The Problem of Suffering and the Problem of Evil (Part One)

[@zia238]

This is a brilliant teaching. Thank you.

[@workingtoseethelight8244]

You made me eyes flow like rivers. Thank you.

[@capuletca]

Powerful teaching, and beautiful, thank you 🙏

[@SilenceInTheBliss]

If you'll indulge a "should", even though all is as it is, this should have millions of views. I'm in tears at the depth of this communication. ❤

[@CostcoMuffins1]

Whew. When you said that you don't feel the difference in your body between someone hurting themselves vs hurting another... I felt that. The past 5ish years I've become increasingly aware of a very deep grief in my body and being, and in the past I tried to understand and "process" it from a western psychological perspective (that it is "mine" and is a result of some trauma that happened to me in the past, which to some extent was true). But the more I've probed it and sat with it the more it feels like a "planetary" grief. The grief of the pain and suffering humanity has visited on itself, but also on Nature (since, as you pointed out, there's not really a difference; we *are* Nature.) I often get quite emotional when hearing about things like the bleaching of the coral reefs, the clear-cutting of the rainforest, etc. Am I crazy? Am I really feeling the sadness of the planet in my body? Can plants and animals and forests and oceans even feel "sad"? I do feel like I've been able to partially "digest" this grief, but these days it often feels "too big" for me to process and I notice myself doing various things to avoid it or numb myself to it. Is it possible to digest it in bits and pieces over time?

[@CostcoMuffins1]

Of course, now I've watched Part Two and you discuss how we blame our feelings on the external when really those feelings are due to the "War inside yourself". I'm not sure I get it but clearly I need to contemplate that and do more "inner work". Thank you as always for your wisdom, erudition, and love!

[@christopherwallis751]

You're not really feeling the sadness of the planet in your body; you're feeling your sadness over the loss of biodiversity, which is understandable. But it's also not your job to take that on. Nor is it necessary to stop feeling the sadness, of course. Unless you want to. If so, some of it will digest (as you digest your story that any of this is 'wrong') and some of it will simply release. The "war inside yourself" is your resistance to reality. It's neither needed nor helpful. Hope these comments help.

[@jayadevadasthevoiceoftheso6585]

I love that CS Lewis' Christian apolegetic arguments are quoted in an explanation of free will/evil from a non dual śaiva perspective! One can only find that type of scope here, folks! 😊

[@jayadevadasthevoiceoftheso6585]

(Or in my own mind, of course! 😂)

[@christopherwallis751]

Please watch part 2!

[@didiermaj8330]

When I realize this and deeply experienced myself also as the perpetrator, that I am That, but I can not remember awakening only confusion for more than 40 years, could. My mother died when I was one year and 5 days, a deep traumatic experience that awakened myself in separation and the beginning of seeking.. I tried my whole life to be a person, someone... There is compassion towards my own story and person, the painful choices that brought me in deep dark nights of the soul which is a perfect stage for surrendering. So no good or bad but since 10 years a seeking for non dual experiences. There is also clear seeing of patterns and knowing what will happen in future events... But there is still a me and they...inner and outer because of the attachment to senses and body... What to do...or not to do? Thank you for being, thank you for sharing 🙏

[@sydpf117]

My language is not english... I was very pleasantly surprised by your speech, which I consider very mature and with a subtlety that goes to deeper layers than words. I remember once when I happily said to myself: "God is so Great that not only the good comes from Hi..., but also the bad as well !!"

[@christopherwallis751]

Please watch part 2!

[@DrNancyLivingCoCreatively]

. I weep on your first words . I am not a Christian but was raised that way. I see it definitely. Soul matters. I'll be back. 🙏🏾🦋🦋🦋🦋

[@priyabratadash4542]

Strange that i was thinking about problem of evil yesterday and found your video on suggestion after my daily worship . Synchronicity these days in my life have been queit strange 😅 . Thank u .

[@lillierose5304]

I chuckled when you said "now we needn't get into debates about free will here" 😅 😂 And I remembered how your videos about determinism, non duality, the ego, and being with intense emotions saved.. my.. butt! Thank you for this new video. Tremendously helpful. Blessings 🙏

[@christopherwallis751]

Please hear part two!

[@critiquingchristianity]

Mr. Wallis, another excellent topic choice and presentation. I am with you on this, I tracked everything you’ve said and it resonates almost completely with my own thoughts on the issue. I say ‘almost’ because I am not quite convinced that God is not a person. I agreed with your critique of the Abrahamic (Christian) conception of divine personhood as a kind of flawed, cause-and-effect concept, but I don’t think there isn’t a better understanding of divine personhood. If God were merely ‘consciousness’ or ‘pure consciousness’, I could understand why one would conclude He/She isn’t a person. For me, though, this conception of God is inadequate because it doesn’t allow that there is differentiation within God. If God is not just consciousness or awareness, but an aware being, then this suggests there is an essential identity-a personal identity-that is aware. The Person here is the radical agent or knower. Self awareness suggests to me that there are two things in play, consciousness and the conscious subject. If God were just ‘consciousness’, one could substitute that with ‘everything’ or ‘nothing’. But then how could one account for divine creation or manifestation? What is the impetus for creation in the first place? Anyway, just my .02 as they say.

