Friday, December 14, 2007

Suffering and Listening

1. If you listen to who address you with their suffering, you will suffer more yourself. But you will also put yourself into a sympathetic or even empathetic position.

2. If you listen to those who address you with their suffering, you will decrease the suffering of the one suffering.

3. If you fail to listen to those who address you with their suffering, you will increase the suffering of the one suffering.

Now, what of a religion whose aim is to alleviate suffering through detachment from it?

3 comments:

Jim Pemberton said...

This is incredibly scriptural, insightful and well-stated!

Psalm 68:19; Luke 11:46; Gal 6:5-6;

Jim Pemberton said...

Sorry, that's Gal. 6:2-5

Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D. said...

Jim:

Thanks for the Scriptures.

Buddhism has nothing like it--or like Jesus.