Trauma Suffering

If there is meaning in life at all, then there must be meaning in suffering.  Suffering is an eradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering in life, human life cannot be complete.
Viktor E. Frankl

A terrible, terrible tragedy occurred in a neighboring province this weekend.  A very, very sick human being gunned down and killed over 22 unsuspecting people in some act of violence that is so hard to understand.  I found myself hearing the news but  not really able to process it, thus my not referring to it over the last couple of days.  Some things are just too much for the human mind to absorb...like this example of the  extreme fragility of the human mind and the human body...so it usually denies, deflects or stuffs evidence of those things away.

Those Surviving This Trauma

Thinking about the trauma that the survivors of this atrocious act must be experiencing, (will be experiencing for the rest of their lives, I imagine), has led me to examine the nature of suffering  a trauma like this and how to transcend it.  Of course, I don't know!!!  I don't know how anyone gets beyond such a "shock". I am just taking what I have learned and what I feel in my gut as some less than perfect  attempt at empathy and hope.

Does Trauma Transform?

I can look at trauma...at a lesser degree...and see how in the long run it can transform into something life enhancing in the long run.  Yet how can one even think of any positive upon looking at this incident in this moment?  There is understandably nothing but grief, shock,  and fear, soon to be followed by extreme outrage now...but in time, maybe in time, there will be at least some semblance of peace.

As Eckhart Tolle, says when he answers a question from such a trauma survivor ( video linked below) the pain of such a horrid challenge may never completely dissolve in this life time for those who were involved or for those who lost loved ones.  They will carry it with them, in some form, for the rest of their lives; they will likely get lost in identification with it...they and teh world will define who they are by this incident for a long time; and maybe they will become so identified with this pain that they will resist and become angry at  any mention of there being a "way out" of it....even years down the road.  But I do believe that there is always hope that someday they will be able to transcend it.  This awful , unimaginable tragedy could become  a crack in an armour , that allows precious understanding and Grace  to come through....someday, someday.

For now...pain and grief will be their reality.

As Bystanders From A Distance

We as bystanders, can look upon this and learn as well.  We can learn...not to get lost in resistance of what happened by hiding behind "This should never have happened" ( It did) ...not to  hate...not to pass judgement and blame on anyone...not to shutdown in our fear...not to own the assumption that "All humans are greedy, violent creatures that cannot be trusted" or that " the world is a dangerous and terrifying place to live in"...not to point fingers at those who we assume didn't do enough...not to pity...but ...to reach out in love, and compassion, whether it be with deed or thought to those who are suffering and to humanity at large. 

The One Shared Humanity

We could all look at this, in a sense, that we were all attacked and...(this will be hard for people to swallow)...we all attacked. As one human race, it was our innocent brothers and sisters that were gunned down and it was our brother that gunned them down. Hate will not put an end to hate...only love in the form of understanding, forgiveness and compassion will.

The Habitual Mind's Reaction To Such Trauma

It would be so easy to get lost in the "story" of this tragic occurrence, "the idea"  of it; the thought stream that would take us into added suffering, drama and pain . By itself, this is more than enough tragedy, we do not have to allow the ego mind to jump into to create more suffering, do we?  

And our minds will do that...it is a habitual and conditioned way we have of reacting to such things.  First, we attempt to shut down and deny, push aside...then we resist with all our might the experience of "pain" by getting into our heads and creating a drama of hate, revenge, blame, fear and another reason to close down. This is so much better, is it not, than the red raw vulnerability we experience when we look at the fragility of the human mind and the human body as situations like this force us to do?

Stillness At the Core

Inside each and everyone of us is this "core of stillness" and it is there even in the greatest challenges.  This spacious center of who we are  cannot be harmed, nor can it harm.(Tolle). It is actually our refuge ...a place we can go to when the external world seems to be falling apart around us. (Thay Bhap Ho)   We need to access this place more often when we are not facing such gruesome challenges , so we can face them with this knowing when they do occur. This will not make the pain go away but it can certainly make it a lot easier to deal with. 

Accessing this place will also help us to "let go" of our pain someday, to release it so we can transcend it. The Buddhists teach that once we release pain it automatically transcends into something beautiful and healing for all.

That is what I wish for all survivors of this, for all of us...that we can someday...even if it is years down the road...transcend this pain through release.  In the meantime, let's pray for a little peace and ease throughout this trying time for all who are directly experiencing this trauma and for the rest of the world that watches.

It is as it is.

Eckhart Tolle( April, 2020) What Do You Recommend for Healing Trauma?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZ2GfrendQg

Thay Phap Ho/Plum Village  (March 1, 2020) Earth Holder Retreat/Final Dharma Talk Deer Park Monastery. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG-HbasuW-I