(February 19, 2022 at 8:17 pm)Ahriman Wrote: "what kind of person you are"
--Knowing your real self, is important, because when you know who you really are, you can express yourself more freely (than if you don't know who you are), and some suffering in life, can be mitigated, by expressing yourself.
Interesting questions, and different from what we usually get around here, so thank you for posting these.
The first one is the most difficult, so I will skip it at least for now.
Knowing oneself and expressing oneself are intimately related, I think. And I agree that expression can be very helpful.
There is an old joke: "How do I know what I think until I hear what I say?" And this is kind of the basis of all talk therapy. What the therapist says isn't important; what I hear myself say to the therapist is what counts. I say something that seems obvious, and he raises an eyebrow and says "really?" and I think "god, I really believe that don't I? What the hell?" It can be devastating.
I see it as dialectic. You make something as self expression, and this "gives to airy nothing a local habitation and a name." It makes a concrete, visible touchstone of your state of mind. This then becomes a rung on a ladder, onto which you can step to see a little further.
Quote:"how much suffering you can endure"
--Knowing how much pain/suffering/boredom you can endure, is very important, because when you know this information, you will be less likely to put yourself in an intolerable situtaiton (whether that situation is some kind of sexual activity, or sports/fitness related activities, or consuming drugs, or simply having to wait around for something to happen, such as at a doctor's office)
Related to the other question, above. Knowing oneself means knowing one's limits. What to avoid, who to put on ignore.
The psychoanalyst Adam Phillips writes wonderfully about this stuff. His latest book is about giving up, and how we see that as a failure, but in fact it may be a very positive thing.
Do you have any real-life examples you are willing to let us know about?
