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They are the Noble Truth
of Suffering, the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering, the Noble Truth of the Extinction of Suffering, the Noble Truth of the Path that
leads to the Extinction of Suffering…
WHAT, now, is the Noble Truth of Suffering?
Birth is suffering; Decay is suffering; Death is suffering; Sorrow, Lamentation, Pain, Grief, and Despair, are suffering; not to get what one desires, is suffering; in short: the Five Groups of
Existence are suffering…
WHAT, now, is the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering? It is that craving which gives rise to fresh rebirth, and, bound up with pleasure and lust, now here, now there, finds ever fresh delight…
WHAT, now, is the Noble Truth of the Extinction of Suffering? It is the complete fading away and extinction of this craving, its forsaking and giving up, the liberation and detachment from it…
FOURTH TRUTH
THE NOBLE TRUTH OF THE PATH THAT LEADS TO THE EXTINCTION OF SUFFERING
TO GIVE oneself up to indulgence in sensual pleasure, the base, common, vulgar, unholy, unprofitable; and also to give oneself up to
self-mortification, the painful, unholy, unprofitable: both these two extremes the Perfect One has avoided, and found out the Middle
Path, which makes one both to see and to know, which leads to peace, to discernment, to enlightenment, to Nirvana.
THE EIGHTFOLD PATH
It is the Noble Eightfold Path, the way that leads to the extinction
of suffering, namely:
1. Right Understanding, 2. Right Mindedness, which together are
Wisdom.
3. Right Speech, 4. Right Action, 5. Right Living, which together
are Morality.
6. Right Effort, 7. Right Attentiveness, 8. Right Concentration,
which together are Concentration.
This is the Middle Path which the Perfect One has found out, which
makes one both to see and to know, which leads to peace, to
discernment, to enlightenment, to Nirvana.
SERMON
Though my sermon this morning is not focused on Memorial Day, I do want to acknowledge the Day itself, and recognize with deep sadness the ongoing lengthening of the list of the dead and of the families that know the grief of loss. Whatever we may feel about war, whatever we may feel about particular wars, we can recognize the terrible sacrifice that so many people of so many different nations have made over time in the name of their country or of a belief. I want to pause momentarily this morning to take the time to remember those who, having answered the call to arms, have died throughout history. I also want in that moment to remember those innocent victims of every war who die involuntarily for the cause of another. May we sit in silence for a moment. (PAUSE).
What does pain do to you?
There is no one answer to that question as we each react differently. I turn inward; it isolates me. In extremes, under emotional pain, I tend towards depression. I withdraw, my vision looks only to my pain, my hurt, my suffering.
Some my pain comes out as anger.
The helpful way to respond to people also varies, and depends upon the pain. In my case, if I am physically sick, leave me alone; but if I am emotionally hurt, then hear my plaint.
While I usually withdraw, some individuals, when hurt, strike out in anger. Some go on a shopping spree. Others eat. Some cut themselves. Some use or increase their use of alcohol or other drugs. Some act out in other irrational ways that may be destructive or self-destructive ways. Some hoard what they have of things, of love, of hope.
What do you let pain do to you?
Groups of people, whether families, towns or nations—or congregations—react much the same as individuals. They may isolate, they may hurt one another with their anger, or they may strike out at others.
Our nation did that after September 11th. We invaded Iraq and in doing so we struck out in irrational anger at a nation that had not been party to the attacks of that day. And despite the lack of evidence that Iraq had been part of the attacks of 2001, the vast majority of the American people supported invading that nation. We struck out in irrational anger and compounded the problem we faced in the world. We let our pain do that to us. What do you let pain do to you?
As I stated, I let my pain turn me inward, which is my natural state anyway. Pain intensifies that inward turning.
A problem for me, a problem really for all of us individually and collectively is that life is full of pain. We become sick or sprain a wrist; we lose a loved on or are spurned by a potential lover; we suffer the loss of physical abilities; we suffer the loss of things or an inability to have the things we want; we know embarrassment, shame, guilt, fear and a range of painful emotions. And we have the pain of the knowledge that death is inevitable.
Some few of us escape much of that suffering because of wealth, and that is especially true for a high percentage of Americans. Most of us meet our basic physical needs, avoid hunger, take medications to treat illness and ease physical pain. But wealth is not a protection against loneliness, loss or death. It may sometimes extend life and make life more pleasant, but pain and death remain.
From the Book of Genesis:
To the woman he said,
‘I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children,
yet your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you.’
