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by Ric o Shea on August 19th, 2009

Ric o Shea

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What do you think of the Buddhist philosophy that all life is suffering, and that suffering is caused by desire?

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Answers. 3 helpful answers below.

  • by HasntBeen on August 20th, 2009

    HasntBeen

    I would say that's not a very refined way of taking about the Buddhist principles. The word 'suffering' isn't quite the right one, there's no single word which captures this idea. The original Pali word is 'dukkha', which means "a wheel out of round". It is often translated as either 'suffering' or 'unsatisfactoriness' (which I'm not sure is even a word in English).

    The way some say it is that there is an "incompleteness" about things, a sense that one is always trying to get somewhere but never really arriving... a lack of that solid "clunk" of satisfaction when things really click. That's 'dukkha'.

    Now on to desire: again, this isn't quite the idea, it's more subtle than that. If you want ice cream, and get caught up in those thoughts, and there is no ice cream available, it will bother you. You'll be dissatisfied, and giving up the desire for ice cream is one possible solution. If ice cream is available, getting yourself to the refrigerator or supermarket will do the trick. Those kinds of desires aren't a big issue.

    The desires that are problematic are "clinging to that which cannot be", or "resisting that which cannot be prevented". The basic idea is that people tend to want a static state of perfection... but life just isn't like that, life is change. Things come and go, feelings come and go, anything put together comes apart, etc. But, we have these mental visions of perfection, and we pursue those as if it were possible to achieve some state of permanent everything-is-the-way-I-love-it. That's a fantasy, and pursuing it causes 'dukkha'.

    The flip side of that is we try to prevent what cannot be prevented, such as eventual illness, old-age, and death, or even the departure of feelings that we like. You cannot make a good feeling stick around permanently, feelings just don't work that way. So, to resist those things which are inevitable causes more 'dukkha'.

    So these two poles (clinging and resistance) with regard to the impermanent and the inevitable are the cause of this inability to be fully satisfied with life, and that's a more precise way to say what Buddhism teaches in this principle you've referred to.

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  • by Fiddle Playing Creole Bastard on August 20th, 2009

    Fiddle Playing Creole Bastard

    Doesn't work for me. Usually, if I desire something, I'll work hard to obtain it and than be satisfied. The journey is pleasurable for me as well. I don't suffer in life.

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  • by MicrocosmicOrbit on August 20th, 2009

    MicrocosmicOrbit

    Colors blind the eyes flavors numb the tounge and sounds deafen the ears. Surely I would be free of suffering without desire.

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