How To Escape Psychological Suffering While Playing DayZ
Hello survivors!
Most of you new to the game may encounter some major bugs, along with a sparsity of content. This may lead to aversive emotions which include but are not limited to anxiety, frustration, boredom, dysphoria, and confusion. While reminding yourself that the developers will fix these issues may temporarily put these emotions at bay, this is a band-aid fix and not a real solution, as your pain will likely re-surface the next time you log-in. Thankfully I have devised a solution for you.
The key to resolving your needless suffering and enjoy what DayZ has to offer is to recognize the illusion of the self for what it is. Much of our suffering is born of an identification with thought. That is, we think without knowing we are thinking, and imagine that we are authoring each of our thoughts and actions like a writer writes a book. This could not be further from the truth.
The conventional conception of the self is an illusory impression that can be seen as such by paying attention to the nature of experience. When one pays close attention to attention itself, it is possible to notice that the impression of self vanishes altogether, if only for a moment at a time. What one is left with are the mere raw sensations, sounds, sights, and feelings uncolored by discursive thought. It is at this point that one may recognize the true nature of the self: pure awareness.
Next time you log-in to DayZ, don't do what you usually do, which is to go search for that gun to kill on sight and unleash your inner rage. Instead, pay close attention to the rooster sound each time it arises in consciousness. Watch it appear, and then watch where it goes. You will notice that there is an intrinsic pleasantness to concentration. While this insight takes practice to stabilize, you may soon realize that this rooster sound offers a beautiful richness that you had not fully appreciated while lost in thought about all the things that DayZ could be. DayZ can and will be a lot of things, but it is time for you to notice what DayZ is, which is simply another appearance in consciousness. We keep on surviving!
Most of you new to the game may encounter some major bugs, along with a sparsity of content. This may lead to aversive emotions which include but are not limited to anxiety, frustration, boredom, dysphoria, and confusion. While reminding yourself that the developers will fix these issues may temporarily put these emotions at bay, this is a band-aid fix and not a real solution, as your pain will likely re-surface the next time you log-in. Thankfully I have devised a solution for you.
The key to resolving your needless suffering and enjoy what DayZ has to offer is to recognize the illusion of the self for what it is. Much of our suffering is born of an identification with thought. That is, we think without knowing we are thinking, and imagine that we are authoring each of our thoughts and actions like a writer writes a book. This could not be further from the truth.
The conventional conception of the self is an illusory impression that can be seen as such by paying attention to the nature of experience. When one pays close attention to attention itself, it is possible to notice that the impression of self vanishes altogether, if only for a moment at a time. What one is left with are the mere raw sensations, sounds, sights, and feelings uncolored by discursive thought. It is at this point that one may recognize the true nature of the self: pure awareness.
Next time you log-in to DayZ, don't do what you usually do, which is to go search for that gun to kill on sight and unleash your inner rage. Instead, pay close attention to the rooster sound each time it arises in consciousness. Watch it appear, and then watch where it goes. You will notice that there is an intrinsic pleasantness to concentration. While this insight takes practice to stabilize, you may soon realize that this rooster sound offers a beautiful richness that you had not fully appreciated while lost in thought about all the things that DayZ could be. DayZ can and will be a lot of things, but it is time for you to notice what DayZ is, which is simply another appearance in consciousness. We keep on surviving!
