Buddha's Suffering

The first noble truth of Buddhism is the truth of suffering. Basically along his travels Buddha found the one thing that all men have in common is suffering; and that suffering can be physical or mental. There exists a myriad of suffering within The Road, for instance this conversation between the man and the boy showing the amount of suffering they are enduring as the boy can not be assuaged of his fear; “I'm scared. I know. ...There's no one here, the man said. Okay. Are you still scared?Yes..” (Mc Cormac 173).

This quote means that Buddha teaches that there will be suffering in life no matter what, but there will also be the ending of suffering. Buddha believes that everything good and bad always comes to an end. The religious belief of life is to attempt in making all in life happy, peaceful and to reach Nirvana. Nirvana is Buddhism goal in life to complete. The word Nirvana means “to blow out” referring to the extinguishment of fire or grief. When grief and pain is distinguished in your life thats when you are finally free and won’t rebirth, this is the happy place Buddhism reaches for in

Throughout the first part of the novel Siddhartha written by Herman Hesse, each chapter represents one of the Four Noble Truths. This chapter “The Brahmin Son” represents the Noble Truth “Life is Suffering”, in translation life consists of suffering and dissatisfaction. Suffering does not only come from the body but there also forms of mental suffering. On page 5 of the novel it states, “That was how everybody loved Siddhartha. He delighted and made everybody happy. But Siddhartha himself was not happy.” This quote shows that Siddhartha is in fact mentally suffering because he is not happy. From this it is clear that Siddhartha lives a life of suffering which demonstrates that Siddhartha wasn’t happy because all that he was taught by his father

In chapter four of “Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction”, Damien Keown, discusses the "Four Noble Truths'" and explores focal principles of the Buddha's teachings. "The ultimate goal of Buddhism is to put an end to suffering and rebirth." (Keown, 43) to attain nirvana. This is mostly through driving a moral life, and somewhat through the wisdom picked up by studying the Four Noble Truths. In this paper, I will be stating why is suffering an inevitable part of life according to Buddhism. As well as, how can we overcome suffering. All in which will prove that Buddhism, life is suffering and it is an unavoidable part of life.

The central problems plaguing existence, according to the Buddha, are outlined in the three marks of existence. The three marks of existence that apply to all existing beings are impermanence, suffering, and non-self (Hayes 2017-10-5). Humans are subject to ignorance about the three marks of existence, which is a central theme of the Buddha’s teachings. This ignorance results in suffering, and the removal of this ignorance results in the end of suffering (Hayes 2017-10-5). Therefore, ignorance of the three marks of existence can be regarded as the first link in the overall cycle of suffering, in which one must repeatedly live. Eliminating that ignorance through insight into the three marks will bring an end to this suffering, which can be achieved by following the Eightfold Path (Hayes 2017-10-10). Despite these instructions concerning the overarching problems of existence and the clear path to eliminating this suffering, the Buddha encourages one to accept his teachings only after thorough investigation, as understanding is the most important aspect of Buddhism. Thus, it is clear that the lack of ignorance is in many ways the answer to the end of the cycle of suffering and the achievement of nirvana, which is the ultimate goal of Buddhism.

In The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, Thich Nhat Hanh provides a citation from the Buddha, which gives insight into the cure of our distress. “I teach only suffering and the transformation of suffering” (Thich Nhat

The first Noble Truth “Life means suffering” is shown throughout Siddhartha’s journey to reach enlightenment. Siddhartha experiences suffering both physically and mentally. Siddhartha suffers physically when he decides to join the Samanas and must neglect his body in order to eliminate himself. He also experiences suffering when his son does not obey him, and he decides to leave the river and go to the city. For this first Noble Truth, I believe that life is suffering and change, and they are the only constants in life. Both happiness and sadness exist in the world, but you can’t have one and not the other and that’s the reality of human life because it isn’t perfect. Therefore, after reading of Siddhartha’s physical and mental struggles, I felt that I could really relate to them as a college freshman. There are so many temptations surrounding me including drinking and partying, but by partaking in these activities, I won’t feel happy permanently. I may feel happy temporarily and then I will likely suffer after when I have studying or I don’t feel well.

To understand the noble eightfold path, one must recognize what the Buddhist claim of human suffering is all about. In Buddhism there are three marks of existence: anatman, no self; anicca; impermanence; and lastly dukkha; suffering. With these marks of existence in mind, it is believed that the misunderstanding of anatman and anicca lead to dukkha. When an individual does not understand there is no self, it is essentially detrimental to their life. Impermanence serves a big role in Buddhism; however, it’s a foreign concept to most individuals, hence their suffering. One has to understand that nothing lasts forever and be at peace with it. When impermanence is not fully understood desire arises from this plight. In the end, the goal becomes to terminate desire and to end desire is to end suffering.

