Life is Suffering?

“Now suppose that there was a leper covered with sores & infections, devoured by worms, picking the scabs off the openings of his wounds with his nails, cauterizing his body over a pit of glowing embers. The more he cauterized his body over the pit of glowing embers, the more disgusting, foul-smelling, & putrid the openings of his wounds would become, and yet he would feel a modicum of enjoyment & satisfaction because of the itchiness of his wounds. In the same way, beings not free from passion for sensual pleasures — devoured by sensual craving, burning with sensual fever — indulge in sensual pleasures. The more they indulge in sensual pleasures, the more their sensual craving increases and the more they burn with sensual fever, and yet they feel a modicum of enjoyment & satisfaction dependent on the five strings of sensuality.” – Magandiya Sutta: To Magandiya

“In the same way, Magandiya, sensual pleasures in the past were painful to the touch, very hot & scorching; sensual pleasures in the future will be painful to the touch, very hot & scorching; sensual pleasures at present are painful to the touch, very hot & scorching; but when beings are not free from passion for sensual pleasures — devoured by sensual craving, burning with sensual fever — their faculties are impaired, which is why, even though sensual pleasures are actually painful to the touch, they have the skewed perception of ‘pleasant.’”

Most people are like the leper who fail to see the suffering behind the crave for sensual pleasure. Some are like drug addicts who crave for more drugs although they know the addiction is bad; although they wish to quit but they just cannot control themselves. The more and the longer they indulge, they will find it more difficult to quit. Hence, the Right View about the Four Noble Truths is very important. Meditation alone cannot cure the leper without the Dharma.

Craving comes naturally to us when we are born. Because of that, people think it is commonsense to use materialistic or non-materialistic things (wealth, sexual acts, fame, delicious foods, leisure) to quench the thirst. People think it is commonsense to use water to put out fire without knowing that it is more important to remove the fuel and also the spark. Keeping the fuel in a cool state (Nirvana) is the best solution, although the water can temporarily put out the fire. Because of craving, life is indeed a suffering; we are suffering like the leper, but we may feel pleasant if we are fortunate to have access to “glowing embers” that can make us feel a modicum of enjoyment & satisfaction because of the “itchiness of our wounds”. The suffering may be manageable if we use the Right Efforts to control the craving (and other hindrances) and the Right mindfulness to lead us to the One-pointed-ness concentration on Samadhi or deep peace of mind. It is a personal choice if one chooses to become a Sotāpanna, Sakadāgāmi, Anāgāmi, or Arahant. Suffering is not always unbearable. Suffering is not absolutely bad; it at least reminds us to walk the path towards Enlightenment. It is a better gift to be born as a human than a deva or dewi who has no suffering therefore ignorant of the need to walk the Noble Eight-fold Path. It is obviously better than to be born as a ghost or an animal, or to be born in Hell. Is death really the end of one’s journey? Nobody is certain, but what if it is not? Walking the Noble Eight-fold Path can definitely reduce one’s craving and give him/her true happiness (or absence of “itchiness”) here and now; the gain is here and now regardless of any bonuses in the afterlife (if it exists).

There are three types of cravings: craving for sensual pleasure, craving for existence, and craving for non-existence. One will suffer if he/she crave for long life. One will also suffer if he/she wishes never to have been born into this world. Don’t run away from the minor suffering and don’t escalate it into an unmanageable monster. Personal goal, ranging from trivial to meaningful? Not good but not bad. Like any sensual pleasure, don’t be fearful of it but always remember not to become attach to it (as if you can’t live without it); the “hammer” isn’t grow on your hand, so you must let go when you should. Look inwards and watch your feelings all the time; if you feel greed, hatred, or delusion, you must practice the Right Efforts to develop the wisdom on what course of actions to be taken in order to deescalate the ill feelings. Personal goal to develop your mind, in Sciences and Arts, not just in Spirituality, will be helpful in the path to happiness. Without intelligent, a fool can never understand the Dharma even if he/she grows up in a monastery or surrounded by Enlightened monks and tons of Sutras. Life is a suffering, it is due to desires, and cessation of desires will end all sufferings here and now. The Buddha has taught us an actionable way which is the Noble Eight-fold Path and it can be practiced by everybody.