Deeply Connected
How did Buddhism start? It started when Buddha looked around and said “Whoa! Everybody’s suffering. What’s this suffering about, how can I end this suffering?” When we usually think of ending suffering, it’s “I want to end my suffering.” People start practicing, because they want to end their suffering. At least that’s how I started. I didn’t start with Zen, I started with relaxation response, because I was so miserable. I mean I was suicidal; I was delusional; I was all kinds of things. I eventually had this great shrink who was able to help me. But I started meditating because of that, because I just needed a way to calm down. People come to the Zen center like that. They need a way to calm down. But then after a while you realize you can’t end your suffering until you end all beings’ suffering. Because we’re all connected. We’re just so completely connected. And it’s not even like all these discrete beings are connected. It’s like if you look at the fingers of your hand, and then you cover up so you can’t see the palm, and you look and it’s like four little puppets on a stage. You know it’s like four little puppets on a stage and you think “oh those are different puppets.” But then you uncover and you say, “Whoa, wait a minute. They’re deeply, deeply, connected.” It’s like that. What Buddha realized is, and this is the whole Mahayana -- your own suffering is just part of this ocean of suffering, and we all have to work together.
[from the Sit Breathe Bow podcast with Ian White Maher]