“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls. The most massive characters are seared with scars.”
Khalil Gibran
However as this task evolves and we become more aware, we begin to discover that there is an ever-present spectrum of suffering – from mild irritation and impatience to anger and overwhelming grief – that is an integral part of our experience, of what it is to be human.
Instructions
As you go about your day, pay attention to the phenomenon of suffering. How do you detect it in yourself and in others? Where is it most obvious? What are the milder forms? What are the more intense experiences of suffering.
Remembering
When you notice suffering, particularly when it is within you, try to bring some compassion to your experience and say gently to yourself…it is OK, let me be with it, as best I can, in this moment.
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Image courtesy of spratmackrel
Ok now I know this is trivial, but today I took some of the slugs and snails in my garden to the park for a (hopefully extended) holiday.
I’ve just become uncomfortable recently with many things that never gave me pause for thought in the past.(read killing slugs and snails)
I don’t want to suffer, I don’t want my friends and family to suffer. But where do you draw the line of who or what you are happy to suffer to suit your needs.
I suppose the point is, I’m questioning long held ways of doing things and trying to evaluate where kindness and practicality meet the coal face.
Random post I know, but sometimes that’s how things take you. This is one of those exploring the edges of an easy thing that then becomes surprisingly difficult !
Life is sacred and far from being a moral platitude, we start to experience more of life’s richness and connectivity when we practice bringing oourselves back to the moment we are in, the moment that is before us so to speak. Why is this? Because it brings home to us that we are all just trying to do the best we can; slugs snails and humans alike. We all return to the earth, we are all part of the process of life and thus all sentient beings deserve a measure of respect.