The good news: suffering can end

The good and radical news is this: suffering can end. Many people think that suffering is a part and parcel of life, but the good news proclaimed here is the possibility this is not true. To me this is what true religion is about, but you don’t have to be religious to appreciate this. In fact belief and faith are not necessary to see what is true. Belief and faith are only required while you don’t know for sure.

When you look at the core of all the true religions, buried in there is the notion that suffering can end. To put it in theological terms, the insight that ends suffering is Divine Understanding and this leads to Heaven on Earth. While this is more explicitly stated in the Eastern traditions such as Buddhism, Vedanta and Taoism and Zen, it is also implicit and very much present in the Abrahamic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The very idea that suffering can end is itself a radical idea, and this is what the whole website is about. It is not about juggling intellectual concepts, attaining magic powers, communicating with powerful beings or even entertainment. I believe that the core of religious teachings were meant to be entirely practical – how to end suffering and nothing less! I think the Buddha put it best:

‘One thing only does the Buddha teach, namely suffering and the cessation of suffering’
Buddha (c.500 BC)

Vedanta is also very clear that suffering can end but uses different terminology and equates this with being one with the Divine Self (our true Self):

‘When one is identified as Self, there is no delusion or sorrow’
Shankara

My understanding is that this is what the early Christian mystics meant by terms such as ‘Heaven’ or ‘Kingdom of God’ that lies within us all – they were walking about the end of suffering and communion with the Divine.