What is samvega?
Samvega, the start of the Buddha’s path
A Buddhist term that is defined as the sense of dismay, frustration, and urgency to the suffering of samsara.
Or the suffering of Birth, old age, sickness, death, hunger, anxiety, dwelling on the past or future. Samvega is an essential emotion for training.
“The oppressive sense of shock, dismay, and alienation that come with realizing the futility and meaninglessness of life as it’s normally lived; a chastening sense of our own complacency and foolishness in having let ourselves live so blindly; and an anxious sense of urgency in trying to find a way out of the meaningless cycle.”
-Ajaan Geoff
How to beat samvega
To combat the feeling of Samvega one must also practice Pasada.
Pasada is a sense of calm and confidence. Confidence of way out which is the Noble Eightfold Path.
Without this confidence samvega can easily turn into despair.
