This is Part II in a series about how Hinduism views pain and suffering. Concepts in Hinduism that relate to pain and suffering: Suffering, both mental and physical, is thought to be part of the unfolding of karma (karma = the principle that governs the unfolding of events and is based for a person on the integrity with […]

“Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain but for the heart to conquer it.”  Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), Indian Hindu mystic philosopher How our pain experiences relate to our spirituality/religion is a special interest of mine. Spirituality was an important way of coping for me when I was suffering due to pain, and one of the […]

An interesting article in Utne magazine about what mindfulness really is caught my eye. The author, Thubten Chodron, is an American-born Tibetan nun and an abbess at a Buddhist monastic community in Washington state. Chodron highlights that there is a difference between practicing mindfulness and the traditional Buddhist understanding of mindfulness as a component of the […]