Thanks to the group for a very heart-felt session today. I introduced a charming little article by Philip Moffitt:
This is about how we tend to think of our suffering as “wrong” and that somehow if we suffer we are losers or weak. Moffitt points out that other cultures tended to understand that suffering can make us stronger and acknowledging our suffering allows us to fully engage with the richness of all of life’s experiences.
Someone in the group pointed out that it’s easy to understand these things when we talk about them in the group, but that doesn’t necessarily make it easy to deal with our suffering when it really arises. One of us pointed out that listening to another’s suffering can be hard, but it also can be an act of caring that can enrich our lives. Someone else pointed out that the way toward happiness may be available by opening up to our own and other people’s suffering. Everyone was bringing their understanding and experience to the teaching. In other words, I didn’t need to do much other than sit back and listen!
Also: for those of you who like Phillip Moffitt, or just to check it out, Heather gave me a link to his page, specifically a talk on regrets: