67. Witnessing Suffering

It is when I’m suffering most that I most need to open myself to the suffering of others. By seeing the links between their suffering and my suffering, I’m better able to see that the root of our suffering is the same. And by seeing the root of suffering more clearly, I’m also better able to see how to bring it to an end.

Even when my suffering is insignificant, there are others around me who are suffering greatly. To feel their suffering as my own can be overwhelming. I might want to reject it by closing my eyes or by escaping to a comfortable place. I might want to distract myself from it through media or games or some other pleasure-seeking behaviour.

But in doing so, I become separated from life and the world. I isolate myself in a protective bubble that is not actually protective, but actively harmful to myself and others. It is harmful because it blocks me from the possibility of compassion and the opportunity to transform suffering into joy.

This applies to the art I engage with as well. If I flee from difficult novels or serious films because they frequently include stories of people mired in terrible suffering, I limit my own awareness and I work against my own possible compassion and joy.

When I am suffering greatly, I might think I do not have the energy to handle such art, or that there is already too much suffering in my own life to take on more. But by witnessing the suffering of a character in a story, I learn how to see my own suffering more clearly. By connecting my own suffering to the character’s suffering, I am rescued from the isolation of thinking that my suffering is unique or intractable. I might also gain a new perspective on the experience of suffering or discover types of suffering of which I was previously unaware. All of this helps me see the nature of suffering and how it is a shared human experience. And this insight can provide enormous relief from the relentless struggle of daily life where suffering is felt but often not truly seen.

It is by taking in the suffering of others that I allow my awareness to expand and my compassion to bloom. When it blooms, I act to meet the needs of myself and others, including the need to be free from suffering. And it is this action that is also the source of endless joy.