Suffering Is Your Teacher

Spoken the the Prophets–10
Isaiah reference / Chapters 30, 32, 35
Format / Hebrew versets

When God has given you 
  the bread of suffering
    your teacher will come

I Am will be gracious to you
  when your cry for help rings out

I Am will send rain for the seed 
  you sow in the ground

The bread from that seed
  will be rich and nourishing
    and Yahweh will heal your wounds

Let the desert bloom
  and have the wasteland rejoice
    burst into flower

Strengthen all the weary hands
  We will see our God’s glory

Do not be afraid
  The eyes of the blind will see
    and the deaf will hear

The lame will leap like a deer
  Streams will gush in the desert

The desert will become productive ground
  The Spirit will be poured out on us from above
    and peace will at last come to humans

Reflections and Connexions

This graphic is my representation of Gandhi’s idea of ahimsa, using words added to a complex modular function. Without using this complex modular function Isaiah is touching the same wisdom. Ahimsa is usually translated into English as nonviolence, but that just tells us what ahimsa is not. I hope this graphic can give a better understanding of the path that is ahimsa. It is love, an essence given to us that we can give in turn. It is also truth, our experiencial connexion to reality as it comes and not an abstract belief. As we live and act in the world, we need the ability to forgive others and ourselves. We also need courage and strength to resist evil. The gifts of love and truth most of us would willingly accept. On our good days we can find the gifts to resist and forgive. But I suspect that very few would ask for more suffering. It is helpful to remember that God also suffers. We might think of suffering, God’s and ours, as the price of creation.

The wisdom of ahimsa is embodied in the gospel narratives about the life of Jesus as well as in other religious stories. J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is one such story. The fruits and destiny of ahimsa and its lack can be seen clearly when the souls of Harry and Voldemort meet in King’s Cross at the end of book 7. (Of course, King’s Cross in this scene is also a reference to Jesus.) Harry is open to the reality which has included suffering and the other virtues of ahimsa although ahimswa is more than the sum of the aspects of its “definition.” Voldemort has followed a life of domination, power, and control. His shriveled soul is suffering because he refused any aspect of ahimsa.

At the end of this section the prophet offers shalom, which is perhaps the Hebrew word closest to ahimsa, though shalom does not include suffering. However, a willingness to suffer is included in this passage along with shalom. Second Isaiah (chapters 40-55) will take this up again in the Songs of the Suffering Servant as he (or perhaps they) writes to the Hebrew people during the Babylonian captivity, a time in the desert and a time of suffering.

Ahimsa

Deserts find a way
to reveal the graces of
our humanity
  Both chosen and unchosen
  deserts will be crossed

Unless we agree
to suffer, we will never
escape suffering.*
  May we learn to find ourselves
  in the truth of God’s presence

From our openness
we will grow deeply rooted
in the grace of God
  This knowing and unknowing
  is the presence of pure love

* This middle haiku is from sayings of DT Suzuki and Thomas Merton.