the Buddha is not a prophet
or a pundit
he is not of divine essence
simply a man looking at the human condition
without complacency
a man facing disease, old age, and death
and separation
facing mourning, failures, successes
joys, and pains
is suffering inherent
to the human condition?
in his meditation,
the Buddha repeatedly comes back
to this question
and he does not want hasty conclusions or
to look for answers in the hereafter
he is not pessimistic,
but extraordinarily ambitious
if there is a meaning to human suffering
it can only be found within oneself
some people look for a spiritual path
as a means of escape
they want to escape from themselves
they are attracted by an ideal of perfection
which mirrors back a glorified image of themselves
they only long for what is beautiful, high, and luminous
and reject what is low, dark, and vulgar
although understandable
this motivation only exacerbates frustration
speaking of fulfillment, Simone Weil remarks
what people are looking for is not wrong
but they are looking for it in the wrong place
Buddhism asserts we can exceed the limits
of the human condition
by freeing ourselves from confusion
to think that a human being is contingent upon a past
that one is a victim of it
removes the possibility of freeing oneself from it
as long as a person plays the victim
one is not the master of one’s destiny
the key to his freedom is in the hands
of the perpetrator
or in what constrains him
we cannot return to the past
to undo it
we are quick to use the notion of karma
to justify a difficult situation
on this subject
the sutra of two arrows sheds a wise and subtle light
in this sermon the Buddha affirms
that ordinary beings
like the wise disciples
also experience painful sensations
so, what difference does it make being awakened or not
when an ordinary being feels pain
he laments, he complains
he identifies with the pain
he turns to pleasures because he has no other solution
it is as if having received a first arrow
he receives a second one, where the first wound is
when a wise disciple feels pain
she does not lament, she does not complain
she does not turn to sensual pleasures
because she knows another solution
she does not identify with the pain
she knows its true nature
it shows that what torments the ordinary being
is not his past, but his attitude toward the present
what torments us
is not our past
but the present situation
distorted by the presence of past memories
yet human existence would be shallow and dull
if everything were just a reaction to the present situation
at the beginning of the analysis
of the chain of conditioning
Buddhism inserts a link it calls samskara
to account for the traces of the past experiences
affecting the present situation
this gives a clear psychological dimension
to the notion of karma
humans’ difficulties are not only problems
of disease, old age, and death
today we must talk of depression, meaninglessness
and disconnection from reality
meditation is not recommended in all cases
to practice it requires a certain capacity
for self-consciousness
that this self-consciousness is not accompanied
by deep anxieties
or abysmal sadness
meditation is not a substitute for psychotherapy
even though it shares some of its benefits
in meditation, imprints of past experiences sometimes emerge
a forgotten sadness, an incomprehensible worry
images of ancient trauma
this is because the meditator is welcoming
all emergent experiences
without judgment
without control
there is also a therapeutic dimension to meditation
how to expect spiritual freedom
when one is still bound by psychological disorders
it is not simply a question of recognizing, of naming them
which pertains to knowledge
but to be aware of them
to live an experience without identifying with it
to leave it in an impersonal and atemporal way
is particular to vipassana, to dzogchen, and to zazen
it is about letting emerge into consciousness
that which moves us without our knowing it
how could there be freedom
without knowing that we are moved by certain drives?
when the practitioner’s mind is troubled by desire
he is aware that his mind is troubled by desire
that is what the sutra on mindfulness recommends
it adds nothing
thus, the distinction
between knowing and being aware
is essential