[TornadoPD]

All Schools of Buddhism teach as their basic tenet that there is a Path out of the suffering that pervades Samsara. Some Schools focus on Individual Liberation while other Schools of Buddhist Thought are based on ending the suffering of all Sentient Beings. Regardless of the form of Buddhism one follows any actions that leads to an increase in suffering should be avoided while any action that decreases suffering should be increased.

However, there are times when allowing a person to continue to suffer, or even increasing the level of suffering that a person feels in a deliberate way might be the only way to show them the negative continuances of their actions.

A good example of this is one of my family that has struggled with addiction to alcohol and drugs. Despite repeated pleas by her parents friends and extended family, she continued to drink and drug and suffer terrible pain as a result of her actions.

Having worked in a Rehab Center it became clear that no amount of debate would deter the downward spiral she was in and my advice to all involved was to disengage and allow her suffering to increase to the point where she would no longer be able to tolerate it and she herself would ask for help and be willing to take any steps needed to heal. In the end she has now been sober and living a happy life for years with no indication of returning to the behaviors that lead to her addiction.

There are many times in life that suffering is required to change. I know for myself all of the positive change I have made is based in suffering leading me to the point where I could not longer tolerate the pain and was willing to make hard choices. This seems to be true for all people.

So here is the question I am forced to ask myself -

Does Buddhist Thought allow for a person to deliberately increase the suffering of another person in the hope that it will teach a lesson that might otherwise never be learned?

As an ordinary Sentient Being I have very little if any way to see the long term results of my actions and might , and probably have , allowed someone to die in pain after having made the choice not to intervene, or worse took an active role in tossing them back into the deep end of the pool to teach them that they were not yet able to swim.

But what if they drown?