Buddhism Taught Me Happiness in Realizing the Origin of Suffering.

Buddhism Taught Me Happiness in Realizing the Origin of Suffering.

Pain arises from many different toxins you, physically, mentally and spiritually, ingest. The Four Nutriments: edible food, sense impressions, intention, and consciousness, can either cause pain or suffering. And it is beneficial to your own health to monitor what you consume. The Four Noble Truths expose suffering and offer guidance in transcending pain into peace and happiness. I began to appreciate the weight of these teachings when I was able to experience these nutriments and truths for myself by participating in our weekly practice.

The First Noble Truth lies in recognizing suffering as suffering and accepting the suffering that does exist. It is the first step in embracing pain in order to make peace with it. “Deep looking leads to understanding, and understanding always leads to love and acceptance” (205). Everyone experiences pain in their life and the first step to transcending the pain is to acknowledge its existence on a personal level. They must do this themselves. In beginning to understand my own suffering, I first needed to first accept its presence in my life and then identify its cause. The nutriments we feed our mind and body become the substance of our life which can either lead to happiness or suffering. Identifying what you ingest can clue you into what is causing the pain you experience in order to transcend it. “If we touch the truth of suffering with our mindfulness, we will be able to recognize and identify our specific suffering, its specific causes, and the way to remove those causes and end our suffering” (23). 

At the delicate age of thirteen, I was kicked out of my own house by my own mother. I denied the suffering because I was afraid of experiencing the emotions that would come with it.  I looked within myself for the suffering I had been denying. Ever since that day, I had denied the pain to the far back of my subconscious. In this exercise, I stopped the denial and let my mind accept everything that happened in the past. An old picture of my parents together caused me pain throughout my life. I have the power to change this. In bringing this realization to surface of my mind, two things occurred simultaneously; I let myself experience the pain and felt a weight lifted from my shoulders. I came to terms with the fact that both my parents are remarried, and a picture of them together only causes me unhappiness. It took physical and emotional strength to tear up the rustic photo, but I did. Now two separate pictures of separate families are in its place. I was overwhelmed with relief that I could accept things the way they are and know they are happy. I can be happy as well. I transformed hatred and ignorance into love and peace. If I had not been mindful enough to identify a measly picture as a reoccurring outlet of suffering, I would have continued to feel pain subconsciously with each glance.

Buddhism has taught me the happiness that comes with mindfulness. Awareness that suffering exists, that I am suffering, and that I will continue to suffer until I change the source of my suffering. “The moment you know how your suffering came to be, you are already on the path of release from it” (45). For me, denial has always been the greatest source of suffering.

What is your source?