Our Sunday sermon is going to be about something I think about quite a lot, which is the nature of suffering. Let us begin our examination of this topic with some notable precepts from various world faiths.
Buddhism
The First Noble Truth (Dukkha) describes suffering as a fundamental reality to be understood and overcome: “Birth is suffering; ageing is suffering; sickness is suffering; death is suffering; sorrow and lamentation, pain, grief, and despair are suffering; association with the unpleasant is suffering; dissociation from the pleasant is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering…in brief, the five aggregates of attachment are suffering.”
Christianity
The Bible often portrays suffering as something that can produce growth, perseverance, and ultimate hope, while also offering comfort:
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
— Matthew 5:4 (Sermon on the Mount)
“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
— Romans 5:3-5
Islam
Suffering is viewed as a trial that expiates sins and builds patience (sabr), with the assurance of divine presence and reward:
“No fatigue, nor disease, nor sorrow, nor sadness, nor hurt, nor distress befalls a Muslim, even if it were the prick he receives from a thorn, but that Allah expiates some of his sins for that.”
— Prophet Muhammad (Sahih Al-Bukhari 5641)
“O you who have believed, seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, Allah is with the patient.”
— Quran 2:153
Hinduism
The Bhagavad Gita teaches that sensory experiences of pleasure and pain are impermanent, urging equanimity and endurance without attachment:
“O son of Kunti, the contact between the senses and the sense objects gives rise to fleeting perceptions of happiness and distress. These are non-permanent, and come and go like the winter and summer seasons. One must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed, O descendant of Bharata.”
— Bhagavad Gita 2.14
Sikhism
Guru Granth Sahib frames suffering as a purifying “medicine” that draws one closer to God, while worldly pleasure can distract from the divine:
“Suffering is the medicine, and pleasure the disease, because where there is pleasure, there is no desire for God.”
— Guru Granth Sahib
So why is this such a big thing for me? Do I suffer so much? Well, in my opinion, yeah, I do, but I am also preternaturally drawn to self-pity. I’m afraid one of my many character defects is that, as my wife pointed out to me when we were just kids, that I do not suffer well.
It’s probably the wisest thing anyone has ever said to me.
Recent events have conjured up this topic for me.
For example, I am usually in good physical health, but a couple of weeks ago I was suddenly struck with a malady which rendered me almost unable to move. It was exceptionally painful and debilitating, and I was almost throwing up from the pain. I was furious with the universe for “doing” this to me, since in my mind I had done nothing to deserve it.
It’s not like I was a 3-pack-a-day smoker who contracted lung cancer, nor did I do something stupid like jump off a roof to see if I could fly. It just……………..happened.
So, too, with technical issues that I grapple with from time to time here on Slope, including one doozy last week which, thank God, didn’t affect a single user but has gifted me with agonizing stress, sleepless nights filled with anxiety, and many, many days of hard work that I didn’t want and will not profit me.
So, again, I did nothing to deserve it, but I am suffering. My sense of justice keeps getting violated. Why me, Lord? Huh?
As if it heard my question, the universe compelled my wife to show me a clip from Bob Odenkirk in which he discussed his immediate state of mind after having a heart attack.
Being so close to death immediately put things into perspective for him, but he states that the new feeling of appreciation and wonder was fading after a couple of weeks, yet he knew he had to hang on to it somehow. I’ve linked the video below to the appropriate portion:
A close parallel in my own life to this “heart attack” incident was something I wrote about last month in which a terrifying brush with tragedy totally changed my worldview……………for a few days. As with Mr. Odenkirk, I was conscious that this new way of looking at things, this new perspective, this new appreciation for what was really important, was also transitory. A point of view that I desperately wanted to retain began to evaporate like a puddle on the sidewalk, as the normalcy of everyday life crowded out any connection to the divine.
I have no answer to an of this.
As with most topics along these lines, my response is a jumble mess of shame and humility. The feeling I am having right now, however, is an appreciation for all the members of Slope (yeah, even the free ones!) It is a tremendous community, and my one-on-one interactions with them impress me with the patience, understanding, and loyalty of those within this group.
You are good people.
It’s simply unfortunate that these good feelings are as prone to the aforementioned evaporation as everything else. As I was considering this post, I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be helpful for the human spirit if, on a regular but unpredictable basis, something bad or scary happened for a little while just to wake you up and help you see things as they truly are?”
And then I realized: that’s exactly how things already work, you idiot!
So maybe that’s the answer.
