Do you feel stuck?
Is your body full of stress? Do you have the feeling that there just has to be more to life than continuous pain and anxiety? I suggest you reconnect to yourself to reduce that stress and anxiety.
Anyone who has had even the slightest introduction to Buddhist teaching is familiar with its starting point. Namely, he inescapable truth that existence entails suffering. This is The First Noble Truth, one of the most central teachings of Buddhism. One of the fundamental teachings behind Buddhism is the awareness that freedom is possible in the face of regular suffering.
Suffering in this sense is quite different from pain. It refers to conflict, fear, depression, stress, obsession, anxiety, mental illness, divorce, trouble with work or the law, unfulfilled creativity, etc... The common stuff of life that keeps us from truly living a life we love. Suffering is distinct from pain. Pain is an unavoidable aspect of the natural world. It's physical, biological, and social, woven into our very existence. Suffering is caused by our reaction to the inevitable pain of life. Our personal suffering can include anxiety, depression, fear, confusion, grief, anger, hurt, addiction, jealousy, frustration. But suffering isn't personal. Collective suffering grows from human greed, hatred, ignorance, warfare and racism, isolation and torture, unnecessary world hunger, the destruction of an entire species of animals.
The Noble Truths
This First Noble Truth of Buddhism is what we are asked to take a look at, find awareness in, and transform. The Second Noble Truth describes the cause of suffering: grasping. The Third Noble Truth offers us a way out, the end of suffering or freedom (Nirvana). The Fourth Noble Truth is the path to the end of suffering - finding peace where we are. By neither grasping nor resisting life, we find awareness and freedom even in the midst of our joys and sorrow. This is how we learn to quiet the mind through meditation and see with wisdom.
Meditation facilitates this journey so you can reconnect to yourself; reducing the chronic stress of our daily lives and training our minds to find stillness. Practicing being the "alert witness" to our lives as opposed to simply letting life live us day in and day out. If you are looking for a way to jump off the hamster wheel, consider joining us at Satsang House each Sunday afternoon for a meditation and connection gathering at Satsang House. Click here to learn more.
When we make a habit of meditation, we are then able to reconnect to an awareness of our innermost selves, diminishing stress and anxiety, and finally realize freedom.
