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Dharma Thoughts
60 EASTERN HORIZON | DHARMA THOUGHTS

Vijaya Samarawickrama is an accomplished Dharma educator,
teacher, and author. He retired after 60 years of teaching in
schools, colleges and universities. However, he continues to give
Dharma talks throughout the country, participates in inter-faith
dialogues, speaks at various international seminars, and writes
for Buddhist books and journals.

Transcending Human

Suffering

By Vijaya Samarawickrama

A brief glance at the world’s literature seems to indicate 160 years since the novel was written we still seem
that through the ages each generation considered itself to be caught in the same dilemma of paradoxes. We
worse off than its predecessors, giving voice to various would expect things to be different. Given the mind
prophets of doom who confidently predicted that the boggling advances in almost every aspect of human
end of the world was nigh and that the human race development, particularly in information, in technology,
would be annihilated. in communication and medicine, we would expect to
be enjoying the benefits of civilisation, but more than
Thankfully there were also saner voices which assured at any other time in history we humans are living in
that while there were horrible calamites which assailed despair and fear on scales which would have been
humanity there were also many positive developments unimaginable barely a century ago. especially when
which brought great benefits all around. The wise we look at the character and behaviour of the world’s
course of action they said would be to acknowledge leaders today we have to admit that there is little room
that human existence has been characterised by for hope.
both positive as well as negative experiences in a yin
yang equation. This balanced view was probably best Despite this bleak picture, however there is so much
described by Charles Dickens in the opening paragraph happening around us that we can be justified in
of his novel A Tale of Two Cities. Describing the period believing that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
during the French Revolution he writes Everyday we hear awe inspiring stories of brave and
foresighted individuals who are doing so much to
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it foster our shared humanity, people like Bill Gates
was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it and Warren Buffet, just to name two. As part of the
was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, good news recently we have made initiatives to be
it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, more compassionate and accepting of marginalised
it was the spring of hope it was the winter of despair, communities like the LBGT besides increasing our
we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, concern for animal welfare. Can we dare to hope
we were all going to heaven, we were all going directly that some day in the future we will be able to rise
the other way --- in short, the period was so far like the above our base savage tendencies to live rich noble
present period”. lives characterised by fraternal love, compassion,

sympathetic joy and equanimity?