And to the man he said,
‘Because you have listened to the voice of your wife,
and have eaten of the tree
about which I commanded you,
“You shall not eat of it”,
cursed is the ground because of you;
in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread
until you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.’
In both Judaism and Christianity, pain came into the world through the rebellion of Adam. Eden gave way to labor, to the pain of childbirth and to death.
After Noah was saved with his family and the flood receded, “God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you shall rest on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of the air, on everything that creeps on the ground, and on all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and just as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.” Many read this as the end of vegetarianism and beginning of meat eating not only for human beings, but also for every meat eating creature of the earth.
The Biblical vision of earthly life is of increasing pain and suffering.
In the Jewish tradition the afterlife is Sheol, a place of darkness and dullness.
In the orthodox Christian tradition as expressed in some of the early creeds, Satan rules the earth. The dead went to hell until Jesus died on the cross, entered into hell, destroyed the power of Satan and freed the souls that were in his grasp. But note that the path to salvation was the suffering of Jesus on the cross and that humans must still suffer the pangs of death and dying in order to know salvation. Indeed, those who follow Jesus are offered a future of suffering themselves. So in the Christian tradition, too, life is full of suffering.
Buddhism presents an even drearier view: Life is suffering. From birth to death life is one form of pain after another. Only by ceasing our natural tendencies to desire things or attach to them can we overcome the suffering life includes. This means belongings, relationships, the shallower forms of happiness, even life itself, all must be let go of in order to reach Nirvana.
If there is a truth to these viewpoints, however much we may wish that life were otherwise, pain is part of it.
Yesterday I was speaking to a store owner when I noticed just outside her doorway a small baby bird that had fallen from its nest and was lying dead on the ground. It is a fact that the vast majority of creatures on this planet, both human and other, live brief lives of pain. Most creatures die from hunger or to assuage the hunger of others. Most creatures on earth are eaten alive shortly after being born. So this world is full of pain.
What is your response to the pain in your life?
in your life?
Sometimes our response to our own suffering has long term consequences. It can shape our lives. If my response to pain is to withdraw, to turn inwards, I can lead a life of lonely isolation.
If my response to pain is to build a callousness around me, I can not only fail to see the hurt of others, but can be uncaring of their pain, including that which I impose upon them—especially if doing so gets me something I want.
If my response is to become fearful or angry, I can lead a life of outwardly directed rage. My pain can become justification on the individual level for fights with others, on the social level for capital punishment l, and on the national level for war. Since that is what we as a nation did in Iraq, can we not begin to understand that individuals may strike out within our society; can we not begin to understand how individuals might do the same on the personal level, might turn to crime or killing. Can we not begin to understand how frustrated hopes and dreams or pain filled lives can destroy ones ability to empathize or care about others? Might we not then recognize, given Iraq, that we are no different than they, and that if we would execute them for their crimes then we must execute our entire nation for the crime of invading Iraq? I suspect that we have killed more people in Iraq than all of the serial killers put together have slain within our nation during our entire history.
On a less extreme level, if I feel betrayed by life or by people, cynicism can find its home in me. It has been said that a cynic is an idealist turned inside out by pain.
I have pointed to some of the negative if natural responses people have to pain. But that is just one path.
For me, in the immediate moment, pain turns me inward. That is what it doe and it is helpful if I recognize and accept that fact. But in the long run, when I function at my best, then my past pain actually broadens me and opens me.
Christianity recognizes the pain of life and calls upon its followers to accept pain if necessary and to do so out of love for God, for Jesus, and for all of humanity.
Buddhism recognizes pain, and calls upon its followers to live a life filled with compassion for all living beings. It calls upon its adherents to seek escape from the suffering of life for themselves, but also to choose not to be a source of pain for others. Instead, choose compassion, right thoughts, right actions, etc.
When others act in hurtful ways, recognize that these actions arise from their own hurt and suffering. Recognize that they are caught in their own pain and know compassion for them. And recognize, too, that to think negative thoughts about them is to increase their pain and is to trap yourself in your own.
The message is to use your suffering to see into the hearts of others and to become a more open person.
I can let suffering open my heart to those in pain, let it open my heart to everyone.
I can let suffering give me a generous spirit, a spirit of sharing and nurturing.
And I can be more attentive in my own life to what good there is. I can let suffering open my soul to those rare moments of peace and joy and to those rare moments when I transcend the knowledge of and fear of death and become one with the word around me, with life and with all that is.
May peace fill our hearts, may the infinite love of Jesus and the infinite compassion of Buddha be available to us, filling us with power and strength and hope that we may become vessels of that same love and compassion that we may become the source of power and hope and peace for others.
So let it be.
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