What causes suffering?

Answer 1

Satan.

Answer 2

What Causes Suffering

Answer 3

According to the Buddhists (as I recall), attachment causes suffering. For more details, ask a Buddhist. :-)

As far as I'm concerned personally, there's a difference between suffering and pain. Pain is an inevitable part of life, a fundamental condition of existence. Suffering is what happens when we struggle uselessly against the inevitable or pointlessly try to deny what simply *is*.

Answer 4

It depends, there are many sources of suffering. The most important part of suffering for the individual is the response to the source of the suffering.

Life is suffering for most people on earth.

Woe be it unto those who are the source of suffering.

Answer 5

The root cause of all suffering is sin.

Answer 6

Many things: failure (to get the ideal job, the perfect marriage, home, desired object of your affections.....), poverty, lack of love, death of a loved one. There are so many things that causes suffering. May you can be more specific if your seeking a definitive answer.

Answer 7

I believe suffering comes from a variable of things.

Predisposition
Childhood
Kharma
Inability to trust other's
Inability to Love one's self unconditionally
Fear

Answer 8

Desire causes suffering. However, desire is an essential part of a quality life, so suffering is inherent to life.

as far as suffering being from satan - hello - the agony of this past year in grieving my precious father's sudden and unexpected death was not from satan. it was a suffering born of losing that which brought me joy.

Here's Kahlil Gibran on joy and sorrow:
Joy and Sorrow

Then a woman said, 'Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow.'

And he answered:

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.

And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.

And how else can it be?

The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.

Is not the cup that hold your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven?

And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

Some of you say, 'Joy is greater than sorrow,' and others say, 'Nay, sorrow is the greater.'

But I say unto you, they are inseparable.

Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.

Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.

Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.

When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.

Kahlil Gibran

Answer 9

THE CAUSES OF SUFFERING
The reason that we experience suffering comes ultimately from our mind. Our main mental problems or root delusions are: attachment, anger and ignorance. Because of these delusions, we engage in actions that cause problems to ourselves and others. With every negative action {karma) we do, we create a potential for negative experiences.

How can attachment bring us suffering?
An example: the way people used to catch monkeys in South India.
One takes a coconut and makes a hole in it, just large enough that a monkey can squeeze its hand in. Next, tie the coconut down, and put a sweet inside. What happens next is pure attachment. The monkey smells the sweet, puts his hand into the coconut, grabs the sweet and ... the hole is too small to let a fist out of the coconut. The last thing a monkey would consider is to let go of the sweet, so it is literally tied down by its own attachment. Often they only let go when they fall asleep or become unconscious because of exhaustion.

Ultimately, Siddhartha Gautama explains that our attachment to life keeps us in cyclic existence or samsara, which does not bring us continuous happiness.

"Doing harm to others Will return to us as being harmed. Anger is one of the main reasons we create harm to others, so logically it is often the cause of suffering to ourselves."

How can ignorance bring us suffering?
This is explained in two ways:

- The conventional explanation is to understand is that because we are not omniscient, we regularly get ourselves into trouble. We do not realize all the consequences of our actions, we do not understand other beings and we do not understand why the world is exactly the way it is. So we often end up in situations where we do not take the best actions. Just reflect for a moment how often we think: "If only I had known this earlier..."

- The more complicated explanation refers to the most profound aspect of our philosophy: ultimate truth. This is a vast subject, and also after reading the page on wisdom it is unlikely that you will be completely clear; it takes years of study "and meditation" to realize the insight into the wisdom of ultimate truth. To put it very simple: reality is not what it seems to us. As reality is different from our opinions about it, we get ourselves into trouble. As long as we fail to realise the ultimate truth, we will be stuck in cyclic existence. While being in cyclic existence, we will always experience some aspect of suffering (which is at least having the potential for future suffering).


3. SUFFERING CAN END, AND WE CAN ATTAIN ULTIMATE PEACE.
This is the MOST POSITIVE message of Buddhism: although suffering is always present in cyclic existence, we can end being in cyclic existence and enter Ultimate Peace, which is a state beyond all suffering.
The reasoning behind this Third Noble Truth is the fact that as suffering and the causes of suffering are dependent on states of our own mind, then if we can change our own mind, we can also eliminate suffering.
The reasons we do actions that cause ourselves and others harm come from our delusions. Also our delusions themselves cause us problems. When we possess the proper wisdom (conventional and ultimate), we can rid ourselves of delusions, and thus of all our problems and suffering. When this process is complete, we can leave cyclic existence and enjoy the state of Ultimate Peace{Nibbana}, free of problems.

The reasoning so far is simple enough, but it is like with taking medical treatment and medicines. When we are ill, we need the help of a doctor, we need to take medicines and follow up the doctors advice. If wisdom is the medicine that a spiritual teacher can prescribe, we still need to take it in and follow the instructions, otherwise there will be no effect. That leads us to the last Noble Truth of the Path.

4. THE TRUE PATH, EIGHT-FOLD NOBLE PATH, "THE MIDDLE WAY"
If we can control our body and mind in a way that we help others instead of doing them harm, and generating wisdom in our own mind, we can end suffering and problems.

Siddhartha Gautama summarised the correct attitude and actions in the Eight-fold Noble Path:
1. Correct thought: avoiding covetousness, the wish to harm others and wrong views (like: actions have no consequences, I never have any problems, there are no ways to end suffering etc.)
2. Correct speech: avoid lying, divisive and harsh speech, idle gossip, and judging others.
3. Correct actions: avoid killing, stealing and sexual misconduct
4. Correct livelihood: try to make a living with the above attitude of thought, speech and actions.
5. Correct understanding: developing genuine wisdom.
The last three aspects refer mainly to the practice of Meditation:
6. Correct effort: after the first real step we need joyful perseverance to continue.
7. Correct mindfulness: try to be aware of the "here and now", instead of dreaming in the "there and then".
8. Correct concentration: to keep a steady, calm and attentive state of mind; the best term used for Correct or Wise Concentration is the cultivation of Insight Meditation.

"THE MIDDLE WAY IS THE MEANS OF ENDING OUR SUFFERINGS, ACQUIRING PEACE OF MIND, HAPPINESS, AND
NIBBANA."

The Ant, is no expert, have only been practicing the Dhammapada for just under 2 years. I do not know much. Use Right Effort to always try to maintain a humbly teachable attitude.

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Source: http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/4_noble_truths.html

Answer 10

Desire causes suffering; also, the difference between what we desire and what life actually presents to us.

Answer 11

Refusing to correct the problem that causes the pain.
Or being unable to correct the problem that causes the pain.