Thank You for sharing~~ My exam is tomorrow on this subject:)
 

Thankyou! It's good to be reminded and I have posted this on my facebook page.

 

Sorry - kept coming up as a technical fault then realised I had commented 3 times :-)
 

Thankyou...good to be reminded of this and I will share it
 

Thankyou. An excellent reminder.

 

Thank you...
 

is it not also possible to accept that that which is called "suffering" need not be so called, that that which is called "suffering" can also be called "feeling" or "sensing"? if this can be accomplished - and it can - then suffering ceases to be suffering.
the individual can then experience fully all the sensations that are part of the human condition, while simultaneously understanding that this experience is voluntary and need not be rebelled against or brought to cessation?
for example, i love my daughter immeasurably - and voluntarily. i choose to engage in this love even though there are occasional unpleasant feelings (suffering) that accompany it. i could stop volunteering to experience these sensations, good and bad, through the Noble Eight-fold Path (or an other method) but i choose not to. thus, that which could be called "suffering" is not experienced by me as such. it is simply sensation. experience.
though i do not choose at this time to follow the Noble Eight-fold Path, is this not also a middle way?
i ask because i wish to learn.

 

perhaps you can call it whatever you want, although suffering is suffering, not suffering is not suffering. all are a part of our human condition. by simply not accepting it for what it is, not facing it directly with mindful awareness and meditation, the suffering will continue to grow and return in our lives. this has been my experience.


is their anyone who can over some other point of view, or insight?
 

You posted this just when I needed it. Thank you very much.

 

bullshit. shortcited. and only for people who don't think and feel for themselves.

 

can you can expound on why you feel this, please share with us what you think is bullshit and short cited about this. the whole essence of Buddha's teachings are reconnecting on an individual level to think and feel for ourselves in the truest and deepest sense. He provides no dogma or maxim, not code of ethics or philosophy, but simply blazes a trail of parables and insight.

 

n!c3 1^^
the way of the force...

1
 

well, I wanted to start by thanking everyone who has come upon this page. I think the study and contemplation of religion is an important part of our lives. (I studied religion in school as well). Religio- means, links to the past. But it is important to understand that we are studying one person's story. Siddhartha. Only, he, can know the true meaning of his story. And, only you, can know the true meaning of yours. The problem,with religion, is that it is an interpretation of someone else's story. This, causes immediate problems. We don't look at the story as a form of literature, no, we look at it, as a form of worship. Worship, something greater than ourselves, but unrelated to ourselves. If it is unrelated to ourselves then we have most likely sacrificed ourselves to a "belief". lets take a look, at "life is suffering". how narrow. how could it not be? life....what is life, the life of a galaxy..?...a plant......?....a child..?...this is suffering...?....no, Life is not suffering. I am not suffering. I am an endless rebirth of cells in the miracle wonder of this world. that is truth. I am alive. and to be alive is not to be in a prison. It is to be in a constant unforlding miracle. but, what do you think...?....
 

Your words: "I am an endless rebirth of cells.." Exactly. The Eightfold Path, if I may comment, leads to the complete cessation of that process. In my limited understanding of this path, so far it has been "Try it and see." Some see the Buddha as divine, some see Buddhism as a religion, but I am not seeing the worship and Buddha himself merely said "I am awake." I see him as the psychologist to end all psychology or as a doctor. He correctly diagnoses the universal problems of existence and offers the cure, which he experienced directly for himself. Many have followed and successfully duplicated his experiment with the same results. Don't give up on it too soon, it is deep and subtle in practice, give it time and effort. I hope this helps.

 

Sounds like denial, but experience is relative to its respective label. Black and white mutually depend upon one another as do pain and pleasure, but I believe the point is not to keep these extremes set apart from one another. They rely upon each other. Since there will always labels to communicate experience, we will have good and bad depending on one another as well as upon the being who categorizes them accordingly. You make the decision if the world is blissful or painful, both or neither.


On the point of Buddhism being viewed as a religion...yes, there are rituals and practices. Yes, a practitioner venerates the Buddha, but the knowledge and intention of the practitioner determines whether the act itself is one of veneration. If you learn something you feel is useful, do you not feel gratitude toward the person who shared it with you? There is little difference between prostration, bowing or even a simple nod of the head when in your heart you are grateful. The way you choose to think, speak and behave are based on ideas you probably adopted from another source, whether it be science, philosophy, secular morality, politics, etc. Just because you don't call it religion doesn't mean you don't use these methods toward the same ends of self-improvement and well-being.

 

point well taken. Although, I feel that i...understand....of course, what he is saying by..."life is suffering"....but I wouldn't want to catergorize life, like this. I put life at a very high, very respectable level. If I were to worship anything, it would be life itself. and to say that "life is suffering" makes me feel that life is not worth living and I've come to a prison. I believe that Siddhartha's story is much more than this. I feel that the phrase...'life is suffering" should be expounded upon. I don't want to bring a child into the world, and to teach him that his existence is suffering. I would teach him the opposite. that life is good, that life is joy. what do you think..?
 

To say that life is nothing but suffering would clearly be an exaggeration, and the Buddha would not bother to explain in other discourses the preciousness of human rebirth. The fewer our pains, the more ideal the rebirth. I doubt the "Life is Beautiful" line of reasoning would be shared by beings who unceasingly endure hunger, loss, despair and so forth. So many fortunate circumstances have to come together for us to be able to access, understand and practice teachings passed down by enlightened teachers...when even one of the conditions of perfect human rebirth are absent, the possibility of suffering and the intensity of suffering is increased. Life can be beautiful, but looking back on the brutal instincts of animals, especially humans, life can also be horrific. Going back to the previous comment, you cannot separate white from black. They are interdependent. Beauty depends upon ugliness, purity upon defilement.
How else could extremes come to be?
 

If I may add a bit- Buddha was clear about his definition of the suffering: birth, age, sickness, death, to be tied to what you don't want, to be kept from what you do want. Craving, desire, attachment, this is at the root of the suffering. I think that to transcend, you transcend all completely, and to not transcend merely means that you incarnate again. This birth process I am told is like a billiard ball striking another billiard ball, it is the karmic energy that is transmitted. I don't want to speak too much because you have to experience it yourself, you must arrive at your own understanding of it, in your own time. A lot of it goes past words, the words are meant to point you towards the direct experience.

 

I almost made perfect! Thanks for encouragement! I still like reading this one!
 

thank you this was useful and very well explained
 

so true i feel pain everyday either physical or emotional from hunger and despair and you show me why its there
 

Thank you, whenever I come on here I feel so at peace with myself!