"We are living in a world of suffering!"
Are we really living in a world of suffering? I believe it depends very much on our own perception and or reasoning!
Let us look at the following examples : A rich man may find that not living in a luxurious house and not driving a luxurious vehicle is suffering, however, for a poor man, they are happy with just a shelter with basic amenities and driving a small car. A big businessman may find that the life of a hawker is suffering, however, the street hawker is happy over their living, they don't have too much "issues and challenges" to face! An alcoholic may find happiness after he has drunk, however for a normal person, he may think that why should his life be controlled by alcohol and to him this is suffering! A superstitious person may find happiness in seeking all sorts of blessings from the supernatural beings and to a realistic and practical person, this is suffering! etc........... .
Suffering is a condition created by our mind. Below are two real life incidences where it proves that suffering is a condition created by our mind:
Incident One
One of my brother friends was diagnosed with prostate cancer recently. The doctor told him and his family that he only has about six months to live! After hearing what the doctor said, he immediately "quarantine" himself in the room. He just wanted to be alone and let the illness to "conquer" him. What he does now is just to come out from the room, take his meal and go back to his room and rest. He does nothing but just rest in bed all the time. He is really in a serious suffering state!
Incident Two
One of my colleagues was also diagnosed with cancer. When the doctor told him he has prostate cancer. He did not feel sad. He smile and told the doctor not worry or feel sad about it. He also told the doctor that he will not let the illness to conquer him. He did not resign from his employment or stop work immediately. He continue to work like nothing had happened to him. He is cheerful, confident and highly motivated everyday. Although everyone in the company were so worried for him, he told us not to worry. He requested us not to treat him like an "alien". His cheerfulness, confident and high self motivation character has won the race. Although the doctor told him he still have six month to live, as at todate ( i.e after two years ) he is still around with us! In fact, the doctor was surprised and told him that his illness has completely recovered. Although this colleague of mine is suffering from a terminal illness, he is not living in a suffering state!
Based on the above two incidences, do you agree with me that " Suffering Is A Condition Created By Our Mind!". Please share your views.
Hi,that's something new to me because as a buddhist, we have been taught about the concept of suffering. The 1st is life is suffering and then taught that there are ways to end sufferings,etc.
ReplyDeleteAnd a common sayings of asking one to put ourself into other's shoe and that has made us "imagine" that the other is suffering and we should then be compassion,etc.
Confuse now...should we not even think about life is suffering in the first place? and not always think that the others is suffering or feeling bad about doing something nasty?
Karen
Hi Karen,
ReplyDeleteThank you for dropping by and sharing your valuable view.
I believe the statement of “Life is suffering” is just a general or common statement shared by all beings. In fact, we must analyse and understand the actual meaning of “suffering”! Different people may have different views, it is good for us to go back to the original text of the holy scripture to clarify the doubts.
I do agree that through personally experiencing what suffering is, our compassion will arise.
We must acknowledge that there is suffering in this world ( This is a fact, no need for us to think.). However, we must see and understand thing in totality and in its true sense. We must always remember that all the things that arise in this world are impermanent or changing all the time! If we were to attach to things that are impermanent, we are bound to meet disappointment as the thing we have been attached to may not be the same again after a certain period of time. As a results of this, suffering arises! Well, where does all the suffering come from? It comes from our “expectation” or “want”! Where does all our “expectation” and “want” come from? It arises from our MIND!