Life itself is a form of suffering.” This is true for everyone, no matter his or her circumstances. The important corollary is that “pain and loss are inevitable and we should let go of trying to resist them.
It is the very first noble truth that Buddha taught, and it has been repeated by all of his followers since then. This truth is just one of the four noble truths, which are the essence of the Buddhist teaching.
Suffering serves a purpose and has roots in our evolutionary heritage. There are two types of suffering. The first level of suffering is part of our human condition, and we can't do much to change it. The second level of suffering is more insidious, pervasive, and harmful than the first.
Buddhism is one of the world's largest religions and originated 2,500 years ago in India. Buddhists believe that the human life is one of suffering, and that meditation, spiritual and physical labor, and good behavior are the ways to achieve enlightenment, or nirvana.
The Buddha's first noble truth is most often—but inaccurately—rendered in English as “life is suffering.” As is often the case, this piece of ancient text loses a lot in translation. The Pali word dukkha, usually translated as “suffering,” has a more subtle range of meanings.
In Buddhism, desire and ignorance lie at the root of suffering. By desire, Buddhists refer to craving pleasure, material goods, and immortality, all of which are wants that can never be satisfied. As a result, desiring them can only bring suffering.
Suffering was the Buddha's first teaching
According to Buddhism, we living beings are trapped in the cycle of existence known as samsara. In samsara, we wander aimlessly and experience unbearable suffering—day and night, year after year, life after life—because of the tight grip of our grasping at self.
The Buddha taught that the root of all suffering is desire, tanhā.
For some people, the purpose of life may be to make the world a better place. Others may believe that the point of life is to find and achieve personal fulfillment. And some may feel that the point of life is simply to enjoy it as much as possible.
Examples of biblical purpose statements
“I live to bring glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through consistent worship, by my praise and in my life; to cultivate a life of intimacy with God; and to equip women and men for ministry through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
The five Kleshas are Avidya (ignorance), Asmita (egoism or I-am-ness), Raga (attachment), Dvesha (repulsion and aversion), and Abhinivesha (fear of death and the will to live).
We live because we want to find out things, and learn, and become able to do things that we would like to do. We live because others want us to, and we want them to live along with us. We live because we have hope, and want to see what happens next.
Happiness is possible right now, today—but happiness cannot be without suffering. Some people think that in order to be happy they must avoid all suffering, and so they are constantly vigilant, constantly worrying. They end up sacrificing all their spontaneity, freedom, and joy.
Many people have given up on happiness, because their lives are full of suffering and problems. But do not despair – mature, authentic happiness can only be found in such troubling circumstances. It is through suffering that many have found enduring happiness and become fully alive.
Qualifiers, such as physical, mental, emotional, and psychological, are often used to refer to certain types of pain or suffering. In particular, mental pain (or suffering) may be used in relationship with physical pain (or suffering) for distinguishing between two wide categories of pain or suffering.
ANSWER: Buddhism is an Eastern religion that's taken root in the United States. Its followers have a unique perspective on pain. Buddhists believe that suffering is part of life, to be expected, and that if a person experiences pain calmly, without becoming emotionally distressed, he can attain greater states of being.
Eight Sufferings 八苦 (1) Suffering of Birth (2) Suffering of Old Age (3) Suffering of Sickness (4) Suffering of Death (5) Suffering of being apart from the loved ones (6) Suffering being together with the despised ones (7) Suffering of not getting what one wants (8) Suffering of the flourishing of the Five skandhas.
The cross is God's ultimate response to the brokenness of humanity – and that includes your pain and suffering. He walks through every season of life with you, seeing that exhaustion and frustration life can bring, reminding you that He is so compassionate towards you that He's already responded.
Suffering consists not only in physical pain but in being unable to do basic things that are considered to bestow meaning on one's life. The suffering can also be related to no longer being able to be the person one wants to be in the eyes of others, to losing one's dignity and identity.
Much of our suffering is created by our thoughts about a situation rather than the actual situation. We can have a hard time seeing that we are creating a lot of our own suffering. As women we tend to over-think which can lead to sleepless nights and anxiety.
Our suffering comes from our denial of our divine nature, our lack of appreciation of our connection to all things, our resistance to impermanence and our addictions and attachments to things that only bring temporary relief.
But desire is only the most palpable cause; the ultimate cause of suffering is our ignorance, which stems from our clinging to the mistaken conceit of the “I.” We put ourselves above all others.
Evil is a cause of human suffering. There are two types of evil: moral evil - the acts of humans which are considered to be morally wrong. natural evil - natural disasters, such as earthquakes or tsunamis.