Nothing is satisfying. Everything feels shallow, meaningless

Suddenly everything seems bull shit. Desires have become a pain in the ass, making me do the things I don't want to do, at least I don't feel satisfied after doing them. Show the question comes up again, why am I doing these things?

Because you ( and humans in general )'ve been doing these things since countless lives and it's become second nature. The Buddha didn't call our realm the Kama-Loka for no reason. Kinda like a chainsmoker who's fully aware of all the terrible effects of smoking doing to his own body and yet he still smokes a few packs a day. That's why Dhamma cultivation is not a sprint. It's a marathon where one has to put in lots of time and energy to get rid of old nasty habits and build new wholesome ones day by day, bit by bit. There's no shortcut to it.

So, you've realized that everything is shallow and meaningless... Ok.

Now stop and think: Isn't the conviction that everything is shallow and meaningless also shallow and meaningless? You are depressed and angry because you expect the world to be deeply meaningful, but (as far as you can see) it isn't. And why do you expect that? Because you've bought into a story that the world offers certain kinds of meaningfulness, and you see other people running around doing shallow, meaningless things as thought those things are deep and meaningful, and looking like they are having a grand old time.

Did you ever stop to consider that maybe those people find those things just as shallow and meaningless as you do, but that they can't see the potential for depth as clearly as you, or that they keep lying to themselves in the hopes that someday the lie will become true? Or maybe not; maybe they really do find those things deep and meaningful. I'm not sure which would be more worthy of compassion...

If you can slough off the expectation, do it; it's not doing you any good. When you give up the expectation that the world is going to hand you depth and meaning, then you'll start to see that depth and meaning is a natural, organic part of being alive. Even the cry that life is shallow and meaningless is filled with depth and meaning. You have merely fixed your gaze at the wrong thing.

For laypeople, the Buddhist path adheres to at least five precepts plus excludes strong vices. In other words, behaviours related to compulsive desires (which oppress, enslave & drag the mind down) are not engaged in, such as:

1. Casual & uncommitted sex

2. Pornography

3. Drugs & alcohol

4. Night life

5. Gambling

6. Etc

Once the above are out of the picture, then a clearer perspective exists about life's options.

My impression of life is inner-conflict about "compulsive desires" occurs in relation to the vices listed above rather than in relation to simple pleasures.

If we all get all what we want will world run this race? The suffering exists because there are needs or desires.

Why needs and desires are exists? because we born.

Why and how we born? The procedure is deeply explained in 'Patichcha samuppada'.

How to stop suffering? Stop the birth.

How to stop the birth? Follow 'Arya ashtangika marga'

When the suffering ends by following it? As much as you follow and understand, your suffering will be disappeared. Not after your death, As you live.

Suffering is with you until you realize that 'There is nothing to be called as ME!'

Follow the way. You will realize the body you think as 'Me' built by foods and drinks. You do not call water bottle as 'Me'. but you still call 'Me' after you drinking that water bottle. What is me? with drunk water or exclusive it?

Sorry, I'm not fluent in English. but need to shed you some light to find the path in Buddhism to end all the suffering.

OP: Nothing is satisfying. Everything feels shallow, meaningless. There is no joy in eating, ...

The whole sphere of experiances are either pleasant, unpleasant or neutral and all such experiences are unsatisfactory

• pleasant feeling is pleasant when it persists, painful when it changes;
• painful feeling is painful when it persists, pleasant when it changes;
• neutral feeling is pleasant when there is knowledge of it, painful when there is no knowledge of it.

Cūla Vedalla Sutta

Each type of sensation corresponds to the 3 categories of dukkha:

• Unpleasant feelings - Dukkha-dukkha, the duḥkha of painful experiences. This includes the physical and mental sufferings of birth, aging, illness, dying; distress from what is not desirable.
• Pleasant feelings - Viparinama-dukkha, the duḥkha of pleasant or happy experiences changing to unpleasant when the causes and conditions that produced the pleasant experiences cease.
• Neural or neither pleasant not unpleasant feelings - Sankhara-dukkha, the duḥkha of conditioned experience. This includes "a basic unsatisfactoriness pervading all existence, all forms of life, because all forms of life are changing, impermanent and without any inner core or substance." On this level, the term indicates a lack of satisfaction, a sense that things never measure up to our expectations or standards.

OP: And even after realising this I can't seem to get out of this rut. What do I do?

One should use

• pleasant feelings to abandon lust,
• unpleasant feelings to abandon aversion
• neutral feelings to abandon ignorance

by being

• equanimous to them and
• seeing their impermanence

For more details what needs to be done see this answer.

This is condensing the instruction of more than 10 days into above. Best is attend a course to get to know the exact details of the practice. For that you can try a course at:

• Vipassana Meditation: As taught by S.N. Goenka in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin or
• International Vipassana Meditation Centre: In the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin and Mother Sayamagyi