On the title of my blog page I have the following subtitle:
I created this as a way to help me learning the Four Noble Truths. For me it was easier to remember if I had just one word for each of the truths. This is the first of four blog posts related to the Four Noble Truths.
I started out with Dukkha, the truth of suffering. Simpy put, the truth of suffering is that we all suffer. No matter how wonderful our life is, there will be suffering. Suffering is inevitable.
I always found this profound even when put to me in a slightly different context. The Princess Bride for example has an excellent quote when Princess Buttercup confronts the Dread Pirate Roberts.
Until we fully understand that all life is suffering, we cannot move forward. We sit as victims waiting for the next problem. The next big drama. The next failure. Now while you may say, not all life is suffering; I would ask you to really examine that statement and look at some of the modern "great" life events.
The birth of a child.
Buying a new house.
Buying a new car.
Getting a promotion.
All of these are great things right? Life is good! Yes, and no.
The birth of a new child leads to all sorts of suffering. You have worries associated with the health and well-being of the child. You have new expenses with the new child, house or car. You have new demands with the new promotion and the new child. Each of these things are suffering.
Now, don't think I'm being pessimistic. We're going to work through the all of the truths and you'll see how they tie together. Right now just try to examine dukkha and understand what it is. How does dukkha impact your life.
We're not judging suffering, we're just understanding that suffering exists.
Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments or continue to email/message me directly. I don't mind these messages at all.
UNDERSTAND . RELEASE . OVERCOME . STRIVE
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| Image Credit - http://buddhismpathtowellbeing.blogspot.com/ |
I created this as a way to help me learning the Four Noble Truths. For me it was easier to remember if I had just one word for each of the truths. This is the first of four blog posts related to the Four Noble Truths.
I started out with Dukkha, the truth of suffering. Simpy put, the truth of suffering is that we all suffer. No matter how wonderful our life is, there will be suffering. Suffering is inevitable.
I always found this profound even when put to me in a slightly different context. The Princess Bride for example has an excellent quote when Princess Buttercup confronts the Dread Pirate Roberts.
Until we fully understand that all life is suffering, we cannot move forward. We sit as victims waiting for the next problem. The next big drama. The next failure. Now while you may say, not all life is suffering; I would ask you to really examine that statement and look at some of the modern "great" life events.
The birth of a child.
Buying a new house.
Buying a new car.
Getting a promotion.
All of these are great things right? Life is good! Yes, and no.
The birth of a new child leads to all sorts of suffering. You have worries associated with the health and well-being of the child. You have new expenses with the new child, house or car. You have new demands with the new promotion and the new child. Each of these things are suffering.
Now, don't think I'm being pessimistic. We're going to work through the all of the truths and you'll see how they tie together. Right now just try to examine dukkha and understand what it is. How does dukkha impact your life.
We're not judging suffering, we're just understanding that suffering exists.
Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments or continue to email/message me directly. I don't mind these messages at all.
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