Suffering

Thank you for your suffering: Locace / Lena

Suffering

Life usually involves some degree of suffering but human beings have interpreted the experience in diverse ways.

Some believe that suffering is meaningless and something to be avoided. This view is prevalent in Buddhism, where meditation is said to eradicate suffering.

For many Hindus suffering is a necessary teacher. As we work through our personal karma the unpleasant aspects of life can teach us not to do the ethically bad things that, so Hindus believe, caused the suffering in the first place.

Epicureanism attempts to minimize suffering through a life of prudence and termperance.

John Stuart Mill’s utilitarianism minimizes suffering through a cost-benefit analysis of all actions, a position which Mill felt was ethically equivalent to Kant’s categorical imperative.

Freud saw suffering as an inevitable aspect of the human condition. He wrote that “Psychoanalysis can cure neurotic suffering but not normal human unhappiness.” For Freud individuals are, in effect, the walking wounded.

Catholicism recognizes the value of suffering, i.e. unavoidable suffering permitted by God, but doesn’t condone persecution nor advocate the pathological role playing of ‘victim’ or ‘martyr.’ For Catholics suffering may be redemptive and lead to increased purity and wisdom.

This notion of redemptive suffering differs from sheer depair or destitution in that the grace of God enables one to embrace one’s particular ‘cross of suffering’ with dignity and, with some exceptional persons like St. Francis of Assisi, even gladness and joy.

Along these lines, Reinhold Niebuhr’s Serenity Prayer, a prayer accepted by Catholics, asks God for a reasonably happy life here and a supremely happy one in the afterlife.

The idea of redemptive suffering has been further institutionalized by an organization called Knights at the Foot of the Cross (KFC) based on the life of St. Maximilian Kolbe, who died by lethal injection of carbolic acid in a Nazi death camp after willingly accepting the torture of a starvation bunker in place of another prisoner. KFC is an offshoot of The Militia of the Immaculata, an international evangelical movement founded by St. Kolbe in 1917 (http://www.consecration.com/).

Last, we have those positively-minded people who may hold no particular spiritual belief other than the idea that wisdom can come from suffering.

» Alchemy, Book of Job, Buddhism, Candide, Dukkha, Eightfold Path, Eve, Evil, Four Noble Truths, Karma Transfer, Kowalska (Maria Faustina Helena, St.), Magnetizers, Mental Illness, Nirvana, Ramakrishna (Sri), Sacks (Oliver), Skandhas, Teresa of Ávila (St.), Visistadvaita, Voltaire

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Solipsism

Photo credit: Seth Anderson

Solipsism

This is the philosophical position that only the subject exists and all impressions of others and the outside world are illusory.

While many dismiss solipsism as an extreme or strange view, others say it is logically impossible to prove or disprove.

If one believes, however, that God is good and, as such, would not deceive the subject with a chimerical world peopled by phantom others, one would likely reject solipsism.

Although many philosophers maintain that solipsism cannot be proved or disproved, probably because they’ve been taught this in a university course or a philosophy book, there is another way to look at the problem. And this way doesn’t necessarily need the idea of God to reject solipsism on the grounds of it being an impractical and bad way of living.

Basically, we can ask: What if solipsism is false? In the face of this uncertainty, doesn’t it make ethical sense to live as if others are real?

Some have likened solipsism to the Asian concept of maya (Sanskrit = illusion, deception).

Maya is the belief in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain philosophies that the changing, material world isn’t real or is only relatively real. But the meaning of the concept of maya has been debated among different schools for centuries, making its comparison to solipsism somewhat problematic.

On the Web:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solipsism

» Descartes, René

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Skandhas

Offerings at the Vulture Peak Buddhist Shrine, Grdhrakuta in Rajgir, where the Buddha inspired Avalokiteshvara to give the Prajna Paramita Hridaya Sutram, the Heart Sutra, requested by Sariputra | Photo by Wonderlane

Skandhas

Buddhist belief posits five skandhas, or aggregates of attachment said to be the source of all suffering.

1. matter or form (rupa)
2. sensation (vedana)
3. perception (samjna)
4. mental formations (samskara)
5. consciousness (vijnana)

Taken together, the five skandhas form the impermanent personality and the illusion – so it is believed – of individuality.

Impermanent and subject to change, skandhas may discontinuously reappear from one life to another.

Whether or not one agrees with every aspect of Buddhist teaching, the skandas present a conceptual alternative that may be applied toward a contemporary critique of the Hindu view of reincarnation (See, for instance, Reincarnation: A New Look at an Old Idea – Part 3).

Although the two religions of Buddhism and Hinduism may seem similar at a glance, Buddhism clearly differs from the Visistadvaita school of Hinduism in that the soul, too, and not just its attachments, is usually seen as illusory in the ultimate sense.

» Buddhism, Corruption, Pollution

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Satori

Bonsai Moon by Hartwig HKD

Satori

In Zen Buddhism, the idea that one can experience a sudden flash of enlightenment in which all the conventional dualities of ‘love and hate’ ‘good and bad’ ‘beautiful and ugly’ are transcended.

Those claiming to have experienced satori stress the importance of living in the present, hence the popular spin-off catchphrases such as “Be Here Now” (a tendency cleverly satirized in the otherwise vulgar film, The Love Guru).

One can’t help but wonder if some of these apparently enlightened masters would, perhaps just as quickly as they allegedly gained enlightenment, lose their cool if their followers suddenly stopped funding them.

