As for “never” suffering again, it is important to understand that awakening drops suffing by perhaps an order of magnitude, but not to zero.
When you say this, are you talking about frequency? Duration? Intensity? Something else?
What are the units here? (Assuming that we’re talking about something other than frequency or duration, for which the units are, presumably, the obvious ones.)
All of them, but more importantly I (as well as normal people) had a baseline suffering that can be removed.
Metaphor time: For most of my life I’ve had trouble wearing socks because I find them too uncomfortable. Then I discovered seamless bamboo-rayong socks for diabetics. Now I can comfortably wear socks. And then I discovered that there exists bamboo-rayon shirts, pants and underwear too! Awakening feels like that.
There are many different kinds of suffering.
What are the different kinds of suffering?
According to people who have gone into deep jhanas, all conscious experience contains an element of suffering. But when explainint this stuff it’s easier to point to course feelings like anger, hatred, selfishness, separation from other people, and anything less than universal love toward everyone and everything.
Each awakening cures one or more kinds of suffering (usually the most salient ones), but not all of them.
How many awakenings are there? Are you awakened in all the ways, or only some?
The exact number and order (probably) differs from person to person.
I’ve lost count of how may awakenings I’ve been through. Maybe something like 5-8, depending on how you count? This has been happening for years and my last one was <2 months ago, so it’s very unlikely I’m at the end of this road.
All of them, but more importantly I (as well as normal people) had a baseline suffering that can be removed.
Metaphor time: For most of my life I’ve had trouble wearing socks because I find them too uncomfortable. Then I discovered seamless bamboo-rayong socks for diabetics. Now I can comfortably wear socks. And then I discovered that there exists bamboo-rayon shirts, pants and underwear too! Awakening feels like that.
According to people who have gone into deep jhanas, all conscious experience contains an element of suffering. But when explainint this stuff it’s easier to point to course feelings like anger, hatred, selfishness, separation from other people, and anything less than universal love toward everyone and everything.
The exact number and order (probably) differs from person to person.
I’ve lost count of how may awakenings I’ve been through. Maybe something like 5-8, depending on how you count? This has been happening for years and my last one was <2 months ago, so it’s very unlikely I’m at the end of this road.