilized conditions), the brain must look to thought to decide at which particular restaurant you will tonight dine, or which form of treatment you will undergo to combat your life threatening ill.
You cannot be troubled by being seen at a dé classé rôtisserie, or concerned that you picked the wrong hospital, without there being thought about either. The “problem” of hunger, experienced by your entire physical being, (but centered in the stomach), will never be, “troubled, upset, embarrassed, angry,” or any other emotion, by the manner in which the problem was solved – if it was solved. The “troubles” experienced in thought, and in thought only, not only can never be conclusively resolved, but the attempts to do so can easily enlarge the trouble, (you’ve been troubled by feelings of being, “out-of-the-meaningful-loop” and in an attempt to rectify the troubling situation, you dress up in your best and go out to a hippest club in town, only to discover that since last Tuesday it is now considered to be the lamest place in town. (Plus your wardrobe drew snickers.)
There are always two ends to problem-sticks: either success or disaster; either food or starvation. But in the wide and wacky world of troubles no stick has any ends. No matter which way you turn it, twist it, grip it or curse it, satisfactory resolution of your trouble is not forthcoming. You can keep changing your wardrobe and stay up to date, but your basic trouble of not feeling hip and with-it will not thereby be cured. An obvious fact, that even a really interested twelve year old can readily realize.
If other people physically assault you and take your food – these are problems, but if other people attack your ideas and those you cherish – all you have, (if you are of ordinary consciousness), are troubles. One can be fought against – the other is snipe hunting. You can repel a blow to your face, but not an insult. You can even extract revenge for a successful physical blow, but never for someone ridiculing your talent as a sniper.
J.