Suffering is not always negative, there are lots of positive things. Suffering gives us great opportunities to be a realistic person, to be a sincere person, to develop wisdom and to develop compassion. Just like in a country, there are many laws. If we violate a certain law, we will have to face certain consequences. So we better behave well. So that gives us opportunities to behave sincerely. