The most basic experience that all human beings have, which begins in the birth canal if not before, is that of pain and suffering or affliction. The fact of suffering, and how to deal with it and its effects, prompted the Buddha to present the Four Noble Truths. I like to refer to these as the facts of life. These are not dogmatic teachings, but excellent psychology that supports the spiritual journey.
The first Noble Truth is that existence is painful because “all things arise and pass away.” The issue here is called dukkha in Sanskrit, meaning affliction. Examples of dukkha include: birth, death, ageing, loss, sickness, sorrow, association with what is unpleasant, separation from what is pleasant, not getting what one wants.
The Buddha’s final words before he died in 483 BC were: “All created things are subject to decay. Practise diligently to realize this truth.”
Everything measurable or quantifiable will eventually disappear, and more immediately it will change to something other than what it was originally. This includes all relationships. Even that which is seen as progress or attainment will disappear, leaving one with the feeling that nothing has been attained and no progress has been made. Or what was valued will lose its value. Or what was treasured becomes a memory or an illusion or simple dross. Everything we grasp becomes an anchor that inhibits the flow of life. Enjoying and letting go constantly keeps us in the flow.
The first fact of life is that affliction exists, and we need to accept it and use it as the basis for our journey, for without suffering we would not be moved to manifest Spirit. Heaven would already be on earth. The needs that we are called to respond to, are revealed through the afflictions and challenges that we encounter. A desire to escape from our afflictions and challenges rather than to learn from them as the most valuable opportunity we have, leads only to suffering.
When we see our own imperfections, our conditioning prompts us either to be ashamed of them or to deny them. We need to appreciate that our imperfections are the greatest spiritual assets we have, for they will keep us on the path, provided that we live with them in a conscious, loving way. This attitude is easier to accept if we can appreciate that our purpose is not to live for some hoped for heaven, but to work and serve and thrive on this dualistic earth plane.
We all develop defence mechanism from an early age. We do this because we are trying to avoid dukkha (affliction). We are trying to avoid suffering. So much of the unpleasant facts of life are kept hidden from our conscious awareness. The spiritual journey is a journey of conscious choice and conscious commitment to Truth. Our defence mechanisms need to be examined, therefore, and we need to become aware of what we have avoided facing in the past. Defence mechanisms serve to distance ourselves from our own life. As we begin to acknowledge and accept what we have repressed we likely will feel ashamed, and be tempted to revert to suppression, not realizing we are handing over the power of choice to be dictated by unconscious factors within ourselves.
When we open our hearts and minds to embrace ‘what is’, we release the soul energy of compassion, tolerance and understanding. When we let go of the fear of life we can stop defending ourselves and blocking the presence of Spirit. We then allow the gentle hand of Spirit to instil peace within us and inspire us. When we stop being a victim and allow the love, power and confidence of soul within to give of itself, we not only avoid suffering but we then have the potential to become instruments for the relief of the suffering in other people’s lives.
Suffering is a human condition. Its purpose is to teach us what we need to learn and to expand our consciousness to embrace life more fully.
Exercises:
1. Identify three defence mechanisms that you frequently use. Make an attempt at least once a day to stop using a typical one, and see what happens to you, your feelings and your relationships.
2. Reflect on someone or something that is leaving your life. Find the positive meaning of this and get to the point of emotional acceptance. See yourself through this as not something that has diminished you in any way, but that has given you something.
(the word diminished--too often I see things in my life, the ones I call negative, as being diminishing to who I am. Not true. That's negative self-talk. They do NOT diminish ME in anyway--they are just diminishing in their own energy, and I won't allow them to take away from me, to steal any part of the "who I am today". Not always easy, but always beneficial. I can only be hurt by what I allow to take me from me. Make sense? Wren
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i found god in myself/and I loved her/i loved her fiercely--Ntozake Shange
Yeagh Wren I studied Buddhisim in my relegion class, I found it very enlightening because when I grew up I was taught that he was a God, and then to learn that he didnt wish to be a God but to bring enlightenment into peoples lives. The 8 fold paths also go witht his I will post more about it later!! Gotta go to work take care!!!
Loved reading this. It made me think inside, Oh, I am reading the long version of a Buddhist saying: "Pain is a Given...................Suffering Optional". Always love pondering that when I am holding on and not letting go of some old pain from the far past.
And "Attachments.................will cause suffering", not in the here and now, but when they are gone, and we Long for them, have to let those painful longings go..... into the joy of the memory.....Let the pain (suffering go).........takes a lot of practice and work for me, anyway..............but the goal of course......for me is to.........feel that those moments in time can be cherished and held close to my heart forever...we let beloved people and beloved pets we have lost.......live in our hearts. It is the journey, not the destination.
I read a kind of paralell article on Grieving the Loss of a Loved one.............Think of them often.......think of them constantly at times, and when we have let them live in our thoughts and hearts and memories of the joy they brought to our lives.........it is the thinking of them constantly.........as we go through the grieving process, they will be incorparated into our beings......living there in our hearts, making them a part of us, no longer need to suffer their loss, because they are with us in our hearts....kind of immortalizes them.........while we are here on our journeys........until the time comes when we will become someone's memory and the same process occurs.
I certainly do believe when my time on earth is over, I would SURELY not want my loved ones to suffer at all.. just hold me in their hearts......with all the loving memories that we shared.
I loved this article when I read it, and now can no longer find it. Wish I had it to copy here for every one to read.
Have a great day, is the Sun shining up there. Sun is Shining brightly today, just a little 20 mph wind to enhance it. need to embrace the feeling of all this Sun and beauty for this is our only sunny day for the week, so they say.
chris, thanks for this......i see soo much pain and suffering in this life, especially of late
i need to really read and digest this.....i really enjoy the metaphysical thought.......it makes better sense to me.........thank u for sharing this with us.............hugs, rosie
Thanks for the Buddhist post! I have been trying to practice Buddhism for 12 years and have really found it helpful. I find it's a great compliment to my program. Lots of wisdom there. The book that started it for me was "The Myth of Freedom" by Chogyam Trungpa. The book really SPOKE to me and I read it 15 times in 3 months! I use it everyday! I tried turning some folks on to the book, but they just didn't get it. Oh well - to each his own! Not too many AA Buddhists around here even tho there are temples in the vicinity. I do know of one AA Buddhist and we talk frequently. I always thought there should be a group called "Buddhist AA", It would be so enlightening! Looks like I may have found some of that support on this site! Is there a site like that on the internet? Peace. Bob
Hey Rosie! Yeah, I read things like, a dozen times, then think about them, read em again. Either I finally get it or I don't, LOL. When I don't then I figure I wasn't meant to. I'm very gentle with myself when it comes to the more mystical/esoteric things. But once I understand them, I certainly learn a much more well rounded perseption of the topic. I have to stay open minded, so that I don't fall into stricktly linear thinking. I like things to connect, go click, in my head. More like a circle than a line. I must be tired, I'm not sure I phrased that right.
It's sure been a peaceful day, hasn't it? Raining and thunder here today, big booms, so I turned off the computer lest it blow up in my face. Kind of nice, having everything off for awhile.Howre things with you?
Lehrbob--LOL, I'll go for just Bob this time---sent you a private message (doesn't that sound mysterious?) with a few sites on it for you to check out. Let me know how you like them.
And to quote a great speaker on this list---'toodles', Wren
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i found god in myself/and I loved her/i loved her fiercely--Ntozake Shange
