SUFFERING - 

WHAT  IT  DOES  TO  US!

December  15,  2011

Quote for Today - the day the United States forces declared  in Bagdad an end to their operations in Iraq.


"Imagine two generals, each having to decide whether or not to commit a division of ten thousand men to battle.


To one the division is but a thing, a unit of personnel, an instrument of strategy and nothing more.


To the other it is these things, but he is also aware of each and every one of the ten thousand lives and the lives of the families of each of the ten thousand.


For whom is the decision easier?


It is easier for the general who has blunted his awareness precisely because he cannot tolerate the pain of a more nearly complete awareness.


It may be tempting to say, 'Ah, but a spiritually evolved man would never become a general in the first place.' 


But the same issue is involved in being a corporate president, a physician, a teacher, a parent.


Decisions affecting the lives of others must always be made.  


The best decision-makers are those who are willing to suffer the most over their decisions but still retain the ability to be decisive. 


One measure - and perhaps the best measure - of a person's greatness is the capacity for suffering.


Yet the great are also joyful.


This, then, is the paradox.


Buddhists tend to ignore the Buddha's suffering and Christians forget Christ's joy.


Buddha and Christ were not different men.


The suffering of Christ letting go on the cross and the joy of Buddha letting go under the bo tree are one."

M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled, pages 75-76.

The above quote was one paragraph. I broke  it down by sentences  - because I and others don't read something that is long - like a long paragraph.

Painting on top: 1887 Civil War Battle Scene by William Trego [1858-1909]