Weekly Guiding Teacher Reflection

Dear Common Ground Friends,

The layperson Jānussoṇi shared his belief with the Buddha that all beings are frightened of death. The Buddha corrected him by naming four groups of people not frightened of death beginning with those who are free of greed and craving for sense pleasures. The Buddha explained, “When they fall seriously ill, they don’t think: ‘The sensual pleasures that I love so much will leave me, and I’ll leave them.’ They don’t sorrow and wail and lament, beating their breast and falling into confusion. This is someone who’s not frightened of death.”
Abhayasutta—Bhikkhu Sujato - AN 4.184

The Buddha goes on to name three other groups: those who are not attached to the body, those who have refrained from causing harm and instead have done good deeds in life, and finally those with deep understanding regarding the way things are (dharma). These four groups move through life at peace with the uncertainty, insecurity, and unavoidable loss that is inherent in life. These teachings don’t imply that these people don’t feel, but rather that they are not confused by whatever feelings naturally arise in their hearts. Which of these four groups are we drawn to explore? If we are interested in being free of anxiety and fear in life we can do our own direct research by cultivating one or more of these four qualities and then observe what gets set in motion. It is with curiosity and persistent effort that we experience the transformation of the unwholesome into the wholesome, the constricted into the unconstricted. Let’s see what can be set in motion in the life we are living.

Peace,
Mark Nunberg
Co-Guiding Teacher