What is the threat of the sublime and why do people suppress it?
Synthesized from Source
definition
"The sublime threatens the ego because it demands nothing but the dissolution of the self-made suffering that gives us our identity; in clinging to familiar pain, we forsake the natural happiness that is our birthright."
According to Osho, the sublime—real happiness or paradise—threatens the ego because it asks nothing to achieve and dissolves the clever, controlling mind that manufactures misery. Happiness is natural, the simple absence of self-made suffering, but people cling to familiar pain, jealousies, and habits that give them identity and something to “do” or boast about. So they suppress the sublime by refusing to drop the very mechanisms that perpetuate their misery.
We avoid real happiness because we won’t stop the habits that make us unhappy, and that frightens the ego that wants control.
Why this matters practically
- Notice and stop habits (jealousy, complaint, comparison) that manufacture misery.
- Shift from chasing happiness to dropping suffering; joy shows up by itself.
- Live simply and presently, starving the ego’s need for drama and control.
- Shift from chasing happiness to dropping suffering; joy shows up by itself.
- Live simply and presently, starving the ego’s need for drama and control.
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