The Japanese scholar D. T. Suzuki champions Zen while subtly insulting core Christian beliefs about Jesus dying on a cross. He also writes extensively on satori but admits to never having experienced it. » Koan

On the Web:

• “Mel Van Dusen presents the talks of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center.”

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Sanskrit

Sanskrit blogging on the rise by Debashish Chakrabarty

Sanskrit (samskrta = cultured, perfected, in contrast to prakrta = uncultured, popular)

One school of thought believes that an early form of this ancient Hindu language originated with Aryan invaders and their Vedic hymns around 2,000 BCE.

Another view suggests that an early form of Sanskrit existed within the Indus valley.

Regardless of its disputed origins, the speakers of Sanskrit believed, as do many Hindus today, that the correct pronunciation of this language elevates individuals to higher levels of spiritual awareness.

In Hinduism the Vedas, Shastras, Puranas and Kavyas were composed in Sanskrit.

Although Pali is the primary language of Buddhist scripture, some Mahayana texts were composed in a hybrid Sanskrit.

Sanskrit has also found its way into Jain scripture. The earliest surviving character of its unique Devanagari (language of the gods) script is dated at 150 CE.

Not unlike Latin in the Catholic Church, Sanskrit remains sacred and prestigious among teachers and students throughout India and beyond.

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Sankara

Photo "Release" and quote by Ibrahim Fawaz - "The spirit is smothered, as it were, by ignorance, but so soon as ignorance is destroyed, spirit shine forth, like the sun when released from clouds." - Sankara

Sankara (c. 700 – 750 CE)

Hindu philosopher, mystic and theologian, born in Kerala, India.

Sankara is an outstanding figure in Indian history who advocated Advaita Vedanta. His commentaries on scripture such as the Baghavad-Gita and Brahma-sutras outline the Advaita philosophy, which teaches the non-duality and absolute identidy of atman and brahman.

Sankara was highly critical of the Buddha and is often held responsible for driving Buddhism out of India. In his commentary on the Brahma-sutra, he writes

The Buddha exposed for the sake of instruction, three mutually contradictory doctrines, either having manifested thus his own incoherent garrulity or his enmity towards all living beings, having erroneously assumed that they would be confused.†

Indeed, Sankara and his followers regarded the Buddha as an evil avatar since he tried to sway the masses away from the sacred Veda.

But some Hindu philosophers interpret this in an overall positive light by saying the Buddha’s apparent deception restored balance as Hindu priestly functions were becoming too hypocritical and elitist. » Atman, Brahman, Moksha, Ramanuja, Scholarship, Self, Visistadvaita

—

† http://www.lioncity.net/buddhism/lofiversion/index.php/

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Samsara

GoodBye, Samsara. Hello Amitabha. by María González

Samsara

The round of rebirths through gross and subtle planes in the reincarnational theories of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.

According to the belief in reincarnation, when locked in ignorance and selfish craving for temporal joys, the soul has no choice but to reincarnate in an earthly or subtle, astral body.

The process is said to continue until the spiritual liberation of moksha (Hinduism and Jainism) or nirvana (Buddhism) is attained. » Arhat, Roberts (Jane), Visistadvaita

On the Web:

• “An exploration of the ocean of suffering, with alan watts as tour guide.”
  

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Tibetan Book of the Dead

Second Life Prayer for Burmese Dead 46 by Gary Hayes

Tibetan Book of the Dead

Formally known as the Bardo Thodol (Tbtn: bardo = liminality + thodol = liberation), The Tibetan Book of the Dead is the popular name for a collection of Buddhist texts, coined by their first translator, W. Y. Evans-Wentz.

While some joke about the Book of the Dead as if it were a brooding, dark document, Buddhists would probably say this attitude comes through ignorance and projection.

Believers see it as a kind of spiritual guidebook, designed to direct souls at the point of death to the best possible afterlife state.

A lama, friend or guide usually sits over the death bed and reads the book to the dying or recently dead person. It’s believed that this prevents the dead person from being reincarnated again.

Contemporary readers will likely be struck by the Book of the Dead’s practicality.

Deceptive spiritual lights, enticements and other misleading phenomena that the recently departed soul allegedly will encounter are itemized as things to be avoided, not unlike a road map for a large, unfamiliar city or a detailed trekking guide for a tricky mountain pass. » Buddhism, Demons, Myth

On the Web:

• Outstanding video at youtube explains with real life example

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Throat Singing

khoomei by Brandon Berg

Throat Singing

Various cultural, scientific and religious practices suggest that different types of music bear distinct effects on consciousness.

The noted biologist Lewis Thomas says we enjoy the music of Bach, for instance, because we’re getting a glimpse inside the fantastically complicated mind of the composer.

But others say there’s more to music than that. In fact, it’s generally believed that certain musical forms can literally transport consciousness to a different kind of awareness.

Tibetan Buddhist throat singing is no exception.

Individual monks practice for years to perfect their ability to simultaneously produce two notes. They believe that the vibration created through their singing helps to deliver the fettered soul blinded by maya (the illusion of physicality) and dukkha (the sorrow that arises from bondage to maya) to a better plane of existence.

Ultimately this leads to nirvana, which for Buddhists is an ultimate, blissful release from worldly ignorance. » Buddhism, Orpheus

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Theravada Buddhism

Theravada Buddhism

Theravada is usually described as the only surviving school of Hinayana Buddhism. Although the Ven. Dr. W. Rahula in “Gems of Buddhist Wisdom” (Buddhist Missionary Society, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1996) suggests that Theravada is no different from the Mahayana tradition. » Buddhism

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