Engaged Buddhism: Turning Towards Suffering

In the Buddhist tradition we are invited to look into the nature of suffering. To do this we have to be willing to turn towards it. While this may seem obvious—we all have habits + behaviors for avoiding what is right in front of us, especially if what is right in front of us is painful, unpleasant or uncomfortable. For even a single-celled organism moves away from a painful stimulus.

And yet, what teachers and practitioners throughout the tradition have found is that this moving away, fighting, resisting what is happening actually causes more suffering!

To meet what is happening with openness and embodied curiosity—allows us to actual see what is going on here, to feel our feelings, the seemingly uncomfortable sensations in our bodies and minds and to realize that we actually have this capacity. This capacity to feel anxiety, shame, discomfort, doubt, rage. And when we feel the sensations and feelings without getting into the story about them—inevitably they change, they reveal more what they actually are, the fleeting movement of energy moving through a spacious awareness.

Our capacity to turn towards our own discomfort and suffering with curiosity and openness, allows for a compassionate response to our own suffering—which also builds our capacity to turn towards the suffering we find in the world.

In actually all suffering is connected, because our being is shared being. The systems of injustice, greed and hatred that seem to perpetuate suffering in our world, affect us all as individuals. This talk is an exploration of one of the foundational precepts of engaged buddhism.

Do not avoid contact with suffering or close your eyes before suffering. Do not lose awareness of the existence of suffering in the life of the world. Find ways to be with those who are suffering, including personal contact, visits, images, and sounds. By such means, awaken yourself and others to the reality of suffering in the world.

It is an invitation to turn towards suffering in our lives and the life of the world. It is an invitation into the deep realization of our shared being, our interconnection. It is an exploration of living a compassionate response as a practice of staying engaged with the heart of the world.

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