" ALL THINGS ARISE AND PASS AWAY"
--- Buddha
The above quote from Buddha though sounds very simple, yet it is very profound. It is telling us how to face and react to suffering.
Sufferings are an integral part of human life which comes and goes cyclically alternating with periods of pleasure. This is the balance that happens through a natural process during our lifetime. But to understand this unpleasant and unwelcome aspect of our life, we need to first know exactly what it is actually. Let me define it in a general simple term.
“Suffering is that
affliction which impacts the body or mind or both simultaneously that is caused by
innumerable factors which could be from within our body or from external factors
that may be things; events; people or ideas.”
No human being is
inherently adaptive to suffering in any form or from any source. But there is
wisdom in accepting the inevitable reality that suffering is a part of human life
and so acceptance of the same with fortitude is the only way forward. For a wise person, adaptation comes sooner than an
average normal person because he is always aware of the unpleasant inevitabilities
of life. The sooner
this fact is realised by a normal person the sooner he recovers from the shock of it.
But to have a better
understanding in some depth, the issue of human suffering we need to go into the
details of various sources that cause this affliction.
Broadly speaking the sources are as follows.
A. A. From own body and
mind.
B. B. From the outside
world that is beyond our control.
C. C. Time, past present and future.
D. D. Natural calamities.
A.
From own body and mind.
This
can be further classified into two sub-sources, as follows.
i.
From mental
misbalances in the absence of physical ailments.
ii.
Mental impact
originating from physical ailments.
i.
From
mental misbalances in the absence of physical ailments
When
mental issues occur (in the absence of any physical problem) the reason can be
from an external source due to certain unexpected and unpleasant events over
which he may or may not have had any control to avert it. The other dimension
of it could be due to some imagination of an untoward event which may or
may not at all have any probability of occurrence. These are illusory
manifestations in the mind without anything to do with the reality of the
situation. And hence absolutely baseless. Such people need to undergo
psychiatric treatment.
ii.
Mental impact originating from physical ailments.
However physical ailments are more often the potent source that causes a mental impact and brings suffering which manifests externally as visible symptoms that deserve medical attention. A more emotional person is more often mentally more fragile and hence is more affected. Conversely, an emotionally stable person is less impacted because of his higher level of mental strength achieved thru enhancing his level of tolerance to the impact of the physical ailment.
B.
From the outside world that is beyond the control
This is the biggest source from which
suffering could
come. That could be
from a near and dear person (a relation), a friend, society at large or the
professional world. And the reason could be due to innumerable reasons and
situations. And when there is no way to change or avert the situation i.e. it is beyond the control, the way to handle
them is best stated in the below-given quote
WHEN WE ARE NO LONGER ABLE TO CHANGE A
SITUATION
WE ARE CHALLENGED TO CHANGE
OURSELVES.
- Viktor Frankl.
In the above quote, by the words " Challenged to change " the author means, that what matters in such a situation "Is our reaction".
C.
Time, past and future
Time is nature's parameter that
eternally flows in the forward direction. And this has three fundamental attributes that impact all creatures on
earth, the past, present and future.
And this has special importance for the human
beings, as for them, everything in life is related to what has happened, happenings or would happen. The
present is the most valuable aspect since that is in our control to utilise and manage it to the best of our abilities. The future has not yet come and so
is also not in his hand and is full of uncertainties. Hence except for the present, the other two are not in our
control. Suffering in the present most often comes from unpleasant memories of past events or past actions.
D.
Natural calamities
Nature is all-powerful and has a pattern
of the way it operates, that causes a change of season that has an enormous impact
on all living creatures on earth. Man is dependent on nature and never the
reverse. At certain times the vagaries of nature cause calamities like floods,
earthquakes and hurricanes that cause unimaginable devastation of life and
property. And these are events over which humanity has no control. They bring too much suffering to mankind
But, how should we react to every type of situation (pleasant and unpleasant) is best presented in the video clip in the link which is given below.
How "YOU WILL NEVER FEEL SAD IN HARD TIMES " i.e. in suffering.
