This is a beautifully held reflection. I really appreciate how you honour the reality of suffering without collapsing it into either explanation or consolation. The distinction you draw between what science can map and what awareness must notice from within feels especially important.
Your line about clarity coming from subtracting rather than adding stayed with me. It resonates with some of the questions I’ve been sitting with recently around awareness, identity, and loosening our entanglement with inner narratives. Thank you for offering a space that invites seeing rather than agreement. 🌿
Thank you very much for your kind words. I will be delving into these topics in greater detail, not to argue about the primacy of science versus spirituality but the complementary nature of the two perspectives. Later I will be writing about how our binary either-or approach has got us into an impasse. Thank you again and warm regards
Great piece, Prof. Swaran. It provoked all sorts of thought while I was reading it. I thought of Jungian psychology and of understanding suffering as a meaningful and instructive guide for psychic growth, in addition to seeing it as something to transcend, manage, or reduce through conscious understanding and detachment. It also reminded me of a teaching I once heard at my local church. The priest lamented that this world inflicts suffering even on Jesus Christ. He then asked us: if it causes so much suffering even to God himself, what could we expect it would do to us? So I thought if Christian theology sees suffering, at least to an extent, as something to be endured or embraced, without endless pondering on conscious or unconscious regulation. Anyways, it was a fun and thought-provoking read. I look forward to many more of your pieces. Congratulations.
Biniyam, thank you so much for this thoughtful and generous response. I really appreciated the way you brought Jung into the conversation. The idea of suffering not just as something to transcend or manage, but as something that can instruct and deepen the psyche, feels very true to me.
I also liked your reflection on Christian theology. That image of a world that inflicts suffering even on Christ is a powerful corrective to any fantasy that awakening or goodness somehow grants exemption from pain. It reframes suffering less as a personal failure and more as part of the human condition itself.
In some ways, I see different traditions circling the same problem from different angles. Buddhism looks at suffering with great clarity and offers a way through seeing impermanence and interdependence - dependent origination - nothing standing alone. Hindu traditions often turn inward, toward self-inquiry, pointing to a deeper nature that is not sat-chit-anand (true, aware, blissful). Perhaps all religions, in their own language, are attempts to make sense of pain and to live wisely in its presence. Without adversity, there would be very little growth.
Thank you again for engaging so openly with the piece. I’m really glad it resonated, and I appreciate your encouragement more than you know.
Stepping off the ladder - Even the ones who are aware will likely to have difficulty in ‘truly’ stepping out. However, it is important to keep reminding ourselves- at least to reduce the suffering
Thanks Sara. In a later post, I will write in detail about what I mean by “stepping off the ladder”. I dont believe in renouncing the world. But I think living fully immersed but in Sakshi Bhava (witness consciousness) helps us to not identify with the suffering.
This is awesome and I already subscribed. Thank you for this labor of love. I am sure many like me, will benefit from your insights and reflections. I will also share and invite others to subscribe
This is a beautifully held reflection. I really appreciate how you honour the reality of suffering without collapsing it into either explanation or consolation. The distinction you draw between what science can map and what awareness must notice from within feels especially important.
Your line about clarity coming from subtracting rather than adding stayed with me. It resonates with some of the questions I’ve been sitting with recently around awareness, identity, and loosening our entanglement with inner narratives. Thank you for offering a space that invites seeing rather than agreement. 🌿
Mr Massey
Thank you very much for your kind words. I will be delving into these topics in greater detail, not to argue about the primacy of science versus spirituality but the complementary nature of the two perspectives. Later I will be writing about how our binary either-or approach has got us into an impasse. Thank you again and warm regards
Thank you very much – I appreciate that, and I look forward to reading those reflections. Warm regards. 🌿
Great piece, Prof. Swaran. It provoked all sorts of thought while I was reading it. I thought of Jungian psychology and of understanding suffering as a meaningful and instructive guide for psychic growth, in addition to seeing it as something to transcend, manage, or reduce through conscious understanding and detachment. It also reminded me of a teaching I once heard at my local church. The priest lamented that this world inflicts suffering even on Jesus Christ. He then asked us: if it causes so much suffering even to God himself, what could we expect it would do to us? So I thought if Christian theology sees suffering, at least to an extent, as something to be endured or embraced, without endless pondering on conscious or unconscious regulation. Anyways, it was a fun and thought-provoking read. I look forward to many more of your pieces. Congratulations.
Biniyam, thank you so much for this thoughtful and generous response. I really appreciated the way you brought Jung into the conversation. The idea of suffering not just as something to transcend or manage, but as something that can instruct and deepen the psyche, feels very true to me.
I also liked your reflection on Christian theology. That image of a world that inflicts suffering even on Christ is a powerful corrective to any fantasy that awakening or goodness somehow grants exemption from pain. It reframes suffering less as a personal failure and more as part of the human condition itself.
In some ways, I see different traditions circling the same problem from different angles. Buddhism looks at suffering with great clarity and offers a way through seeing impermanence and interdependence - dependent origination - nothing standing alone. Hindu traditions often turn inward, toward self-inquiry, pointing to a deeper nature that is not sat-chit-anand (true, aware, blissful). Perhaps all religions, in their own language, are attempts to make sense of pain and to live wisely in its presence. Without adversity, there would be very little growth.
Thank you again for engaging so openly with the piece. I’m really glad it resonated, and I appreciate your encouragement more than you know.
Stepping off the ladder - Even the ones who are aware will likely to have difficulty in ‘truly’ stepping out. However, it is important to keep reminding ourselves- at least to reduce the suffering
Thanks Sara. In a later post, I will write in detail about what I mean by “stepping off the ladder”. I dont believe in renouncing the world. But I think living fully immersed but in Sakshi Bhava (witness consciousness) helps us to not identify with the suffering.
This is awesome and I already subscribed. Thank you for this labor of love. I am sure many like me, will benefit from your insights and reflections. I will also share and invite others to subscribe
Thank you Jibril. Your feedback will always be welcome.