Jaramillo 1

Tamara Jaramillo

Professor Ditch

English 115

December 9, 2020

Alchemy of Suffering in Life

Suffering is when an individual goes through certain feelings such as pain, distress or

hardship. At any point in life, it is most certainly possible for someone to encounter a situation

that will cause them to suffer. The feelings from suffering won’t last forever; it is said that an

individual can be liberated from it but it won’t end entirely since it’s a universal phenomenon.

Matthieu Ricard, a Buddhist monk and writer, believes that there is an alchemy of suffering

which means suffering can be transformed into happiness if a certain change is done. In his

article, “The Alchemy of Suffering,” Ricard claims that in order to overcome suffering, the Four

Noble Truths should be practiced. The Four Noble Truths would help one recognize what’s

causing the suffering, eliminate the source and end it by practicing this path. In the early ages of

John Lewis, a former United States Representative and Civil Rights leader, he encountered

different types of situations which made him suffer for a while, but helped him grow as a person

later on. Lewis grew up in Alabama during the time of segregation and racial discrimination

which made it hard for him to see others have better opportunities, nicer materials than him, as

well as being separated and treated differently. As a kid, he was also very attached to his parent’s

farm chicken, even though he knew it was a dangerous idea that would bring him sadness. Later

on, he became more involved in movements and marches around his city. These marches would

end in violence once they went wrong so the protestors, including Lewis had to prepare for what

would come. John Lewis transforms his suffering by becoming optimistic about the situations he
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encountered throughout his life in order to move towards what he was best at, preaching and

leading others in the right direction. This impacted his activism by giving him hope for the

future, motivating him to make a change and to keep fighting.

As a child, John Lewis built relationships with his family’s farm chickens which brought

him suffering with their death, but strength after he prepared himself for what was bound to

happen. Lewis was aware that it was a dangerous idea to make pets out of farm animals and he

shouldn’t get attached to them. In his book, “March: Book One,” Lewis asserts, “You get

emotionally attached to an animal destined for the dinner table, and you’re asking for a broken

heart. But I couldn’t help it” (Lewis 29). This explains how being attached to farm animals

comes along with sadness and grief but in a way shows how Lewis prepared himself for every

death he encountered by understanding that it was destined to happen. Lewis was able to grieve

after every death by properly saying goodbye, and letting go of what he had lost. In Ricard’s

article, “The Alchemy of Suffering,” he asserts “It is therefore always better to familiarize

ourselves with and prepare ourselves for the kind of suffering we are likely to encounter, some of

which will be unavoidable, such as death rather than to be caught off guard and sink into

anguish” (Ricard 41). Those who are not prepared, will suffer more than those who are prepared,

like Lewis was. By experiencing this kind of suffering at an early age, it made him gain strength

and gave him a different perception of the situations he encountered. Being able to care for other

living things shows how much of a compassionate person he is despite the fact that he wasn’t

supposed to, supporting the fact that he is optimistic enough to believe others can come along

together to make a change in the system overall.

When Lewis was a high school student, he was aware of how different his school was

and how they weren’t treated the same compared to the schools of white children which led him
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to having hope of a change within their system. Being treated differently hurt him since he

wasn’t able to receive the same opportunities as others. In his book, he asserts “In the fall, I

started riding the bus to school, which should’ve been fun. But it was just another sad reminder

of how different our lives were from the white children'' (Lewis 47). By asserting this, it shows

how Lewis and his classmates had different experiences with school compared to white children.

They had hand-me-down books, an old bus, unpaved roads and on their way to school they

passed by fields every day where the prisoners were black making it hard for them to not notice.

Despite what Lewis saw, he was still able to love and accept what he had at school until it came

to college. For college, he wanted to attend Troy State but there were no black students allowed.

