fourth precept: awareness of suffering
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.
at first I imagined myself tragically removed
slighting this institution
for isolation
lack of "real world"
like the souls I met in San Francisco
drunken disorderly jorge starting fights
severely addled haia confiding in "the little people"
addicted rebecca encountering the antichrist
tortured souls,
twisted by r/age
here
was I being protected from "awareness of the existence of suffering"
but clearly this is not the case
somehow I find that each of my swattie friends
is in jeopardy
constantly strong
and failing
those I love for their inimitable quirks
flights of fancy flakiness
find themselves pitted against the system
as it were
even those that ride the highest solid,
suffer from occasional radical fall
(I thought gabe had his shit together)
so have my eyes been opened to suffering
I can not in good conscience hang up the phone at 4 am
suffering from "too much suffering
can destroy our capacity to love"
on page 27,
I prefer emphasize the third and fourth truths
possibility of removing
and how to do so
actively plugging away at solutions for depression
or at least distracting them from their woes
often my friends would prefer to wallow
beautiful people - I want them to be happy
am I "close my eyes before suffering"
trying to transform
is denial of their "reality of suffering in the world"?
pushing my too ready joy
in the face of sorrow
april often felt challenged by my optimism
couldn't take me seriously
indeed felt pained
when she was angst-ridden
and I told her of all the beauty and sadness of ten thousand lives
sometimes made light of her predicament
chandra couldn't speak to me of her psychosis
less and less
the depths of her sufferings further inaccessable to
I
did little to help
perhaps marred by our misuse of energy
thich nhat hanh sez on page 27
"when we work to alleviate the suffering in others, we feel peaceful and happy."
consider and integrate other precepts
in how I work to alleviate the suffering in others
what wisdom I share and how
specifically
third freedom of thought
their right to their emotions and dissipations
easing off on the preaching
sixth compassion is understanding
do not let a suffering situation overwhelm
transform into
mindful and joyful living seventh
"in touch with what is wondrous, refreshing, and healing
both inside and around"
third | interbeing | fifth