Buddha said all of life is suffering. He wasn’t being negative. All of life is suffering. If you’re rich, poor, sick, healthy, young, or old- it doesn’t matter. There certainly are times when you’re not suffering, but the vast majority of what’s going on is you’re just trying to be okay. That’s what it boils down to. You will at some point realize that’s all you’ve done your entire life- try to be okay. That’s why you cried when you were little; you weren’t okay in there. That’s why you wanted a certain toy; you thought it would make you okay. That’s why you wanted to marry this special person. That’s why you wanted to go to Europe or Hawaii for a vacation. You get to the point where you realize all you’re ever doing in there is trying to be okay. First you think about what will make you okay, then you go out and try to make it happen.
Michael A. Singer, Living Untethered
What do you think of this Buddhist principle?
At first glance, it feels a bit morbid: all of life is suffering. But suffering really isn’t something that ever goes away. Maybe a particular pain lessens. But aren’t we always trying to wiggle out of another discomfort?
Aren’t we always trying to lose a few lbs. or fit into a pair of jeans? “If I just ____,” …doesn’t it always seem like there is another thing to fix?
For some people, “my body” is something that just stays on The Problem List. Keeping “my body” on the list of problems to be solved can keep us from working on solutions to other problems. Some problems are really hard to solve. But there are so many things you can buy to solve the problem of your body: treatments and diets and medications and workouts and classes and procedures… Keep it on the list- it’ll feel good once you accomplish that goal!
But if we are choosing to put something on The Problem List (that doesn’t have to be), aren’t there enough other problems that are already on the list?
And if it is true (whether I like my body or not) that suffering is inevitable, what am I supposed to do with that?
One option is to go beyond the body, beyond the mind and in to something greater than yourself. A connection to something bigger and more powerful than ourselves is the keystone of the most reputable recovery model in the world, the 12-step program.
When you exist here only as a body and a mind, suffering is inevitable. Meditation means to go beyond the limitations of your body and mind. ~Sadhguru
The breathing exercises that we practice to begin and end our body image groups each week usually involve embodiment: engaging in the world through the experiences we feel in our body, through our body, and perceived through our body. We take a few minutes to drop down out of our heads (where it is so easy to get stuck!) into our physical experience. Being “in our bodies” is a relief from anxiety, a break from thoughts that are often unhelpful, and a chance to work on trust with our physical selves by observing and interacting with them.
What Sadhguru is suggesting though is a practice of meditation that is not so focused on the body. Spiritual meditation invites you to connect to the bigger sense of yourself: You, as your True Self- joy, love, and peace. Sadhguru speaks to this connection when he invites a person to exist beyond the body and the mind through meditation.
Most people who come in to my psychotherapy office have a negative relationship with the concept of religion. And since many conflate religion with spirituality, people assume that because they’ve been hurt by a church in the past, they should shy away from anything that looks or feels too spiritual.
Thankfully, even though the deeply spiritual practice of meditation is connected to Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism and other major world religions, it is also highly endorsed in mental health. “Not being spiritual,” as some people claim, is no excuse for ignoring the benefits of meditation.
Meditation is the pathway to mindfulness, which is required if we want to have a choice about what we think or do. Without the ability to be mindful, we are victim to our emotions, reacting to what happens, rather than choosing how to respond. Meditation brings us above the suffering of existence.
What is your experience with meditation? What have you heard about it and what do you believe about it? Are those two different? How?
