Suffering happens when one does not want to experience what one experiences. Suffering happens when one denies, rejects, refuses the experience one is having.
This denial, rejection, refusal is based on a judgement that what one experiences is bad, wrong, terrible, a disaster, should not happen.
This judgement is a human mind’s way of perceiving reality: separating into right and wrong, good and bad, desirable and undesirable.
The human mind is a separating engine. It separates everything it experiences into distinct, disconnected fragments, then it judges each piece, and based on the judgement it accepts the piece, or rejects it. This way of being in reality, this way of relating, is what creates the foundation for suffering to occur.
An enlightened one is awareness. An enlightened one is not the mind. Awareness doesn’t do all those stuff the mind does. Awareness doesn’t separate, awareness doesn’t judge, awareness doesn’t discriminate based on judgement.
Suffering happens when the mind does not want to experience what it experiences. Suffering happens when the mind denies, rejects, refuses the experience it is having. Awareness doesn’t rejects, it doesn’t deny, it doesn’t refuse. Awareness is aware of everything, as everything. Awareness is like sunlight - it does not pick and choose what it shines on. Everything that’s in the sun is illuminated by sunlight. Everything that’s in awareness is illuminated by awareness.
In awareness suffering doesn’t happen. Without denial, rejection, refusal, suffering doesn’t happen. In awareness, every experience is. No experiences are refused nor rejected.
The practical value of this to the mind is minimal, but there is some. The mind can’t change it’s nature, the mind can’t stop separating, judging, discriminating. But the mind is self-aware, therefore it can correct it’s course to some degree.
If the source of suffering is rejection, denial, refusal to accept the experience one experiences, then the answer to suffering is to accept. This is not something the mind will want to do, the mind will want to refuse, deny, reject, but awareness accepts, and the mind can be nudged towards acceptance. A bit.
Compassion when focused on getting rid of the experience one is already denying and refusing only reinforces the denial and rejection, which causes suffering in the first place.
Compassion when focused on accepting what is, being present with what is, might create a space where it’s easier for the mind to budge a bit. In this way, it might be of some help, but probably not much because ultimately the mind can’t change it’s own nature, and the nature of the mind is to separate, judge and discriminate.
