By Jeff Green

WHAT IS DUKKHA or suffering, as the Pali word is usually translated?

The Buddha said:

"Birth is dukkha, aging is dukkha, death is dukkha; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are dukkha; association with what is not loved is dukkha, separation from what is loved is dukkha, not getting what is wanted is dukkha. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are dukkha."

Since September 11, we've all experienced much dukkha. Whether or not we are willing to recognize it, we have all taken a major hit. The past few weeks have been very trying. Although it is appealing to see oneself as a representative of Buddhist calm and serenity, for most of us that is probably far from the truth. I know it is for me. Allow me to share a little of what recent history has been like for me.

PRIOR TO SEPT. 11, I had been working on developing deeper concentration in an effort toward reaching the first jhana, one of the states of meditative absorption in Buddhist samadhi meditation practice. The goal still eludes me, but my concentration was becoming steady and more focused. Since Sept. 11, concentration during meditation has been a bare fraction of what it was. My mind seems more chaotic than it has ever been, as much as when I first began meditation practice.

You can sense the dukkha of others in almost every social setting. I've noticed great anger, hostility, depression, and sadness amongst every circle of people I associate with: family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, and the average person you meet in public.

One Thursday soon after the attacks, I took sick leave from work because I needed some sanctuary from hostile attitudes that had arisen among a few of my co-workers. I just couldn't bear another day in the office, which had become an angry and emotionally intense environment. It took incredible effort to be mindful and refrain from unskillful discussion and unskillful speech.

So many people are suffering and every mental discipline and skill I've learned has been sorely put to the test. As I remarked to my wife, I'm weary and my heart hurts. This is dukkha.

I've had great difficulty sleeping several nights in the past few weeks. One Sunday, I mentioned to a fellow practitioner that this sleeplessness must have been from the pizza I'd eaten earlier in the evening. Upon reflection, I think it stems from a deeper place leading back to Sept. 11, and everything in between.

The present barrage of sensory input is just too intense. My sense doors have been wide open and I feel the need to close them for a little while.

Just recently I witnessed the effect of this sensory assault on one of my co-workers. News of the growing number of anthrax incidents across the country had begun to significantly agitate him. The more he talked about it and thought about it, the more anxious he became, and he managed to work himself into quite a panic. His face became very pallid and he was sweating profusely. Fortunately, others were able to calm him. The episode left me uneasy and a little shaken. It reminded me how quickly our mental processes can spin out of control.

THE BUDDHA TALKED ABOUT this sort of thing in a discourse from the Mahjjima Nikaya (MN 18). The name of the sutta is The Honeyball. The discourse explains that when our senses come in contact with something, we classify that contact as appealing, unappealing, or neutral. A perception arises based on that judgment and the thinking process begins. One thought germinates into another, and then another and another, and soon we’re locked into a vicious cycle.

The sutta refers to this as "mental proliferation." As a result there can arise all sorts of unskillful thoughts and actions that cause suffering/dukkha. In our current situation, with increased exposure to the news, along with exposure to the suffering and actions of those near to us, the strength of our mindfulness is pushed to its limits. That limit is different for each of us, and as we approach the limit we will feel the desire to pull back and constrain our exposure.

Why do I express all of this? More than anything I just want to acknowledge the suffering all of us have experienced since Sept. 11. Even the weekly meditation group I attend has been affected, experiencing its first major dispute, with angry e-mails and members leaving, in the days and weeks after Sept. 11.

This is all very hard. Having reflected on some of those e-mail exchanges, I began to get a fresh understanding of a meditation group’s purpose. I think the most valuable aspect of our Meditation Circle, as we call the group, is that it serves as a sanctuary from all of the day-to-day junk that hammers away at our inner peace

It is a safe haven for people to meditate and be still, to leave behind the fast-paced high intensity world. The challenge for lay practitioners is much greater than for monastics, who spend most of their time in a controlled environment more conducive to liberation

THICH NHAT HANH COINED A phrase in his book "Peace is Every Step," which says: "Garbage In, Garbage Out. That is to say that the more we surround ourselves with unskillful people, situations, entertainment, etc., the more unskillful our own minds and behavior become and consequently, the greater our suffering.

Despite our best efforts, we occasionally find ourselves in very trying circumstances. For the most part, these are manageable. But when the difficulties are more pervasive, as they are now, it helps to have a safe place to go, even for only a couple of hours. In the coming months, I think that efforts to make groups like the Meditation Circle a safe haven will be of the greatest benefit to everyone.

These challenging times will see the need for spiritual safety zones throughout the American landscape, as groups from all across our country look for ways to support the needs of lay practitioners everywhere.

Jeff Green lives in Charleston, West Virginia, where he is a member of the Meditation Circle of Charleston.

PREVIOUSLY:

GUESTCOLUMN, Summer/01: M.L. "Max" Roth's Confessions of a Taoist/Zen/Jew.

GUESTCOLUMN, Winter/01: Tom Armstrong Ponders Whether a Robot Dog Has Buddha Nature.

GUESTCOLUMN, Fall/00: Jim Haught on the Philosphical Implications of Modern Physics -- Reality Isn't What You Think.

GUESTCOLUMN, March/00: Jean-Jacques D'Aoust on Religious Pluralism and Why Can't We All Just Get Along, Spirituality-wise?

GUESTCOLUMN, Fall/99: Tom Armstrong on An Enlightening Encounter With Someone Else's Ears

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