Three Awakenings and Four Noble Truths

By Satya Robyn | | Buddhistdoor Global

I have had three spiritual awakenings in my life. The first, an encounter with my first 12-step sponsor, changed me from a confirmed atheist into a spiritually curious person. The second, an encounter with my Buddhist teacher, changed me into a Buddhist. The third took place on 18 July last year. . . . Like most people I have been aware of the planet’s suffering for many years. I knew about the impact of palm oil plantations, the melting ice-caps, and oceans choked with microplastics. This knowledge affected some of the choices I made—choosing recycled toilet paper in the supermarket, for example—but it was still very much on the periphery of my life. On 18 July, I attended an Extinction Rebellion talk, “Heading for Extinction (and what to do about it),” in England. This event summarised the science of our climate and ecological crisis, and it didn’t hold back. This brutal exposition of our predicament, combined with the speaker’s insistence that “grief is welcome,” cracked through the thick layers of my denial and changed my whole life. It led to, among other things, personal changes such as giving up flying and new clothes, and taking on the new role of “eco-activist,” which resulted in my arrest in October. Each of these awakenings began with denial. It is usually easier for us to live with the background noise of discomfort, as we distract ourselves with our many toys. If we were to turn toward the discomfort, it might burst out of the cupboard and overwhelm us, and then we might have to change our lives! Who knows what we might lose, or where we might end up. My first awakening led to me breaking up with the first love of my life, and the second to the shedding of my old identity and becoming a Buddhist priest. My third awakening is still transforming me. Buddhism, at its best, transforms us into different people. This is true of all awakenings. We can use the Four Truths for Noble Ones as a guide. The following is based on a reading of the Four Noble Truths by my Buddhist teacher David Brazier, in his book The Feeling Buddha.