Suffering implies there is pain. How can there be any value in this? The only good that can arise from suffering is if we look deeply to the root of our suffering and learn from this. Then suffering becomes a significant teacher.
It does seem that sooner or later all beings experience suffering, in small and larger ways and eventually we all die which can be seen as the ultimate suffering if we are not prepared.
We do much to try and eliminate suffering but so often our attempts to avoid suffering simply bring about different suffering. It seems the major pursuit of human beings is happiness.
When I look at the causes of suffering, I see there is no simplistic answer - like 'oh, it's my karma (speaking of which I received a beautiful response to a question about karma from True Eloquence)
So much of our suffering seems to arise from our response to situations and if we learn to see things differently, the suffering falls away.
Some of our suffering is a result of how we've lived out our lives and although we may not be able to change the outcomes, we can learn from our history and avoid similar situations in the future.
There is also physical suffering, such as great pain in the body, say from genetically inherited illness, when we may need to learn how to live with suffering as a companion and acceptance seems to be a crucial attitude.
Sometimes there's the suffering which comes from natural disasters - our homes may be swept away, we may lose loved ones or be injured. Suffering then reveals to us the temporary nature of life. An awareness which can grow from this is to live fully and make the most of precious short time we have to learn.
Suffering so often can be the result of attachment and it is only in the letting go that relief can be found. Such as when something we love breaks or when a beloved dies.
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I never thought deeply about the why's of suffering until I encountered Buddhism. Here is a link re Buddhism on suffering (there are many links - I selected this one randomly).
"Whatever joy there is in this world
All comes from desiring others to be happy,
And whatever suffering there is in this world,
All comes from desiring myself to be happy.
Shantideva
Bodhicitta is a precious path where we change our focus from our suffering to the suffering of others as so beautifully described here ( http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/compassion.html ) in this prayer by Shantideva
"May I become food and drink in the aeons of famine for those poverty-stricken suffers.
May I be a doctor, medicine and nurse for all sick beings in the world until everyone is cured.
May I become never-ending wish-fulfilling treasures materialising in front of each of them
as all the enjoyments they need.
May I be a guide for those who do not have a guide, a leader for those who journey, a boat
for those who want to cross over, and all sorts of ships, bridges, beautiful parks for those
who desire them, and light for those who need light.
And may I become beds for those who need a rest, and a servant to all who need servants.
May I also become the basic conditions for all sentient beings, such as earth or even the sky,
which is indestructible.
May I always be the living conditions for all sentient beings until all sentient beings are
enlightened."
Shantideva
May all beings practice loving kindness
my gaia
Showing posts with label Buddhism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Buddhism. Show all posts
Monday, January 12, 2009
Do you believe there is value in suffering?
Friday, September 5, 2008
My True Name
Please Call Me By My True Name
Thich Nhat Hanh
Do not say I depart tomorrow,
for even today I still arrive.
Look deeply: I arrive in every moment,
to be a bud on a branch,
to be a tiny bird with wings still fragile,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the hearth of a flower,
to be jewel hiding itself in a stone.
I still arrive in order to laugh and to cry
in order to fear and to hope.
the rhythm of my heart is the birth and
death of all that are alive.
I am the may fly metamorphosing
on the surface of a river,
and I am the bird, which when spring comes,
arrives in time to eat the mayfly.
I am the frog, swimming happily
in the clear waters of my pond,
and I am the grass-snake who,
approaching in silence,
feeds itself on the frog.
I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks,
and I am the arms merchant, selling deadly
weapons to Uganda.
I am the 12 year old girl, refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean
after being raped by a sea pirate,
and I am the pirate, my heart not yet capable
of seeing and and loving.
I am a member of the politburo
with plenty of power in my hands,
and I am the man who has to pay his
“debt of blood” to my people,
dying slowly in a forced labor camp.
My joy is like spring so warm it makes
flowers bloom in all walks of life.
My pain like a river of tears, so full it
fills up the four oceans.
Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and my laughs at once,
So that I can see that my joy and my pain are one.
Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up,
that so the doors of my heart can be left open,
the doors of compassion.
Friday, August 22, 2008
When food is poetry
aaah...
Joong Sticky Rice Wrapped in Bamboo Leaves) - vegetarian version which
Gien is teaching to me...
and me keen on creating a South African version -
perhaps using mealie meal instead of sticky rice -
for this beautiful, tasty, yet economic meal.
In South Africa (as I guess in many countries),
meat is often equated with wealth.
I can really see how the introduction of amazing vegetarian food...
and yoga/Buddhist ways can
MAKE A DIFFERENCE...
Aaah South Africa beloved land...
so much violence and poverty here...
yet so many transcendent beings too...
...country of warmth...
...where Gandhi made his mark
...where Gandhi can still
...because the spirit lingers...
even while blood is staining the earth
and AIDS orphans bury their parents...
..mmm... back to Joong & yoga (union of mind, body, spirit)...
...OmOmOm
blessed be
...may the tree which grows from this seed of suffering
bear fruit which will truly amaze and astound
and lead all on earth to a new way of Be-ing...
...MMM this blog has wandered all over the place :D
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