The Buddha himself had to suffer spiritually while he tried to find his enlightened path. The Four Noble Truths teaches and explores human suffering and have been describe as simplistic but useful. Dukkha is the first of the Four Noble Truths. Dukkha teaches that suffering exists, it is real and universal and has many causes, pain, and failure. Samudaya is number two of The Four Noble Truths. Samudaya teaches that there is a reason for suffering. The belief is Suffering is wanting to control things and can take multiple forms like, wanting sensual pleasures, the need for fame, and wanting to avoid unpleasant sensations. Just as Samudaya teaches that there is a reason for suffering, Nirodha teaches that suffering will end. Suffering will end with final liberation of nirvana, the mind will experience complete freedom. The fourth and final Noble Truth is Magga which teaches that in order to completely end all suffering you must follow the Eightfold Path (Johnson, J. M. 2015). Buddhists do not believe in flashiness, money, and worldly possessions bringing you ultimate

The Buddha was destined for greatness. From the miraculous events that occurred during his birth to him leaving behind the palace and his riches behind. Buddha was not like other individuals he viewed the world in a different perspective, he was well aware of his surroundings. His father raised in one of the most stress free environments, a pampered lifestyle, with luxuries beyond any average person's imagination. He was entirely sheltered from all the catastrophes in life. However, the Buddha knew that this was not the lifestyle for true eternal happiness. Under these conditions it was no surprise that he reacted in such shock to the real sufferings of life, he had finally come face to face with the fundamentals of human life. I believe that this added to his motive to achieve enlightenment. He was aware that the suffering of people could not be solved through social work and material items.

That pain and suffering exists in the lives of everyone. It is inevitable and unavoidable. Even if you are doing well in your life, you have the job you have always wanted, you live in your dream house, and your life just cannot get any better. Suffering will impose on that perfect life. Pain and suffering do not discriminate on whom it affects. At one point in time or another, our lives will shift, as it is ever changing, and we will endure suffering. To live life, we must experience suffering. This is a fundamental truth of our existence ("Buddhist Studies: The Four Noble Truths," 2008). It is unreasonable to live our entire lives believing that we will never have to experience pain and suffering. Just as it is an unreasonable expectation to go through life only expecting happiness. How could we truly understand and appreciate the feeling of happiness, if we never experienced pain? Buddha taught that one must experience suffrage alone to fully understand the process of pain. It is then that we are able to accept that pain and suffering are realistic elements of our lives. When we understand and accept this suffering, it won’t come as such a shock or blow to our lives when

Suffering is the condition one is already in, it is not unique, and you are not unique. Suffering is not unique failures, disappointments, or being beat by a stick (Kraft 26). Of course, this is the temptation that many fall into. In order to rise above this, the zen pupil must experience for himself this suffering, so he can see the difference of no suffering. When this is grasped, the illusion of “self” is destroyed, there is no more ego.

Growing up in what some may consider the “good life”, the Gotama (Buddha) was raised in a kingdom with every luxury available to him. His life was well set considering he was a prince and heir to the kingdom. When suddenly one day he was struck with the harsh realities of life, interpreting them as sufferings. As a result of these sufferings being brought to his attention, he left his kingdom in order to find a way to end he suffering. Gotama traveled searching for many years exploring religions and possible solutions to end universal suffering. Finally he developed his own practice and way of life that he felt was the solution. Gotama was now considered enlightened therefor becoming the Buddha. The foundations of Buddhism where created to be simple and is how the Buddha explains the process in which one must understand in order to understand suffering itself. These sermons are known as the four noble truths. The Dukkha is the first sermon also known as suffering. In order to understand the meaning of the first Dukkha and how it arises, one must also understand and follow the second, third, and forth, noble truths which contribute to the solution of the Dukkha. Most importantly, one must understand the Five Aggregates that make up the Dukkha, which according to Buddha also represent “the being”. Once one can understand this multi-level system they can start to apply the Buddhist solution.

John Calvin once said, “You must submit to supreme suffering in order to discover the completion of joy”. This report will discuss two specific faiths - Buddhism and Hinduism, and their beliefs revolving around must there be suffering. Suffering can be defined as the state of undergoing pain, distress or hardship (Oxford Dictionaries, 2017). Buddhism is a religion that encompasses a variety of traditions and beliefs largely based on original teachings learned from the Buddha and resulting interpreted philosophies (ABC, 2014). Hinduism is one of the oldest known organized religions—it's sacred writings date as far back as 1400 to 1500 B.C (Got Questions, n.d.). Buddhist and Hinduist faith earnestly supports the idea of suffering as it is engraved in their religious beliefs from the start and is spoken about in their sacred texts. Following the idea of suffering - they believe in life after death. Both faiths believe that one specific goal is to reach a kind of freedom, for Hinduists, this is ‘moksha’ and Buddhists are ‘nirvana’ - both relating to the faith of a supreme self and a life in which there is no suffering and all people have reached pure happiness. Buddhism and Hinduism see suffering as an unavoidable fact of life as it is evident that to reach this state of self there must be suffering. Suffering is believed to help people learn from mistakes, find themselves - thus achieving supremacy and sense of identity or life purpose. Adherents from both faiths believe in

The First Noble Truth of Buddhism is also referred to as the truth about suffering or dukkha, which posits that suffering, comes in various forms such as pain, desire and or deaths. However, the three types of sufferings coincide with the ones the Buddha witnesses on his journey outside his palace: they were sickness, old age, and death (Hardy, 2005; Young, 2013). Buddha argued that human beings are exposed to cravings and desires and even if they are able to satisfy these particular desires that satisfaction is merely temporary. In that case, pleasure is ephemeral and whenever it lasts it results into monotony (Velasquez, 2011; Besser-Jones & Slote, 2015).