A Theory of Suffering and Healing: Toward a Loving Justice

Abstract

The purpose of this essay is the creation of a theory of suffering and healing. This “ontological” theory is intended to serve as a foundation for the development of justice-related responses to harm (i.e., crime and victimization, inter alia) as part of the author’s broader writing on justice as love. Drawing on Buddhist and Christian theological wisdom along with the author’s own contemplations of self, this ontological model is offered without any assumption of applicability to anyone; readers are invited to assess its usefulness for themselves and to use or discard accordingly. The model consists of several moving parts: at the core of the model is a troika of ideas: the child within, the ocean of bliss and the theater analogy. In addition, four interrelated courses of concerns work tidally and percussively within and around the troika. If this endocosmic model resonates with readers, the hope is that it would inspire its use for the creation of other ideas and practices related to the granular, concrete, dyadic endless, endless and skilled realization of a loving justice praxis.