{"id":696,"date":"2023-03-03T08:30:26","date_gmt":"2023-03-03T08:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/notesfromthetemple\/?p=696"},"modified":"2023-03-03T08:30:26","modified_gmt":"2023-03-03T08:30:26","slug":"meeting-suffering-with-gentleness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/notesfromthetemple\/2023\/03\/meeting-suffering-with-gentleness\/","title":{"rendered":"Meeting Suffering With Gentleness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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I have had a hard week. Not a \u2018my cat died\u2019 week, a \u2018dealing with a serious illness\u2019 week or a \u2018falling apart\u2019 week. Still, I have suffered. I have felt the burden of my responsibilities to the people and projects I am in relationship with. I have been crushed under the weight of a too-full schedule, despite decades of practising \u2018doing less\u2019. I have felt melancholy about both the new arthritis in the finger joint I rest my pen against, and global-scale tragedies as they continue to unfold and worsen.<\/p>\n
I could go on. I could tell you about the self-doubt which has swirled around me like poisonous gas. The nagging guilt that has pricked at the back of my eyes. I trust, though, that you know what a hard week feels like. Your tough times will look different to mine, with your different external circumstances and your different internal landscape, but I think that we have something in common.<\/p>\n
What we have in common is dukkha. This is where the Buddha began, when he set out his very first teachings after becoming enlightened. The Four Noble Truths<\/a>. On days like today, when suffering is sludging my veins, I love that he started here. It makes me feel like I can trust him. That he knew how it was to be alive.<\/p>\n