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Eightfold path and physical suffering
I have begun to practise the eightfold path, and I have noticed that my mental suffering has decreased suffering. I have been wondering whether the eightfold path also works for physical suffering. My belief, is that the eightfold path can prevent and cure significant amounts of physical suffering as shown below:
- Our mind and body are connected, for example, when we are angry, our body becomes tense, our blood pressure rise and this creates physical pain in the present as well creating the causes and conditions for future suffering, for example, high blood pressure and heart attacks. So, by preventing our emotions from becoming extreme, we prevent possible physical suffering.
- Even when we are in pain, for example, a person who has terminal cancer, inevitably there will be some pain, that the eightfold path cannot remove. However, perhaps by meditating on something other than the pain, we can reduce the pain and maybe even remove it completely.
- Many Buddhists are compassionate towards all sentient beings, therefore, many Buddhists are also vegetarians. Hence, being vegetarian helps keeps us physically healthy. Buddhists who follow the eightfold path, also minimise the chance of the physical suffering caused by sexual misconduct, that is, sexually transmitted diseases and alcohol.
- Stephen Post in his book, "Why good things happen to good people", documents scientific evidence, that shows that giving is beneficial to physical health.
What are your thoughts on this?
- Our mind and body are connected, for example, when we are angry, our body becomes tense, our blood pressure rise and this creates physical pain in the present as well creating the causes and conditions for future suffering, for example, high blood pressure and heart attacks. So, by preventing our emotions from becoming extreme, we prevent possible physical suffering.
- Even when we are in pain, for example, a person who has terminal cancer, inevitably there will be some pain, that the eightfold path cannot remove. However, perhaps by meditating on something other than the pain, we can reduce the pain and maybe even remove it completely.
- Many Buddhists are compassionate towards all sentient beings, therefore, many Buddhists are also vegetarians. Hence, being vegetarian helps keeps us physically healthy. Buddhists who follow the eightfold path, also minimise the chance of the physical suffering caused by sexual misconduct, that is, sexually transmitted diseases and alcohol.
- Stephen Post in his book, "Why good things happen to good people", documents scientific evidence, that shows that giving is beneficial to physical health.
What are your thoughts on this?
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Comments
Yes and no. I would define physical suffering as the pain we experience from the pain sensors in our body, for example, uncomfortable posture, nausea, heart attack. Often this type of suffering has a limited cognitive, that is, thought, component to it. Mental suffering has a more cognitive component to it, for example, I dislike that person, therefore, we feel the mental suffering of hatred or anger. You are right, in that sometimes, suffering is both mental and physical. For example, compare two people who has a heart attack but remains quite calm with another person who is very panicky. As with distinguishing the two, I agree suffering is suffering but suffering can be categorized into mental and physical and that suffering can be described as a continuum. On one end, some sufferings are more physical than mental on the other end, more mental than physical. Since, everything is connected, I suppose there is no suffering that is purely mental or purely physical.
Look, the fact is, we're talking about the dual arrows, in a way, here.
The suffering (physical pain) of being hit by the first 'arrow' (broken leg) and the second suffering (mental machinations) attached to the first pain, and all connotations therein....
All is linked to Mind.
Appease the Mind and suffering lessens, and may even cease.
I remember seeing a documentary about a man whose mission it was to jog around the world.
He was accompanied by a film crew, and he confessed sometimes to getting dreadful cramps, pains in his sides, or his legs, excruciating pain, that attacked him at unexpected moments.
The interviewer, riding slowly in the car alongside this jogger, asked,
"And what do you do then?"
The jogger replied -
"I just ignore it."
Good call.....