The Zen Doctrine and Suffering

Human suffering is universal and inescapable. When there is joy, there is pain waiting to happen. When there is pain, an individual always tries to escape it. Humans are faced with hardships in life, and along with those hardships come emotional distress and pain. Humans attempt to understand the reasoning for suffering, the inflicting pain and stress that they have to endure. Humans cannot resolve their own problems, they turn to God or another form of religion to answer questions about the imperfections of life. The complexity of human suffering is hard to grasp because of its infinite forms, which makes it difficult to escape from.

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).

Even when we are presented with answers or guides to the many questions we have about life and to how we should live, as inquisitive animals, we strive to enhance our understanding and so begin to learn that perhaps, ultimately, the answers don’t simply come from outside but also from within us. This is then perhaps the greatest implication of this paper, finding new ways in understanding what the true way of life is for human beings and what the true way of life is for ourselves. In the discussion of Zen Buddhism, William A. Young’s framework’s itself must first be explained and understood.

An organization of Buddhists that maintain the website Buddhaweb hold these teachings as the core concepts of Zen Buddhism. The Four Noble Truths state that suffering exists, suffering arises from attachment to desires, suffering ceases when attachment to desire ceases, and freedom from suffering is possible by practicing the Eightfold Path. The Noble Eightfold Path teaches three disciplines in wisdom, morality, and meditation. Wisdom, or panna , is learning to have the right view and thoughts. Morality, or sila , teaches to control your speech correctly, act correctly, and pursue a correct livelihood. Meditation, or samadhi , has you discipline your efforts, your mindfulness, and your contemplation. These teachings in qualities are meant to be practiced to obtain peace, and for some to travel the path towards Enlightenment. (“ buddhaweb ”)

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.

According to Buddha, suffering is an inevitable part of human existence. Who hasn't experience hardship? Some days you think, holy crap, why did I even both getting out of bed today! Not too long ago, I had the week from hell. Complete with sleepless nights, worrying about all kinds of stuff I couldn't control. I was so looking forward to the cat going to the vet's. I thought, yeah, no kitty to crawl into bed with me and keep me awake in the middle of the night! Guess what, I stayed up worrying about whether the cat was okay! On top of a friend, herself dealing with some trying issues, snapping at me. True, she had a point, but still it is stressful to deal with. And other stuff, I am not even going to mention. I was thinking about all the

Spiritual awakening can only emerge from embodied experience. This does not imply however that our embodied experiences of suffering must be held firmly, in order that we may be awakened or that our experiences deemed valuable. Instead, Zenju puts forth that spiritual awakening allows for life affirming fluidity (2015, 30). It is this life affirming fluidity that comes from complete tenderness: “on the way of tenderness we allow rage and anger to flow in and out again, in and out again, instead of holding on to it as proof of being human” (2015, 30). Tenderness and spiritual awakening then can emerge as a Buddhist discourse meant to lessen suffering. Zenju, however, does not see the lessening of suffering as removing oneself from the embodied experiences and emotions that arise within our lives. Instead, Zenju puts forth that spiritual awakening and tenderness center life affirmation, thus allowing for suffering, but diminishing its hold on our

From the perspective of the Buddhist, the root of suffering is that we do not take the time to get to know who we are through prayer and meditation. The ability to grasp our true selves requires finding inner peace and moving past our ego. We all have the capability to

Third, this cause can be eliminated. And lastly, the way for the cause of suffering to be eliminated is through the Eightfold Path. The eightfold path, which was laid out by the Buddha, entails eight parts: right views, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, and right mindfulness. By following the eightfold path and using meditation as a way to see the true reality and detach oneself from craving, ignorance, and suffering, one can liberate oneself from samsara and reach enlightenment and

It’s human nature to detest suffering. It not only gets in the way of our happiness, but also leaves a timeless scar in our lives. For some, It can be the obstacle that keeps them from ever reaching their goals, forcing them to believe they’re not good enough. For others, it is the driving force behind their success. Suffering is indeed very powerful.

Suffering is a hardship that all humans experience in life and an experience people often ponder on why such a thing exists. This is an ultimate question that has been answered by many of the world religions. We will be comparing the concepts of suffering in both Christianity and Buddhism to see how these views differ to one another. What is the purpose of suffering, what role does it play in our lives? In Christianity, the Bible displays many reasons why we may suffer in our lifetimes.

If you had everything you wanted many would believe that is a way to achieve true happiness. True happiness would have to come without suffering. While having everything you wanted would be nice for a while some suffering is still inevitable. I may have the things I personally desire but when viewing the world around you, you can not help but have feelings of suffering for others. In Robinson and Johnson’s “The Buddhist Religion” they speak about how the truth of Duhkha, or suffering, is part of “birth, illness, decay, death, conjunction with the hated, and separation from the dear.” (Page 24) All these things are unavoidable and part of every person’s life. Therefore, even with having everything you wanted in life you would still suffer if

Our experiences of suffering may also help us in our moral conduct as an experience of suffering serves to make us sympathetic to the trials of others. We learn to a) help the afflicted (through consolation and relief) and to B) not inflict harm on others, having experienced suffering ourselves. Furthermore, many spiritual seekers in the past have felt that suffering and spiritual progress are inexorably linked, pointing to St Teresa of Avila and St Francis of AssisiI as examples . I believe that if we can learn from our

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).