The Problem of Suffering or Dukkha in Existence
Suffering or Dukkha is an inherent part of our existence. I want to focus on the wisdom of Dōgen to explore the problem of suffering in the context of public health, environmental hazards, and health equity. If we recognize that public health and environmental crises stem from ignorance of interconnectedness, then it is easy to understand that suffering arises when we see ourselves as separate from the world around us, leading to exploitation, environmental degradation, and health inequities.
The climate crisis, pollution, and disparities in healthcare are symptoms of this fundamental misunderstanding that we are not separate from our environment. As a society, we suffer because we fail to recognize the interdependence with the natural world, and thus we are experiencing environmental destruction, pandemics, and inequalities.
The Rise or Cause of Suffering or Samudaya: is Disconnection and Ignorance
Dōgen, in Sansuikyō (“Mountains and Waters Sutra”) teaches that nature and human life are not separate. He writes, “Mountains and waters right now are the realization of the way of ancient buddhas. Both of them abiding in their Dharma state achieve the ultimate merits. Because of the inseparability of life and death before the Emptiness Eon, they live actively at each moment. Because they have been the self since before phenomena arose, they interpenetrate.” (Mountains and Waters Scripture/(Scriptural) Teaching) Yet, modern society treats nature as an exploitable resource. This dualistic view has led to suffering. We neglect the reality that by harming the environment and sentient beings in it we are harming ourselves.
What progressive insight can we gain? We can begin by understanding that our ethical responsibility extends beyond ourselves to all beings. This is what is meant in the Buddha’s teaching that craving and nescience and selfishness perpetuate our suffering. Ignorance obscures the direct experience of nirvana; there is no vantage point from which one can witness the Dharma world before the phenomenal world arises. Ignorance does not give us eyes to see or ears to hear. But, we should hear and understand that climate change is in part due to human actions, as are many of our environmental hazards, such as open uranium mines in New Mexico, plastic everywhere, and air pollution. Much of this comes from our own greed, not seeing the big picture, and not caring about the well-being of our neighbors. Thus, we need to confront the rise or cause (samudaya) of suffering.
The Bring About the Cessation of Suffering or Nirodha: we need a Profound Perspective and Ethical Action
Understanding interconnectedness is the key to alleviating suffering. Dōgen in the Genjokoan Realizing the Universal Truth states, “To learn the Awakened Way is to learn the self. To learn the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be verified by all dharmas.” (Genjokoan, “Realizing the Universal Truth”) This means that our liberation comes through recognizing that we are part of a vast, intricately interdependent network of all that is. Public health, environmental justice, and social equity are not separate concerns. They are on the bodhisattva path to save all beings. Addressing health inequities and environmental hazards expresses our profound wisdom and compassion.
The third noble truth is that suffering can end when the causes are removed. What are the root cause of the suffering that we now face. We can begin by identifying concrete steps to address suffering through sustainable living, policy advocacy, and equitable healthcare. How many of our attachments and delusions can we let go of by embracing sustainable and ethical practices. There are actions that can be taken such as carbon offsets every time we take a flight, solar panels for houses, environmentally friendly appliances, and not buying water in a plastic bottle.
The Way to Solve the Causes of Suffering: is The Path of Prognosis (Paññā/Prajñā)
Dōgen’s teachings illustrate the Four Noble Truths, offering a path of prognosis/ (prajñā) that leads from insight to action. What are Magga (not MAGA like politics, but Magga meaning the path to liberation from suffering).
The actions that sometimes sound easy may prove difficult but taking a stand against censorship and speaking the truth about environmental and health crises is one application of the Eightfold Path – it expresses both right speech and right action. As Rosan teaches, “A pinhole will collapse the great dam in time.” Small injustices, when ignored, grow into systemic failures. If they are left unchecked, they will impact our collective karma.
What would courage and integrity in action look like? In Dogen’s Mountain and Waters Scripture-Teaching it was written
“The green mountains are always walking; a stone woman gives birth to a child at night.”
(Mountain and Waters Scripture-Teaching, 3)
Maybe the best solution is to recognize our current situation is a rapidly moving environment. Looking beyond conventional distinction and rigid dualities, we see the interdependence between the environment and health. If we think change is impossible in given conditions, there is always what is beyond our expectations. To address suffering, we must integrate contemplation with right action. As practitioners, we act with courage and integrity, resisting pressures to self-censor when the truth must be spoken. We must see the non-dualistic nature of the world and engage fully, not letting ourselves be trapped. Public health and environmental justice are not political choices, but moral imperatives grounded in the Dharma. May we, like the mountains and waters, express the Buddha way through wisdom, compassion, and fearless engagement in the world. May wisdom and insight emerge like the stone woman giving birth, against the common-sense view that we are giving birth to all kinds of things: good and bad, right and wrong!
Even though it is delusional to think everything is not connected, separations are illusions. Silence may express a big truth but to teach, at least sometimes, “you have to say something”. As Kataguri Roshi believed you can’t sit in silence all the time or from fear of getting it wrong.
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