The universality of suffering: are you contributing to it?

Ashley Mwanza

It takes very little observation to conclude that suffering is a universal phenomenon, whether it is seen from the individual, society’s viewpoint. People from every walk of life suffer in different ways, for neither sickness, tragedy nor death are respecters of persons. They visit the high and mighty as readily as the hovels of the shanty towns of the world. They come uninvited and unwanted by all. They are not impressed by a person’s station in life: they cannot be bought or sold, manipulated or controlled, although political leaders like to give the impression that they can control everything.

Whole nations languish in the grip of injustice, war, famine and disease, which even worldwide relief agencies seem powerless to control. The problem only seems to get bigger.

On the individual level suffering comes in many varied ways, even if we are lucky enough to have plenty to eat, are in sound health, and living in a country with a reasonably sound economy.

Suffering is meted out at the hands of others, either intentionally or otherwise. There is the almost inexplicable mystery of man’s inhumanity to man, seen at all levels of society and in all works of life. In the rush to make “our first million” we may walk over many others along the way, discard those people that are not “useful”, buy the friendship of the “great” while manipulating or controlling the weak ones.

Our first thoughts of oppression towards mankind usually suggest the more extreme types. We are more inclined to think of slavery or severe forms of authoritarian physical abuse rather than the more civil and disguised forms of oppression. In this drama of everyday life we may find ourselves either the oppressors of others or the oppressed.

Every organization has a purpose, a reason for being, described in its mission statement. It is becoming increasingly important for organizations to also have a code of ethics - a set of rules that define what behaviours are acceptable and those that are unacceptable - since shareholders, clients, and employees prefer dealing with establishments that uphold high levels of ethical and moral standards of practice. Firms that wish to succeed in the long run had better take a long hard look at their ethics. So it goes for us all, if we want to succeed let us not hurt others along the way. Let us try to do good all the way.

A simple rule of ethics (for business, organisations and the individual) can also be derived from the sage Hillel’s philosophy (Babylonian Talmud, Avot 1:14): “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I only care for myself, what am I?” An organization must achieve its goals (e.g., profit) but must also care for others. I must achieve my goals but not trample on others as I pursue those goals.

The many sufferings that beings in the world today experience are caused by people’s ignorance, lack of concern, no sense of awareness, that the suffering they inflict on others would also hurt them. They are unaware because they have not put themselves in the situation of their victims. As a result of this, people in the world keep on inflicting great suffering on one another.

Our actions have consequences. Most of the time, we are unaware of any except perhaps the most immediate of these consequences. We are like a person who has dropped a pebble into a pond and can only see, at best, one ripple the pebble made in the water. We know from our experience that the pebble actually causes many ripples, perhaps an infinite number, that extend all the way from the spot where it was dropped in the water to the edge of the pond.

Our actions are the results of causes and conditions from others, and the actions of others are the results of causes and conditions from us. If we can change our actions, we can create a chain of events that will change the karma of many beings.

None of us can live a life in which every action creates only positive consequences. At best, the consequences of each action we take will be mixed. All we can do is to live as mindfully as possible and to expand our horizons so that we start seeing more and more of the ripples in the pond when we drop that pebble.

We are defined only in relation to each other. Only together are we whole, completing the most sacred circuit the universe has ever known, a circuit through which life continues to proliferate.