Some people describe awakening as the end of suffering. It’s one of the more divisive phrases that gets used in relation to the shift that takes us back from a subject/object experiencing of life to one in which there is no ‘us’, no ‘me’, no subject/object unless we engage in that way, this being replaced […]
Tag Archives: suffering
Many people seek spiritual awakening as a way to end suffering. You suffer in this world but you cannot control the world. So how can you end suffering other than to look within and know what causes your suffering? Did it ever occur to you that you cannot know something you’re constantly trying to run […]
What is life like after awakening? Simply, it’s quite peaceful. With no sense of self our drive to be more, have more, get more, be seen to be more have no meaning. There is no quest for that better job, better car, better neighbourhood, better partner. It’s not stagnant either, any of the things on […]
This form is not fully well, almost certainly a virus; a cold. Tiredness in the body. A heaviness in the limbs, slowing movement, labouring breathing. But in this gentle walk through the countryside, so much beauty around. So is there suffering? No. Looking within. Is there resistance? No, just the open flow. Like a breeze […]
One thing each of us can relate to in life is its constantly changing nature. Whether this is a comfort or a source of fear we all have to live with this reality; the wheel turns, life moves on and all changes. Occasionally we’re reminded that within this ever changing landscape, this path we tread […]
Greed, hatred and delusion are referred to in the Buddhist tradition as the three poisons. Translations are never an exact science so to tone down the language a bit we may think of them as desire, aversion and ignorance. In many ways, these lie at the heart of so many of the problems we can […]
Patterns. Making links, joining up the dots, creating connections – it’s an important aspect of our intelligence isn’t it? The ability to look at a small amount of detail and infer what is not seen from what can be seen. Perhaps this evolved with us as a survival mechanism, but there’s no doubt it’s a […]
The end of the path, this brief dream of humanity, is marked by a shift or transformation of consciousness. At this point and thereafter, the sense of personal self – that which is the cause of our perceived separation and the root of suffering, dissolves away. Of course in one sense it’s not the end […]
I was at my local Buddhist monastery last week and one of the anagarikas (one who hs gone forth – a sort of probationary stage in Western Theravada Buddhism) told me he had decided not to take Pabbajja ordination and become a samanera but to return to lay life. He explained, ‘You’re expected to continually […]
Today I sat with a friend, having lunch and chatting. She’s a very spiritual person and as our conversation trundled along it moved into deeper and more spiritual matters as has happened before. She knows I attend a local Buddhist monastery and so she asked me, ‘What do Buddhists do to alleviate suffering in the […]
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