Any Buddhists out there? I have a hard time in understanding what is meant by "life is suffering"?

Question

My own experience has been that every time there is suffering, something positive will come out of it. Be it greater understanding, more compassion or a feeling of divine providence. Suffering has to be transcended.
The Buddhist viewpoint that everything is suffering and the only way to stop it is to get out of the circle of existence seems to me to be a sure way to perpetuate suffering.
I'm asking because so many people in the West are turning to Buddhism these days and I would really like to know how do you explain the "suffering" part to yourself. No disrespect is meant.

Answer 1

No offense taken.

The idea is not to get out of the circle of existence, but to accept the fact that there is suffering, so as to begin dealing with it directly, with compassion, with mercy, with truth, with hard work, most of all with love.

What you said about your own experience is expressed in the Buddha's teachings. Read Thomas Merton's essay on Christianity and Buddhism in Little Birds of Zen.

Answer 2

The premise is not that "life is suffering" - rather that suffering is caused by desire & attachment, and to end suffering you work to free yourself from those cravings and unhealthy attachments. The most extreme version would be those who renounce everything to go live in solitude; the more typical version is more along the lines of shunning materialism, learning to let go of trying to control things and not be attached to wanting to have things a certain way. It is meditation and contemplation, clearing your mind of all the clutter that we are bombarded with every day, seeking to live fully in the moment, to live happier and healthier, to be at peace with yourself and the world. Like you mentioned greater understanding and compassion, those are crucial in the Buddhist path.

At least that is my own understanding where I'm currently at. Lots more resources to educate yourself at this link:

Answer 3

It seems absolutely logical to me.

If you think something positive always comes out of suffering, then all I can say is you are fortunate. Because it's certainly not true.

An eternal life, which Christianity preaches, is by definition, hell. An eternity of existence would be unbearable. In eternity there is nothing to distinguish bliss and pain. And if you don't agree with that, you haven't thought about what eternity actually means.

Answer 4

By 'suffering' we mean unpleasantness. Anything that is not peaceful. So it is our attitude that creates this suffering by wanting something other than what we have right now. We must accept life as it comes and not constantly be unsatisfied and longing for something else. That is as simple as I can explain it.

All of Buddhist thought requires a lot of meditation to grasp. It is not a surface belief.

Answer 5

The Four Noble Truths

1. Life means suffering.

2. The origin of suffering is attachment.

3. The cessation of suffering is attainable.

4. The path to the cessation of suffering.



1. Life means suffering.

To live means to suffer, because the human nature is not perfect and neither is the world we live in. During our lifetime, we inevitably have to endure physical suffering such as pain, sickness, injury, tiredness, old age, and eventually death; and we have to endure psychological suffering like sadness, fear, frustration, disappointment, and depression. Although there are different degrees of suffering and there are also positive experiences in life that we perceive as the opposite of suffering, such as ease, comfort and happiness, life in its totality is imperfect and incomplete, because our world is subject to impermanence. This means we are never able to keep permanently what we strive for, and just as happy moments pass by, we ourselves and our loved ones will pass away one day, too.

2. The origin of suffering is attachment.

The origin of suffering is attachment to transient things and the ignorance thereof. Transient things do not only include the physical objects that surround us, but also ideas, and -in a greater sense- all objects of our perception. Ignorance is the lack of understanding of how our mind is attached to impermanent things. The reasons for suffering are desire, passion, ardour, pursue of wealth and prestige, striving for fame and popularity, or in short: craving and clinging. Because the objects of our attachment are transient, their loss is inevitable, thus suffering will necessarily follow. Objects of attachment also include the idea of a "self" which is a delusion, because there is no abiding self. What we call "self" is just an imagined entity, and we are merely a part of the ceaseless becoming of the universe.

3. The cessation of suffering is attainable.

The cessation of suffering can be attained through nirodha. Nirodha means the unmaking of sensual craving and conceptual attachment. The third noble truth expresses the idea that suffering can be ended by attaining dispassion. Nirodha extinguishes all forms of clinging and attachment. This means that suffering can be overcome through human activity, simply by removing the cause of suffering. Attaining and perfecting dispassion is a process of many levels that ultimately results in the state of Nirvana. Nirvana means freedom from all worries, troubles, complexes, fabrications and ideas. Nirvana is not comprehensible for those who have not attained it.

4. The path to the cessation of suffering.

There is a path to the end of suffering - a gradual path of self-improvement, which is described more detailed in the Eightfold Path. It is the middle way between the two extremes of excessive self-indulgence (hedonism) and excessive self-mortification (asceticism); and it leads to the end of the cycle of rebirth. The latter quality discerns it from other paths which are merely "wandering on the wheel of becoming", because these do not have a final object. The path to the end of suffering can extend over many lifetimes, throughout which every individual rebirth is subject to karmic conditioning. Craving, ignorance, delusions, and its effects will disappear gradually, as progress is made on the path.

Answer 6

I'm not a Buddhist, (Catholic), but I agree with your point of view except your comment that suffering must be transcended. Sublimated, yes (you can make heaven hell, or hell heaven, it's all in your attitude) or endured humbly, patiently and lovingly. Maybe this is what you meant by "transcended".

Answer 7

It sounds like a kind of "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" or "No pain, no gain" train of thought. However I've never heard any Buddhists I know speak of this.

Nevermind, I read the above post. It's to do with material longing causing a negative effect on life. I see.

Answer 8

If by suffering you mean pulling out a splinter I take your point, however you might feel rather differently in principle towards the end of being tortured to death, for example.

Answer 9

Ah, the profoundness of meaning of existence, or as you placed it, the superfluousness of pondering it. in basic terms like cognitive emotional conjectures, we seek for its wisdom to furnish value for our existence. you will possibly even say it incredibly is somewhat narcissistic, yet actuality learn, it incredibly is human survival instinct that dictates such pondering. Our mortality in basic terms strengthen our minuscule existence interior the great sea of seekers of shallowness dwellers interior the international we noted as existence, that the psyche can in basic terms locate aspiration from ingratiating praises of one's existence. possibly, the observers is somebody who we will not sidestep from, no remember what we do using fact, that observer is ourselves. might dying be the only thank you to vanish that observer? yet nonetheless, we hit upon the meaning of existence, and then we die.