140. The Cessation Of Suffering

The liberated body is sensitive to everything that happens in and around it, and it responds immediately in the ways it must. The liberated mind is aware and relaxed, empty of attachment and full of creative energy to solve the problems it encounters. Feelings and thoughts arise regularly but pass with ease. Intuitions born from awareness guide every action towards what is presently most needed. Desires, aversions, and beliefs are present, but there is no identification with them, as the harm of attachment is fully understood.

A being in this state produces very little suffering for itself. Even so, there is still suffering present in the world. It is the suffering produced by the countless others, and this suffering is felt no differently from the being’s own suffering. As such, the being responds with compassion to create the means for the suffering of others to be eliminated at its source.

To act from compassion is never a mindless effort. It requires careful thought and attention to details. It requires prudence and reason. It requires enormous creativity to express awareness in a form that can be communicated. To eliminate suffering, the being must utilize every tool at its disposal towards compassionate ends.

The whole organism must work together for the cessation of suffering to be achieved. The whole organism is not just the individual being but all living beings as one. It is when all beings attain the awareness necessary to bring their own suffering to an end that suffering ceases throughout the whole.

The work of compassion is complex and challenging but also endlessly rewarding. Solving the problem of suffering creates tangible results that can be seen and felt, and this provides a profound sense of purpose. It is through compassionate action that needs are met and joy is created. To live joyfully is nothing other than to act from compassion in each and every moment.