Lewis didn’t lose hope on attending so he did what he could to desegregate Troy State. The

process of this was going to be difficult and dangerous for his family, neighbors, friends and for

himself as well so it didn’t work out for him after all. In the article, “Suffering and Healing: An

interpretation of the Buddhist Doctrine of the Four Noble Truths,” by Ronald Y. Nakasone, gives

information on how and why it is essential to be able to fully understand situations. Throughout

the text, The Buddha was referenced to support the belief that once individuals understand the

truth of suffering, they will be able to overcome it and will cope with their hurt better. Nakasone

says, “Through understanding the cause of suffering, it is believed that we will be better able to

cope with our hurt” (Nakasone 84). Once we begin to find the answers to our problems, we will

begin to fully understand the situation, helping us cope with it even if it’s not what we expected.

In Lewis’ situation with Troy State, he was able to understand and accept the reason why he

wasn’t accepted into the university. Although Lewis was not able to attend Troy State, he still

moved forward to the next step in Nashville, where he was able to keep fighting for a change

alongside new people with the same idea.

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Once Lewis was older, he was able to connect with others who were also being

discriminated against, leading them to join a movement where they were taught how to survive

against their attacker. In 1958, Lewis found out about a nonviolence workshop hosted at the First

Baptist Church by Jim Lawson, where he talked about war resistance, nonviolence, and how

nonviolence can be applied to eliminate the evil of racism, the evil of poverty, and the evil of war

they all faced. Attending the workshop helped Lewis convey the urgency of developing his

understanding. By hearing Lawson's words, Lewis felt like he was liberated and had found the

way out of the evil treatment they all faced. Once the workshop had more volunteers, Lawson

began to teach them how to protect themselves, how to protect each other, how to survive, and

how to find love for the attacker. Referencing to Patricia J. Vicker in her article, “Sayt K’ilim

Goot (Of One Heart): Transforming Suffering,” she explains how First Nation people overcame

the pain they felt from being oppressed; they practiced behaviors of mindfulness and compassion

that would fulfill their intention of seeing their oppressor at peace. In order to find peace, they

wanted to see their enemy at peace as well. In a way, The Nashville Student Movement were

doing the same with their enemy during the sit-in marches. One of the main rules for the

protestors was to never fight the enemy back. Violence wasn’t the solution to solving

segregation; they wanted to stay calm and peaceful. During one of the sit-ins, Lewis asserts

“Eventually, the calm was broken. But after a while, they wore themselves out and left” (Lewis

94). When the attacker notices the victim is not fighting back, they usually get tired of fighting

alone so they leave. Preparing for a peaceful protest comes along with difficult challenges on

both sides. After a while, the sit-ins no longer seem to be nonviolent due to the attackers taking

over. Even with the attackers fighting, Lewis and the rest of the protestors did not give up in

what they believed in. They kept protesting until they were finally able to end the segregation at
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the dine-in lunch counters. During this event, Lewis faced unimaginable treatment which is an

upsetting situation to go through. Throughout everything, he was able to remain calm and he

understood he was going through that for a reason; to end the segregation they all faced.

From John Lewis’s early ages to his older years, he was able to grow from his suffering

moments and grow into the great leader he was. Lewis was able to understand the situations he

was put in, to then have a different perception in life. He used his voice and strength to make a

change in his community. Lewis always had hope for his future, he worked hard and was formed

through his suffering, making him more optimistic about it and powerful enough to go through

challenging situations. Experiencing death, hate, segregation, and violence made him a stronger

person who was not afraid to step up and fight back. It’s important for people to transform their

suffering into something positive because it can lead them into their destiny in life. Just like

Lewis, the suffering he encountered led him to a historical and life changing moment.
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Works Cited

Lewis, John, et al. March: Book One. Top Shelf Productions, 2013.

Nakasone, Ronald Y. “Suffering and Healing: An Interpretation of the Buddhist Doctrine of the

Four Noble Truths.” The Journal of Medical Humanities, vol. 14, no. 2, 1993, pp. 81-87

Ricard, Mattieu. “The Alchemy of Suffering” Pursuing Happiness: A Bedford Spotlight Reader

1st Edition, edited by Parfitt, Matthew and Skorczewski, Dawn, 2016.

Vickers, Patricia J. “Sayt K’ilim Goot (Of One Heart): Transforming Suffering.” American

Indian Quarterly, vol. 29, no. 3/4, 2005, pp. 691-706