Countless other beings are suffering.
Most are suffering worse than me.
It would be wonderful if we could all be free from suffering.
Or being sick, or poor, or in pain. Whatever the ill or strife, the saying works. Compassion for others. Yes, I may have pain. But so do countless others. And most of those others are worse off than I am. And here's the compassion part: it's not about my pain, but everyone else's. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all be free from pain?
I have quoted the Buddhist Second Noble Truth a few times - either in writing or to friends. The crux is that all suffering is related to uncontrolled desire. It's deeper, but that's enough to make the point. I generally skip over the First Noble Truth - that life is suffering. That you need to know suffering. When I first hit upon this, that one didn't click for me. Almost like an obvious preamble. Like in a mathematical proof that starts with "consider two line segments of equal length...". Got it - two line segments, nothing interesting there. Similarly, I figured "got it, there's suffering". Duh.
But I realized last night there's more than that. We did a meditation exercise around compassion - where you go one step beyond cherishing others more than yourself, but to really care and wish for an end to their personal suffering. So picture a large flat field, or a big stadium, like Nascar that seats 100,000 people plus the infield and so many more. Drop yourself in the middle there and start filling it. The ideal goal is to picture yourself surrounded by all living beings (not just humans, but animals too) and then to collectively imagine an end to everyone's suffering. But start small - picture your immediate family and those you interact with every day around you. Feel their individual suffering - physical ailments, poverty, emotional hardship, whatever challenges you know they have or they may have. Now start expanding out. Add in friends of friends you met once, extended family of cousins and aunts and nephews. Add in work acquaintances. Keep going! All the people on the last plane flight you took. All the people you saw in the airport that day. All the people in your graduating class, all the people you saw on the beach last vacation, that couple you met from England and their whole town. Expand, expand, expand. And realize they all have suffering. Because we all do. That's part of life. First noble truth - to feel compassion, you have to really understand there's suffering. Now you've got everyone grouped around in this massive stadium. Now everyone looks up at the endless ever-changing sky, we take a deep breathe, and then let it go. All at once. Everyone. And with that breathe, goes their suffering. At that moment, everyone is free, totally free, from suffering. It's not really a thought, but a feeling. Standing as one with all living beings, and you're just there. No suffering. Grasp that feeling and hold it for as long as you can in meditation. When the stray thoughts pop in, recognize them as stray, shoo them off, and gather your beings again. Refocus, and exhale again. Wouldn't it be great if all living beings were free from suffering!
OK back to life. You've got your job, your tasks, your relationships and interactions. And we've all got suffering. Now what? That's where to choices and the paths come in. Someone at work is dealing with a tough issue. What do you do? You follow the path. You understand their suffering, you feel compassion for them, you feel with your gut that yes, this person is suffering - and it would be wonderful for them if that could end. That's the starting point. From there, you go with intention to help in whatever you can to minimize their pain, to help them overcome. Because wouldn't it be great if all living beings were free from suffering?
That leads into the Third Noble Truth and hopefully may blog post later!
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