Hi and welcome to Spiritual Sobriety.
I'm your host Chris McDuffie.
Today's discussion is going to introduce you to the first of Buddha's four noble truths,
The causes of suffering.
We will also study today how Buddhism and the Twelve Step Programs are pathways out of suffering and into spiritual love,
Joy,
And happiness.
I want to begin today's episode by highlighting and honoring the excellent work of authors and teachers Kevin Griffin,
Who wrote one book at a time,
And Therese Jacob Stewart's work called The Mindfulness and the Twelve Steps.
Their works are incredibly important reads to explain how Buddhism and the Twelve Step Programs are pathways for spiritual sobriety.
I highly recommend them both.
Their books and lectures have helped me learn much of what I hope to present to you on this podcast show,
Spiritual Sobriety.
I also want to honor the spiritual leaders whose work continues to help enhance my sober life and spiritual journey.
These include the works of Ram Dass,
Jack Hornfield,
Sharon Salzberg,
Raghu Markus,
Krishna Das,
Joseph Goldstein,
And Dale Borgnum.
I strongly suggest that you download their app HeartMind to access the wonderful Buddhist scholars and practitioners that they are.
Alan Watts's work also continues to shape how I understand the practice of Buddhist spirituality,
And you may find him on YouTube.
As I treasure all the teachings that I continue to learn from via the Twelve Step Publications,
Readings,
And books,
And my AA Fellowship,
And my sponsor Jerry,
And my spiritual guru Pat,
I hope to honor all of these teachers through my talks on spiritual sobriety.
I will be sure to highlight and give them credit when I use any of their resources.
Today's discussion is based upon the exceptional work of Buddhist scholar Joseph Goldstein.
You will find his podcast on the Insight Hour and on the HeartMind app.
Let's begin today's discussion on Buddha's first teachings.
Weeks after becoming awoken under the Bodhi tree,
He attempted to teach his first five students what he had just learned.
Alan Watts calls the Buddha the first psychologist,
Since Buddha's chief aim was to teach us the causes of suffering and in the cessation of suffering.
I'd like to see my role as an AA sponsor,
Licensed psychotherapist,
And chemical dependency counselor as the same way of helping end suffering and cultivating loving awareness.
Buddha's teachings and lessons are called sutras in Pali,
And today's discussion is on Buddha's attempt to set a framework of understanding for the causes of suffering.
I see step 1 through 9 as a similar framework to understand why we were suffering and how to end that suffering.
AA calls this work building an archway to walk through.
You may remember in the schema that I taught in my recent podcast,
That Buddhism in 12 Steps,
The Cause of Suffering,
That according to the Buddha,
The two chief causes of suffering are attachments and aversions and anger.
Buddha uses the Pali term dukkha,
D-u-k-k-h-a,
For what we in the West generally call suffering,
Or the inescapable grasp of joy and happiness.
According to Joseph Goldstein,
Quote,
Buddha's discourse on dukkha defines the entire spiritual pathway of Buddhism,
That all mental conditions,
Responses are dukkha,
And the essential nature of our understanding of this suffering is impossible without our awakening to the causes of suffering,
End quote.
Again,
Dukkha is typically defined in the West as suffering,
While sukha,
The Pali term,
Is the opposite,
Which defines feelings of ease and well-being that we experience when we are not in suffering.
So you might consider step 1 through 9 as our history through dukkha,
And steps 10,
11,
12 as the potential to live in sukha.
Goldstein continues,
Quote,
The term dukkha comes from two root Pali words,
Du,
Meaning bad or difficult,
And kha,
Meaning empty.
Buddha used the image of a wagon wheel with its eight spokes as a symbol for these early teachings.
Goldstein goes on to say,
He identified the empty axle hole at the center of the ox cart wagon as kha,
And if the axle fits badly or oddly,
Then that's the du.
In essence,
Your ride will feel bad.
If you have a difficult journey,
And this troublesome journey will certainly be a very,
Very bumpy ride,
End quote.
That quote just about sums up my lessons from step 1 through 9 with my sponsor Jerry.
The kha or the empty in the image of the wagon wheel centers also refers to the absence of or the lack of an all-controlling self that thinks it can control or command the experience that one finds unsatisfying,
Unreliable,
Or stressful.
Buddha's lessons here is that the ego's craving to control the event is inherently unsatisfying,
And that gives rise to our suffering.
The image of no ego and no control is the kha in dukkha.
This one statement is what the ego immediately rejects when first seeing step 1,
I am powerless over alcohol and my life was unmanageable.
It rejects that notion.
To be clear,
Suffering is not inherent in the world or in nature or in God or in the Tao when life is at work.
The lesson here is our suffering is only created by how the unawoken mind chooses to experience each situation or event or feeling.
We want to use our spiritual programs to help us awaken and see our attachments and cravings and rejections of what is creating our suffering.
You might consider mindful awareness as awoken and denial or being drunk or high as unaware or unawoken for us in recovery.
Buddha's suggestions are poignant.
We cause ourselves and others great suffering when we are addicted to the indulgences or sense pleasures and when we are addicted to self-mortification like holding on to guilt or shame or remorse for too long.
Our axel appears stuck and the rod is very very terrifying.
The way out of our suffering is practicing skillful mindful awareness and then releasing from these addictions in Buddhist terms.
This leads us to a feeling of calm and achieving nirvana daily in our 12 steps.
We use step 11 as a spiritual daily practice to help illustrate this first teaching of Joseph Goldstein continues quote the Buddha uses the image of a dog tied to a post running in circles on a leash.
This is dukkha.
This is suffering.
Sukha is creating when we stop running in circles and unleash ourselves from our attachments and expectations and free ourselves from our own suffering end quote.
In AA we discussed the concept of bondage of self.
So do we take time to practice skillful awareness in the suffering that we create for ourselves and others?
Is there more we can do to cultivate this awareness of our suffering and replace it with joy and happiness for ourselves and others?
I hope that you found today's discussion on suffering and the causes of suffering helpful for cultivating your spiritual sobriety.
We will continue this topic and how to end suffering over the next several podcasts.
Please be sure to follow Spiritual Sobriety and to get your podcast sent to you automatically.
I look forward to reading your thoughts and comments on today's discussion.
Thank you.
Have a great day.
