Suffering & Conflicts"Suffering and conflicts are like an ailment. There is the cause of the ailment, the cure, and the prescription. Buddha told his disciples, ‘I am like a physician, not for bodily ailments, but for mental ailments, mental maladies, of beings.’ "But," Bhante added, "the recognition of this universal fact of suffering, however, is not a total denial of pleasure and happiness. The Buddha never denied happiness in life when he spoke of the universality of suffering. In Buddhist scriptures there is a long enumeration of the happiness that people are capable of enjoying. But all pleasures are impermanent, not lasting. A dispassionate study of Buddhism will tell you that Buddhism is a message radiating joy and hope — not a defeatist philosophy of pessimism. "So, one who thinks deeply will interpret these Four Noble Truths as: One, suffering and conflicts to be understood; Two, the causes of suffering should be removed; Three, the cessation of conflict — nirvana — is to be realized; and Four, the Noble Eightfold Path is to be practiced or cultivated." |
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