Dr. Angela Sager gives the keynote address on Buddhism at the Museum of World Treasures
Gala Masquerade.
"Only Grant Me a Refuge!: Buddhism as an Existential Response to Suffering"
Dr. Angela Sager, WSU Department of Philosophy
Saturday, April 25, 2026
In connection with the Museum's new Asia exhibit "A Vehicle for the Ages: Buddhism's
Origin and Influence Across Asia", this speech will introduce Buddhism by showing how this religion penetrates the heart
of the human condition with its singular focus on rooting out suffering. The Buddha came to a key
insight when he found that we suffer because we crave continuous pleasure and impermanence. Yet nothing
is permanent, and pleasure is fleeting. This truth may be easier to intellectually accept
than to integrate into our everyday lives. For some Buddhists, detachment extinguishes suffering;
for others, only an acceptance of compassionate emptiness can transform this world of suffering.
For both, enlightenment frees us from the chains of craving and despair by allowing meaning
to naturally arise from the ever-changing flow of reality.
