Physical Pain and Spiritual Joy

Reflections on the Compassionate Buddha

by Michael Dolan, B.V. Mahāyogi

The teachings of the compassionate Buddha are remarkably apt for the modern world. Scientists and intellectuals are “discovering” his ancient teaching and claiming it for their own. Much oriental wisdom had been discounted since the time of Hegel as primitive and “fatalistic.” But with the new atheism of Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris people are struggling to balance faith with the agnosticism inherent in science.

Buddha does not require any faith. The Compassionate Buddha merely states the facts: you’re suffering. What are you going to do about it?

If God doesn’t exist, if there is no afterlife and no soul, then enlightenment means accepting the inevitable dissolution of the ego as a natural conclusion. Grief is unnatural.

Given that the soul doesn’t exist, perhaps Buddhism is the best and most humanistic of all wisdom, a perfect fit for a society that believes in nothing. Science tells us that the universe came from nothing and that nothing is sacred. Nothing has meaning. It is only natural to accept as a religious philosophy the idea that everything ends in nothing and that perfect knowledge goes nowhere, that is: it leads us into nirvana.

A celebrated member of the “Lost Generation” Ernest Hemingway, wrote a story of emotional darkness and existential angst in A Clean Well-lighted Place. It is almost closing time in a restaurant. A man comes in to drink. He likes the place because it is clean and well-lit. He can indulge his taste for alcohol and self-destruction in a place that will not promote his tendency for suicide. One of the waiters wants to close up and go home. The other waiter, a bit more experienced has compassion for the old man. He shares the old man’s understanding of the meaninglessness of the world which he sums up in the nada prayer. Nada of course means “nothing.” Hemingway’s nada prayer sums up not only the emptiness felt by his generation after the futility of the first great war; it is as good an explanation of the Buddha’s teaching as you may find anywhere in the annals of the Dalai Lama. Here is the nada prayer by Ernest Hemingway. Keep in mind that nada means nothing.

"Hail nothing, full of nothing, nothing is with thee..."

“Our nada who art in nada, nada be thy name; thy kingdom nada thy will be nada; in nada as it is in nada. Give us this nada our daily nada and nada us our nada as we nada our nadas and nada us not into nada but deliver us from nada; pues nada. Hail nothing full of nothing, nothing is with thee.”

If the soul doesn’t exist; If God doesn’t exist, then nothing has meaning. The followers of Buddha are adept at exploring the meaning of nothing, of elevating nothing to perfection. The greatest teachers of the path have realized a perfect view of nothing, the resolve to commit to nothing, ethical living that ends in nothing, meditation on nothing that leads to being equipoised in the void. “Our nada who art in nada...”

In a meaningless world where nothing is all we have, it makes sense to believe in nothing, to exalt nothing to the level of religion.

Buddhism offers solace from suffering by helping us to embrace nothing. Buddha’s analysis is incredibly powerful. He anoints suffering as the greatest of all truths.

But his analysis is flawed. Life is filled with suffering, it is true. But becoming free from suffering is not the only motivation found in human life. We live not to avoid pain, but to have joy.

And the greatest joy comes from sacrifice. Parents sacrifice everything for their children. This morning I read how in the recent hurricane in Houston, a young mother sacrificed her life to save her daughter. They found her floating facedown, her baby strapped to her back, still alive. During the siege of Leningrad, while millions starved to death, 12 heroes guarded the largest collection of seeds and grains in the world at the Pavlovsk seed bank. The seeds in their bank would preserve different strains of wheat and rice and prevent future world famine.

Alexander Stchukin was a specialist in peanuts. He died protecting tons of peanuts, wheat grains, and rice that could easily have saved his and his fellow workers lives.

The scientists at the Pavlovsk seed bank, charged with maintaining biodiverstiy chose to starve, ensuring that future generations of Russians could eat, free from the threat of plagues and blight. Sacrifice is painful, but renders a greater satisfaction than anaesthesia or the avoidance of pain.

Suffering is part of life; no pain, no gain. Where there is no struggle there can be no advancement. Avoidance of suffering as a philosophy seeks to solve the problem of pain. This is mere anaesthesia. Heroin and opioid addiction has become a pressing problem. Opium is probably the most addictive drug in existence. Why? It is the best anaesthesia. Opium is the best painkiller. Marx once defined Religion as “The Opium of the masses.” In 2017, Opium is the Opium of the masses. As a painkiller, it is superior even to the teachings of the Buddha, who defined pain as the main problem of existence.

But pain is not the highest truth, according to the Vaishnava teachers. Above pain is joy, ecstasy, bliss. And bliss is the birthright of all who have teh human form of life. Bliss is an essential component of the human soul, beyond mere existence. Those who deny the existence of the soul can never realize complete joy. Having negated even the prospect of joy, their only prospect is painkilling, escaping suffering. But anaesthesia is a limited response to the problem of pain and suffering. The pro-active response is to discover joy through sacrifice and dedication.

The greatest historical example of sacrifice is found in the life of Jesus Christ. If suffering in this life is terrible, the suffering promised in the afterlife for those who are sinful is even greater. From bad karma to the fires of hell, many conceptions of the afterlife are negative. Christ’s sacrifice was such that he took the sins of the world upon his head that we would not need to face the flames of hell. Christ’s example is not that of negation of pain. If, in the Garden of Gethsemane, he had a moment of doubt and begged his father in Heaven, “Take this cup from my lips,” his faith was such that he accepted the sacrifice. So it is that the true purport of Buddha’s philosophy of compassion is found in sacrifice.

Two thousand years after Christ, the great sacrifice of the iron age of suffering is seen in the vibration of the holy name. The vibration of the holy name can truly free the soul, delivering us from the pain of human suffering and transport us to the realm of divine love and ecstasy.

As Śrīla Prabhupāda explains this in Elevation to Krishna Consciousness.
“Caitanya Mahaprabhu introduced the chanting of Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare as a great means of propaganda for spreading love of God. It is not that it is recommended only for Kali-yuga. Actually, it is recommended for every age. There have always been many devotees who have chanted and reached perfection in all ages. That is the beauty of this Krsna consciousness movement. It is not simply for one age, or for one country, or for one class of people. Hare Krsna can be chanted by any man in any social position, in any country and in any age, for Krsna is the Supreme Lord of all people in all social positions, in all countries, in all ages.”