Some Buddhist words of wisdom from Rhodes College's Dr. Brooke Schedneck to go with Hagglund's finitude.
Buddhist teachings state that suffering, illness and death are to be expected, understood and acknowledged. The nature of reality is affirmed in a short chant: “I am subject to aging … subject to illness … subject to death.”
This chant serves to remind people that fear and uncertainty are natural to ordinary life. Part of making peace with our reality, no matter what, is expecting impermanence, lack of control and unpredictability.
Thinking that things should be otherwise, from a Buddhist perspective, adds unnecessary suffering.
Instead of reacting with fear, Buddhist teachers advise working with fear. As Theravada Buddhist monk Ajahn Brahm explains, when “we fight the world, we have what is called suffering,” but “the more we accept the world, the more we can actually enjoy the world” (continued).
Totally agree, we're better off acknowledging our vulnerability and susceptibity to unanticipated illness and death. That's stoicism as well as Buddhism, and as Hagglund says it's a fundamental tenet of secular faith.
ReplyDeleteBut, I can't wholly agree with "accepting" this as the fated human condition, or with NOT thinking "things should be otherwise." If it is at all within our power to better prepare for the possibility of pandemic (for example) and reduce needless suffering and death in the future, we MUST. That's pragmatism. And as my mentor Lachs says, stoic pragmatism is better than either stoicism or pragmatism (or Buddhism or resigned secularism) alone.
We shouldn't react with fear, but we should "fight" -- not fight the world, fight FOR the world. James said life feels like a fight, and we're at our best when we've found something worthy in life to fight for.
But as a cherry-picker in philosophy I'm happy to pick the No Fear Buddhist cherries!