Buddhist Idea On Suffering
There are four noble truths that are steps in reaching enlightenment (nirvana). It is possible for any one to reach enlightenment even though it may take several lives to do so. It is said to be the ultimate goal for humans to break samsara and all suffering. To do this the individual must follow the four truths and break the chain of the twelve constituents. Once this is accomplished the individual is considered to have reached nirvana which is supposed to be indescribable, there is no way for any one to comprehend this state of existence unless they experience it there selves.
The first noble truth is dukkha, that is all life is suffering and depending on a persons karma from there previous life, it determines how much or how little a person will suffer in there next life. People who had bad karma will suffer more in there next life, while the opposite holds true for those who had good karma. But even the person with superlative karma will still suffer, it is inevitable (Nielsen 168-170).
Suffering comes in many forms, birth is suffering, old age is suffering, disease is suffering, death is suffering, association is suffering, separation from what is pleasant is suffering, not obtaining what one desires is suffering (Prebish 116-117). In short the message is that everything in life is unsatisfactory, due to physical pain, change, and even a persons thoughts. There are three main forms of suffering; suffering, temporaries of pleasure, and suffering of conditioned states. Suffering simply states that all of life is suffering, we experience pain, we get sick, we lose loved ones to diseases, and we eventually die ourselves. Pleasure is also temporary it never lasts. life itself at many phases and times is pleasurable, but that pleasure only lasts for a little while. For example the pleasure that a symphony brings only lasts a little while and when it is over you lost the pleasure and suffering is invoked. You find yourself craving for...
View Full Essay