Is Life Worth Living?

Is Life Worth Living?

Life is suffering. This is the view of many Asceticism beliefs in India for more than 3000 years. Gotama Buddha was also an Ascetic before he became Buddha.

Asceticism means rigorous abstention from any form of self-indulgence which is based on the belief that renunciation of the desires of the flesh and self-mortification can bring man to a high spiritual state. Most Ascetics, if not all, have the view that life is not worth living. What is their fear to live? It is due to their belief that self-indulgence now will lead to suffering later; it’s like a zero-sum game, the more one indulges now the more he will suffer later. They believe the opposite of self-indulgence naturally leads to higher spiritual state. One will be reborn as Deva in Heaven, or one may escape the cycle of rebirth completely.

If life is not worth living, why don’t the Ascetics commit suicide? It is because they believe there is rebirth after death, and the number of cycles is infinite. One who commit suicide may be reborn as ghost, animal, or Hell being but not in the human realm again. The suffering will be much worse.

Ascetics believe that the cause of suffering is desire. Suffering stops when desire ceases. This is the motivation behind their rigorous abstention from any form of self-indulgence. Life is suffering whether one is reborn as Hell being, animal, ghost or even human. Suffering includes birth, growing old, sickness, phobia of death, association with the dislike, separation with loved ones, and not getting what one desires. Good life now will end and the delayed suffering is still suffering. Ascetics want to abandon all desires and attachment, especially the attachment of the soul to the body. They wish to never have existed. Unfortunately, the desire for non-existence is also a desire as bad as desire for existence and desire for sensual pleasure. The Buddha realized that one must abandon all the three kinds of desire in order to stop all suffering. The way to do it is by walking the middle path. To cross the flood of suffering, one must not stand still nor strive too hard.

Boon Kuan Chung’s answer to What about Buddhism specifically makes its followers so accepting of death? Buddhists are not taught to be accepting of death. To be specific, they are taught to live well and therefore not afraid of death. There is a huge difference between the two cases. Death is a kind of suffering; but suffering is not always bad. Boon Kuan Chung’s answer to Why is suffering in Buddhism considered bad?

Is life worth living? If you ask a Hell being, animal, or ghost, it will likely say “No” (assuming it can talk to you) at one time but “Yes” at another time. It will say “No” if it is in pain at the time of answering your question. However, it will always protect itself from being killed. In other words, it doesn’t want to die. The body language tells you its answer is “Yes”, life is worth living. A human has the same behavior. They all don’t want to die because they see the body as the self, or the self is in the body, therefore they spontaneously want to protect the self.

Is human life worth living? The answer is: one can make it worth living if he really wants it. One will likely say “No” when he is in pain, no difference from other kinds of being, if he doesn’t make good use of his mind which is much more powerful than other kinds of being. If he takes the suffering as a necessary experience and lesson, he will take actions to lessen the suffering and also avoid future suffering. He can stop all suffering by walking the Noble Eightfold Path taught by the Buddha. He will be so happy to live every second of his life.

Human life is the most precious gift, more precious than a Deva life. A Deva in Heaven has very little suffering. It is both a blessing and also a curse. The lack of suffering makes him complacent in self-cultivation. Self-indulgence now leads to suffering later. Human suffering is a motivation to cultivate oneself to have virtue, equanimity and wisdom. When one abandons greed, hatred and delusion, he will feel truly liberated and happy. Why wouldn’t you feel happy to be peaceful and calm under any circumstances?

Buddhist monks don’t do begging. They accept alms. They are different kinds of farmers. You Call Yourself a Farmer?: Kasibhāradvāja Sutta (SN 76-80)

The Buddha led by example. He showed the world that he lived with nothing without fear. Instead, he had perfect virtue, equanimity and wisdom through self-cultivation. He had no greed, hatred and delusion. He lived happily and equanimously.

Monks are worthy of respect and deserve the alms respectfully given by lay followers, especially when monks conducted themselves well. Receiving alms is not begging. Monks make sure the Dharma is passed on for many generations for the benefits of the people. Their good conduct in terms of virtue, equanimity and wisdom inspire others to find refuge in the Dharma. They don’t tarnish the good reputation of Buddhism. Anybody who slanders them as being selfish is blaming the blameless instead of praising the praiseworthy. The unwholesome karma can lead to bad outcomes.

Is the business of going-forth — as the Buddha and his disciples did — one that benefits countless beings, or only one being? Of these two practices — going-forth compared to making sacrifices — which appeals to you as the less difficult, the less violent, the more fruitful, and the more rewarding? — Sangarava Sutta AN 3.60. Monks who teach, practice and live according to Dhamma benefit countless beings. It is much more difficult and less violent to go forth than making sacrifices. It is much more fruitful and more rewarding to go forth than making sacrifices.

Giving alms to monks and sangha earns a lot of merits to the givers. Accepting alms gives the opportunity for lay followers to earn the merits. It is benevolent to both the givers and the monks.

This is monks accepting alms. It is not begging. I benefited a lot from Dharma. “Just as if he were to place upright what was overturned, to reveal what was hidden, to point out the way to one who was lost, or to carry a lamp into the dark so that those with eyes could see forms, in the same way has monk — through many lines of reasoning — made the Dharma clear.” I feel so happy and equanimous every day. The Dharma was given to me for free. I feel so honored to be able to repay the kindness. I want to do Dana contributions to monks and sangha but never for the potential return-on-investment in terms of merits.