Philosophical solutions to the uncertainties of life

Multiple events occur in our life out of which most phenomenon seems to be unreal. These are beyond our predictions and often create a feeling of void, harm or personal injury.  

In the 20th century, the methods of Philosophical counselling for dealing with daily issues of life gains popularity. This counselling is an act of guiding. It is a personal relationship with clients. The counsellor and clients develop a kind of meaningful relationship. The counsellor engages in a kind of dialogues and develops a kind of free thoughts. Such thoughts are free from any biases or pre-considered judgements. They are free from suffering and problems. Philosophical counselling develops a variety of ideas. It makes us aware of our thinking pattern and our ways of looking at different things.

Philosophical studies can provide insights into the difficulties of life. It helps to solve some of the issues of life. Philosophical counselling takes into the hypothesis that many of our problems arise from difficulties in understanding the meaning of life. Lou Marinoff has written the book on ‘How philosophy can change your life?’ In this, professor Lou urges not to accept victimhood as the by the product of modern human life. Professor Marinoff has also said that we could take effective measures to deal with the uncertain change in our life. 

In order to deal with the uncertainties of life, we need to understand that human problems are complex. Some problems could not be resolved even when the concepts of psychology and philosophy are applied. There are tools in philosophical counselling which could be used to determine the closest solutions to uncertain problems. To deal with uncertain problems. Here I will mention some of measures.

  1. Remove cause, Remove suffering
    We all know that sufferings could be removed by removing the cause. Suppose we are facing a problem with a particular place, a person, or nature of things. Then we could resolve our problems by changing the conditions upon which a place, or person, or any object is affecting us.
  2. Parable of second arrow- Buddha
    Buddha says that ‘In life, we can’t always control the first arrow. However, the second arrow is our reaction to the first to which we have to cope up with.’

    It’s not always the cause of sufferings that hurt us, but the reactions to such kind of sufferings bring harm. Suppose a person A unintentionally says a negative word to a person B. In case, B ignores the words said by A, then there would not be any sufferings to either people. In case, B reacts to those words, then both A and B will suffer because of reactions.   

So suffering is optional, we should be selective to our problems. We could select our problems as well as the cause for which we are facing issues. After proper analysing of the uncertain problems, we could apply the philosophical measures to it. 

3. Take ownership of your problems- Stoics
Now applying the stoics philosophy for dealing with the uncertain problems. For this, I may take out some of the quotes to reflect our sufferings from uncertain problems.  

We should we satisfied with what we do and have and take pleasure in simple things.

If we are miserable with ourselves, we will be miserable wherever we go.

There are certain events that happen outside one’s control

Stoicism also wants to take greater responsibility, greater ownership for the things that we can actually do. Some problems are often uncertain like sudden health problems, death in the family, disaster, accidents, and so on. In such cases, we can’t do anything, but we could definitely deal with our reactions to it. Remember it’s always the second arrow that hurts more. Thus, it’s necessary to examine the reactions, feelings, attitude towards problems, and meditate upon it. Overthinking on a problem is also a problem. To avoid overthinking we need to focus on the present situation and circumstances. The uncertainty is a challenge in itself. However, a proper methods to counter with uncertainty would generate a feeling of well being in us.  

Responses

  1. besondersite Avatar
    besondersite

    Amazing post! Great points 😀

    Reply
    1. Madhvi Avatar
      Madhvi

      Thank-you so much for reading 😊

      Reply
  2. Joshuto Avatar
    Joshuto

    Osho stressed that body must be first of all brought to its balance through therapy, then mind through psychology and then only philosophical counselling can be useful. He pioneered this counselling system and ran successfully, so it seems presence of an enlightened being should be there for its success.
    Osho coined a new English word Philosia for ‘Darshan Shastra’ ie ‘Indian Philosophy’ as the correct word which conveys meaning exactly what it is. Indian Philosophy does not depend upon thinking or mind but begins when no-mind state achieved.
    My post on this topic: http://osholeela.in/2020/02/24/philosia-updated/

    Reply
    1. Madhvi Avatar
      Madhvi

      This is the perfect concept of philosophical counselling. Many a times there is an urgent need of psychological therapy in philosophical counseling like LBT, REBT, etc. If we understand the system working in humans, we will understand the problems rising out of it.
      The term philosia is new to me. When I went through your post, I clearly understood this term. It makes sense that Darshan means to see through our inner eyes, and philosia is a term which defines the concepts in a true sense.

      Reply
      1. Joshuto Avatar
        Joshuto

        In search of self, soul or answer of question ‘Who am i?’, what you get as answer is this ‘seeing’ through eyes.
        कबीर के कुछ दोहे जो इसकी तरफ़ इशारा करते हैं। 1,2 and 3 regarding no-mind state that leads to happening of this seeing and the transformation that it brings is duality cease to exist after that. When you have seen the truth as it is from your own eyes then it cannot be negated by any external force. 4,5,6 and 7 is about how no-mind and no-ego state make it happen and you get lost as person in that moment. J Krishnamoorti says about it as ‘When the observer is observed’ then it is said to have happened. Like 8th step of Buddha, here 8th too is important as it states about transformation in mind. This is whole purpose of Philosophical counselling too.

        1. कबीरा राम रिझाई ले, मुखी सम्मुख पावई। फूटा नग ज्यों जोड़े मन, संधे संधि मिलाई॥
        2. कबीर वह तो एक है, पर्दा (mind, desires etc) किया भेद। धरम करम सब छोड़ कर, सबहि मांहि अलेख॥
        3. मन/घट का पर्दा खोलकर, सम्मुख दे दीदार। बाल सनेही साइयाँ, आदि अंत का यार॥
        4. जा को रहा मैं ढूँढता, सम्मुख मिलया आयी। मेरा मुझसे यों मिला, लागी ना सकों पाई॥
        5. नैना अंतर आवतूँ, ज्यों ही नैना उघड़े यूँ। ना ही देखूँ आपको, ना तुझे देखन दूँ॥
        6. मनवा को अचल करिया, आपा(ego) झीना होई। आलोकत सचु पाइया। कबहुँ ना न्यारा सोई॥
        7. मन के मारे वन गए, बस्ती बसे मन मांहि। कबीर सम्मुख देखिए, जब मन ठहरो जाहिं॥

        This moment brings transformation in person. Kabir says what happened after that ‘seeing’

        8. पहले यह मन काग था, करता जीवन घात। अब तो मन हंसा भया, मोती चुगी चुगी खात॥

      2. Madhvi Avatar
        Madhvi

        Thank-you for sharing beautiful verses of Kabir as well as eye opening insights on philosophical counseling.

      3. Joshuto Avatar
        Joshuto

        In his book ‘Osho Upanishad’, Osho gave detailed instructions to his disciples about how the Osho commune would run worldwide after returning from USA. Osho practically demonstrated use of ‘Philosophical Counselling’ or experimental philosophy for people’s benefit.

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