[@christopherwallis751]

For sure some sects of Shaivism teach exactly that (God as a Supreme Being/Person, the radical agent and ultimate knower). I'm espousing the nondual view in which God/dess is not a person. God is consciousness, God is everything (both manifest and unmanifest) and God is nothing, indeed. How does one account for manifestation? icchā-śakti, i.e. Will. What is the impetus for creation? icchā-śakti, i.e. Will. Kinda like Schopenhauer's understanding of Will[e].

[@critiquingchristianity]

@@christopherwallis751 When you say that you espouse the “non-dual view in which God/dess is not a person”, did you mean to imply that the personalist is espousing dualism? When I say there is distinction within God, I am not espousing any sort of opposition within the Divine Being, but rather describing the eternal precondition or potentiality for manifestation. If this distinction (between personal agent and consciousness) is not intrinsic to God/dess, what accounts for the existence of Divine Will or Divine Volition? Why should anything come into manifestation? And how is the process of manifestation not arbitrary? That is, how does God/dess differentiate between the various types of forms He/She wishes to bring into manifestation? If we could boil all of these questions down to one question, I suppose it would be this: If self awareness is not the quality of a person per se, what is a person then?

[@Ddrcfszy]

The force we long to connect to is same as ananda?

[@Username34823]

Christopher, We evolved here, I ask myself, where on this evolutionary timeline did humans start going to heaven? Does a loving God care about us when 99 percent of all living things that have existed have gone extinct and struggle/suffer daily? Death can be scary for some, but I find solace in this idea: All the atoms that form our body, existed before we were born. The atoms, through the evolutionary process, formed into a conscious being for roughly 100 years, and then after death, the atoms go back to being in an unaware state, like before you were born. This gives me happiness knowing that every day I have on Earth is a GIFT. In regards to your idea of love and how it's a force, I'd definitely agree. I had taken psilocybin mushrooms and felt a level of peace, love, calmness, and interconnectedness that I didn't know was possible. All I wanted to do, was spread that love and peace. When we are full on the love tank, we want to spread it, and when we are full on the hate tank, we also want to spread it. But after that experience, I knew where humanity is headed, trial and error, we will get there. The world is changing, we are realizing what is right and what is wrong. For me, I cannot honestly say I believe in God, but what I do believe in is humanity. When it doubt, follow your instincts. We are meant to be here either way.

[@christopherwallis751]

Please watch part 2, it adds some important points!

[@djVania08]

Whenever people like you speak, I feel like the only way to see something higher in our existence, is to deeply deeply convince yourself about some other form of reality than it seems to be. Every non-dual evangelist seems to me like to me he or she convinced himself into deep reality distortion. I am still listening, I am still exploring and yet... I still can't see what you see. Cutting myself is the same thing as cutting someone else? Just this would have to be discern to many many small pieces for it to resemble any form of sense. And yet, by the end of it, we would have to agree that is just a matter of believe about the structure/non structure of this universe/existence.

[@christopherwallis751]

no, it's not a matter of belief at all. in fact, it's nothing to do with belief. it's a way of experiencing reality -- and I'm certainly not saying you *should* experience reality in this way.

[@christopherwallis751]

read Lama Yeshe, Introduction to Tantra, chapter on "Overthrowing the Tyranny of Ordinary Appearances".

[@bigislandmonero2122]

Seems to me we're already plugged into that mindless VR game because of having no true free will, it just includes suffering. Deep in my heart, even if I'm pissing on myself I'd choose a lack of suffering even if I don't have the illusion of free will that I already do.

[@christopherwallis751]

I'm sorry to hear that. What would you say is the source of your suffering?

[@bigislandmonero2122]

@@christopherwallis751 I personally don't experience suffering, but I know most do. I experience pain, even so the same applies to me even with pain. Would rather experience a world with a lack of pain even at cost of my "free will"

[@ddaavvee68]

best band name ever: Unconcious Meat Robots

[@christopherwallis751]

LOL

[@FaYT02]

Om ! 🙏

[@christopherwallis751]

Please hear part two!

[@FaYT02]

@@christopherwallis751 I did. But I didn't really need to, even if I need to work on that, of course!

[@youliantroyanov2941]

Cool specs, go well with your shirt too, u da man 👍

[@christopherwallis751]

Please watch part two!

[@youliantroyanov2941]

@@christopherwallis751 absolutely

[@Resenbrink]

I'd prefer god just answer the question but all we ever get is just another guy with his take on it.

[@christopherwallis751]

haha . . . but what if the god you speak of doesn't exist, and there's just us guys?

[@Resenbrink]

@@christopherwallis751 that’s what I meant - there are no gods just an endless line of people telling us there is & who are forever telling us what he wants etc because the gods they worship are silent.

[@christopherwallis751]

@@Resenbrink but if you paid attention to the video, you know I'm not one of those people.

[@Resenbrink]

@@christopherwallis751 I confess to not listening to all of it - I took the introductory comments the wrong way & thought I detected yet one more body in the conga line of those ready to tell us what god wants etc. forgive me 😊

[@harkcali]

@@christopherwallis751😂😂😂😂😊

[@gregormcdougall5826]

What utter garbage!!

[@christopherwallis751]

please listen to part 2.