Suffering

In preparing for teachings on the Four Noble Truths, I anticipate a discussion on the meaning of suffering, and the statement attributed to the Buddha that life is suffering. As a westerner raised as a Christian, a meditation on suffering would focus on the suffering and death of Christ on the cross, and the salvation from suffering that it offers to humanity. The goal of Buddhism is also salvation from suffering, and for both Christians and Buddhists, the path away from suffering depends on the choices made by an individual over the course of a lifetime to follow a path of compassion for others. Or to fail to do so, and to continue to suffer, and to inflict suffering on others.

As one who follows a Buddhist strategy for spiritual development, while accepting the living spirit of the historical Jesus as my pre-eminent spiritual authority and/or guru, I frequently find it helpful to call notice to similarities between the forms of traditional Christian worship and the forms of Buddhist practice, as I encounter them.

In both traditions, for spiritual practice to be meaningful, it is critical to realize that to understand the meaning of suffering requires more than a listing of the daily aches and pains of the self in a self-absorbed life. A fuller definition of the meaning of suffering requires a realization of the emptiness of the self - that is to say, the meaninglessness of the self, the unimportance of it, and to thereby experience a liberation that opens the eyes of the practitioner to the immense suffering that exists in the world as, on a daily basis, the strong prey upon the weak, subjecting those they choose to oppress, to the worst constants of human cruelty. It is in the world outside of our meditative practice that we are able to see clearly the consequences in human suffering created through the greed and violence of those making choices without enlightenment into the true nature of humanity.

Our experience of deep compassion as a result of our exposure to the suffering of others, and our commitment to take action to relieve suffering where and when we can, provides us with insight to the true and noble nature of humanity.

We need only look to the immense suffering of the people of Gaza, experiencing the injury of pain and the grief of death. Or the suffering of the invading Israeli Army, each member sacrificing their individual humanity for the hope that a violent response to violence will produce peace. Or to the people of Tibet faced with oppression from the Chinese. Or the Chinese, led to excesses of absurdity in attempting to suppress the spiritual power of the ancient traditions that still rule the land of Tibet.

The suffering documented in the media on a daily basis is the suffering created within the human family by the unrealized mind, with its willingness to follow the dictates of the primitive monkey mind, in which skill in the use of aggression and control to dominate the group, is valued. How can a society such as ours...

Rocky River at Horse Ford - January 2004 - 7 x 18

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