The Buddha has given a simple definition of enlightenment or awakening as 'the end of suffering'. Indeed, this definition is complete in itself because the end of all seeking, desiring, willing is to end stress and suffering and be in peace. So let us find out what is the meaning of suffering? The direct and honest answer to this question is that we can only know what suffering is and how it stops through our own experiences, which is that it is the end of wanting, of desiring , of longing, of craving, etc… so, what happens after these emotional and thought patterns of personal needs evaporate and disappear? The simple answer to this is that when these mental and emotional patterns stops, our mental and emotional suffering stop and vanish as well… To ask what is left when there is no more suffering is to miss the point altogether. What is left is that there is no more of what was considered 'suffering', which had completely cancelled all the other advantages that life might have bestowed on us: Such as: good health, good looks, money, fame, etc. The real point to consider, therefore, is what could the Buddha have meant by the word 'suffering'? Obviously he didn’t mean just how to be in good physical health, or how to be handsome and beautiful, and have a lot of money to be happy… because we can have all these ‘things’ - be good looking - be very rich and successful in life, even famous and be in very good health, and yet feel compelled to SEEK something… that we feel is still missing in our lives… something that makes us feel incomplete and unfulfilled.In other words, what the Buddha meant was not about physical suffering… he knew that it was ridiculous to expect that anything could possibly remove the very basis of life and living, that is to say, to change the natural law which is that duality exists in everything, meaning that there is always two opposite poles, two extremes such as the poles of pain and pleasure, the poles of hot and cold, black and white, night and day… feminine and masculine, negative and positive, etc… all the poles of nature have their opposite and complementary counterpart at the same time… they are the two complementary ingredients that makes life as we know it possible. Hence, everything created comes under the rule of polarities, and polarities can function solely in duality… Therefore, the Buddha had obviously known that the law of polarity was the basis of life and that the present moment would bring sometimes different kinds of pleasure or sometimes different kinds of pain. This is based on Cosmic Law and is the very foundation of life. Therefore, the sage accepts that pain, fear and suffering are the counterparts of joy, contentment and peace. So, what happens when a mystic or sage accepts that there will always be some kind of suffering in his life, since it is a matter of polarity? He will observe this fact in his own personal experiences and by embracing this law of polarity as the ingredients of life …he will be satisfied with whatever happens to him or others as his or their destiny… This is the secret of his happiness, peace and contentment… He knows also how to love someone and not expect to be loved in return… this is called unconditional love… hence, the sage has no fear of being judged, criticized or rejected… he accepts and trusts God’s Will in his life and accepts his destiny… So why is it that humans usually have a fear of losing someone or something that they desire, love, or want to keep? Why is there fear of loosing what they have? Why are they afraid of the future? How can they remove the fear of the unknown…isn’t all these fears and frustrations mental and emotional suffering? And does this not show that one can be rich and in good health and yet have these inner stresses and uncontrollable fears? (More ... )
