Fri Sep 05, 2008 at 14:06:46 PM PDT
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In Buddhism, the First Noble Truth is "that life is suffering. To live, you must suffer. It is impossible to live without experiencing some kind of suffering. We have to endure physical suffering like sickness, injury, tiredness, old age and eventually death and we have to endure psychological suffering like loneliness, frustrations, fear, embarrassment, disappointment, anger, etc."
This is the first of the Four Noble Truths, of course. I'm noticing more and more that American culture is struggling to deal with suffering. |
| auntie :: A Few Words on Suffering |
I bring this up because there is an interesting review on Salon.com today of The Book of Calamities: Five Questions about Suffering and its Meaning:
Voltaire did at least have one thing in common with the clerics he loathed: He had been shocked into the contemplation of suffering. And it doesn't necessarily require an earthquake. For essayist Peter Trachtenberg, it was simply the experience of watching his friend Linda succumb to autoimmune disease and cancer. "She was good in all the ways I wasn't," he writes in his searching and often searing "The Book of Calamities." "She was temperate and loyal; she loved her family. She was good to me. It's quite likely that I owed her my life, though in all the years I knew her, she never reminded me of my debt to her."
This jewel was in the comments section:
I think once we accept suffering is inevitible it helps tremendously. We can let go of being singled out or punished. Knowing we all suffer takes away our self consciousness about seeking another's presence or toughing out our pain.It also relieves us of needing to "fix" another's"misery. This is one of the biggest reasons people avoid those undergoing pain, we feel so helpless.. Knowing suffering is ineveitble for all beings also allows us to let go of the "specialness "we claim from suffering, and move on to preventing suffering in others through gentleness..
Many of us in the Nichiren tradition like to say, as Nichiren said: "Suffer what there is to suffer, enjoy what there is to enjoy. Regard both suffering and joy as facts of life, and continue chanting Namu-myoho-renge-kyo...." As if that's all there is to it.
And perhaps that is all there is to it. But I see in my friends and acquaintances on the path: We have much work to do regarding the understanding and transformation of suffering.
If you're feeling gloomy today, you are not alone. Sadness and grief are part of our journey. A brighter day will come. Keep the faith. |
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