Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
What is it to you?
Suffering is attachment to and is birth, life, sickness and death. Outside of that, what is not considered suffering?
We are born to die.
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Afraid of death?
- Thread starter Spirit of Light
- Start date
What is it to you?
Suffering is attachment to and is birth, life, sickness and death. Outside of that, what is not considered suffering?
We are born to die.
Audie
Veteran Member
Life is not "full" of suffering. I go days without
"suffering", and I am not so unique. Do you suffer constantly?
Or feel that suffering is only and 100% bad?
If "suffering" is "life" as you say, it is a bit silly
to say life is full of suffering / suffering is full of
life.
Like "water is full of water"
I cannot agree with your definition of suffering.
It aint profound to say everything dies.
Saying "born to die" is just attitude.
"Born to boogie" is more upbeat.
Spirit of Light
Be who ever you want
Life is suffering in the way that nothing is permanent, meaning we have attachments like feeling sad when something is broken or when someone dies, or a less sad think when we have eaten a very good meal, we tend to say oh i wish we had more, or for those who smoke, they crave more cigarets as soon they end the last one in the pack. (my Fianceè smoke)
Craving, wanting, dislike, like is all attachments that make us either happy or sad when we either have it or do not have it. But for a buddhist the calmness of non attchment to this things make us suffer less.
You do not need to be agree on this of course
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
When you are born, you start to die. When you get older, your body starts to be acceptable to more diseases and body has less ability to do the things it used to. Not many people die on a bed of roses. Its your body and mind mental progress towards death and the bumbs and happinesses that goes along with it.
The difference is, unlike inherited sin, you dont have to live life as if you have to be free of suffering or its put on you (or full of it) type of thing. All living suffers. Its the cycle of life.
However, people are afraid of death because of they dont feel they are suffering. Some people are not afraid of death because they are used to the idea that they arent suffering at the moment.
Stub your toe or grieve, there is suffering since the body is always healing itself; it cant do that forever. Can we accept it or just say we only suffer when the big stuff happens?
Audie
Veteran Member
Haha, I wont need permission to disagree.
You said life is FULL of suffering. It is not.
You seem to be saying that all "attachment"
(feeling?) is suffering. As with another poster's
made up definition of "suffering", I cannot agree
with it.
Nor with the idea one should run from
life and see only negative.
Of course life has ups and downs.
My effort in life is to learn to appreciate,
value whatever comes, embrace it
learn from it, move on.
That includes understanding that joy, sorrow,
excitement and boredom are all part of
what it is to be alive. That is the deal.
It is not surprising that a person has to
work so hard, trying not to feel anything.
It is as unnatural as a bonzai tree.
What a collossal and self defeating
waste of time.
Spirit of Light
Be who ever you want
It has to do with "for me" that i accept the situation as it is. If i hurt in the body i see it as that it hurt. But i dont cling to the feeling of pain any longer, it is just for a moment in time anyway.
Letting go of the attachments does not mean we stop caring or stop experience the same again and again, we just have accepted that this is life. and we go on. actually letting go of all attachments make us able to enjoy life even more because we do not have any worries anymore
Letting go of the attachments does not mean we stop caring or stop experience the same again and again, we just have accepted that this is life. and we go on. actually letting go of all attachments make us able to enjoy life even more because we do not have any worries anymore
Audie
Veteran Member
I am too much the biologist to agree that we
start dying at birth or fail to know that how
susceptible one is to illness is far from just
a function of age. (Note for one, how readily
children get sick)
I dont do "original sin", a sick stupid idea if there ever
was one.
Maybe some fears death for the reason you gave.
Does not apply to me.
I questioned your definition of "suffering" as
attachment, I already know about hurting my big toe etc
Audie
Veteran Member
That is what I already do, w/o years in
a Tibetan monestary.
Worry, though, you want to eliminate such
a basic component of what it is to be human?
Ordinary mental health, emotional maturity
lets you not "sweat the little stuff".
To not worry if, say, my Mom were in financial
difficulties, that would make me a freakin'
sociopath.
I would have to worry. That is the engine driving
you to seeking solutions!
Tell the mother of a sick child not to worry!
What is the point of all the religious practice
(which seems real different from Buddhism as my
Mom practices it!) that you are involved in?
What good does it do?
It seems like for people afraid of life.
Last edited:
Spirit of Light
Be who ever you want
The human life for a Buddhist is not the ultimate form of life. We want out of samsara (reincarnation cycle) that is why we seeking the answer to enlightenment. Enlightenment means actually blowing out.
But ofcourse if a person has not studied the buddhist teaching deeply i understand it is difficult to accept and understand the teaching
BilliardsBall
Veteran Member
In the words of Ian Fleming, "Death is so permanent."
A better question would be, "Why are some people unafraid of death?"
Spirit of Light
Be who ever you want
To answer your last question, life does not end with the physical death of the body
that is why personally i am not afraid of death
Audie
Veteran Member
Non responsive but ok. As expected.
In the event, it is as I said, for those afraid of
or otherwise unable to accept life as it really is.
I understand just fine that Buddhists and Christians
and Moslems and Jews are all devoting a great chunk
of what little they have trying for a better "after"
that they will not ever get.
You dont understand that?
Spirit of Light
Be who ever you want
So you mean that every person who believe in the spiritual life must be wrong?
why do you say that christians muslims Jews never will get what they seeking?
why do you say that christians muslims Jews never will get what they seeking?
Audie
Veteran Member
You use terms as if you had assurance that
others know and agree with what they mean
to you.
WHAT, on earth, is "the spiritual life"
and how could it either be right or wrong?
That is so unamerican ok anti global.
FirstandAmistad
Member
As has been stated already, I believe that what people truly fear is the unknown. All that we know and understand is being alive. We don't recall anything before it, and we don't know for certain (no matter how adamantly you claim to be certain) what will happen our lives end. Will there be a tranquil forest filled with wine and song? Will there be pearly gates and hymns or hellfire and torture? Perhaps we will simply be reborn back into this life in a different form? Will it even be similar enough to be described in these ways that were clearly defined by homo sapiens with no knowledge beyond the corporeal? Perhaps it will just be a state of being... bliss, peace, loneliness, sorrow... boredom?
Or maybe it will be nothing at all. Perhaps once the lights go out, they're out forever.
But why should that be a scary thought? I have no perception that extends before my life on Earth, and yet "pre-life" holds no terror for me. Why should "post-life"?
I find thinking about potential afterlives to be an interesting thought experiment, but I'll never understand how some become so consumed with it that they sacrifice the lives they -certainly- have in worrying for a life that they -might- potentially have after death.
Or maybe it will be nothing at all. Perhaps once the lights go out, they're out forever.
But why should that be a scary thought? I have no perception that extends before my life on Earth, and yet "pre-life" holds no terror for me. Why should "post-life"?
I find thinking about potential afterlives to be an interesting thought experiment, but I'll never understand how some become so consumed with it that they sacrifice the lives they -certainly- have in worrying for a life that they -might- potentially have after death.
Odd question. Why dont i crash my motorcyle over a cliff every time i ride it? Why does a squirrel run from a cat? Why do wildlife flee from fires? Why does gorse burst into flames?
Threw gorse in for fun.
And a massive increase in darwin awards as well!!!!