# STRESS AND THE DHAMMA

The historical Buddha spoke to people whose culture was radically different from ours. Most people lived lives that were very stable, and living in a caste system provided very clear-cut roles for them. At the same time, there was considerable cultural transformation occurring—the first coherent political states were organizing, and towns and cities were emerging out of what had been a primarily agrarian social organization. Even though Siddhattha Gotama, the future Buddha, was raised in what amounted to a republic, there were kingdoms emerging that were warlike and desired to conquer adjoining territory; in fact, the birthplace of Siddhattha was overrun and burned during his lifetime. Underlying all these circumstances was the fact that, although cultural norms might be stable during one’s lifetime, the fragility of life was quite evident. There was the problem of disease, injury and other conditions that would simply be inconvenient and uncomfortable in modern life, yet would have fatal outcomes for whoever was affected by them. Apparently, this fragility was hidden from him during his youth, but eventually he must have realized the fragility of life in such a way that it inspired him to leave all his comfort and privilege, living under very primitive conditions, devoting his life to addressing the problem of human distress. Today, we live in circumstances that are quite different, in fact, almost describable as being flipped. We live in an environment that provides great comfort and physical security, and the average life span of someone today is quite significantly longer and more comfortable than just 100 years ago! Even though that security is provided for the large majority of Americans, the cultural norms and environmental stimuli have become extraordinarily fluid and demanding a lot of time and effort to cope with. My father was born before the first airplane flight, and lived long enough to watch the moon landing on television! During his lifetime, he was a child during WW I, the great flu epidemic of 1918, raised a family during the depression, witnessed WW II, the Cold War, and other enormously impactful events. During that time, he also was introduced to the automobile, mass transit, the implementation of air conditioning, the radio, television, major political shifts and the onset of consumerism. I say these things to illustrate that, even though our era provides us with great physical security and domestic comfort, we’re immersed in an environment that is very demanding on the human nervous system. If Siddhattha Gotama was alive today, he would recognize the people he met as human, but the environment would be quite radically different and would place very different stresses on him than 25 centuries ago. It seems to me that the predominant fears that folks experience in this era are more about status, social acceptability, the loss of creature comforts and identifiable roles. Of course, those of us who commute on the interstate are exposed to the possibility of mortal danger, however statistically minimal the risk is. When we watch the news, however, nearly all of what is shown represents some sort of threat—crime, financial ruin, political turmoil, illness, etc. Advertising emphasizes what we don’t have, implying that we need something more than what we currently have or experience to really enjoy life!

##### WHAT IS STRESS?

Here is a quote from the Dukkha Sutta, from the Sutta Nipata:

"There are these three forms of stressfulness, my friend: the stressfulness of pain, the stressfulness of fabrication, the stressfulness of change. These are the three forms of stressfulness."

The stressfulness of pain simply refers to the consequences of living: hunger, injury, disease, fatigue, grief, and so on. The stressfulness of change refers to the intrinsic instability of life’s circumstances. This can be experienced directly as moments of “selfing” arise and collapse incessantly, and as the unpredictability of circumstances—environmental conditions can change rapidly and beyond anyone’s control. The third form of dukkha is the one that Buddhism addresses, that of mental fabrication. The degree to which a mental fabrication either fosters well-being or dis-ease is the primary goal of vipassana practice.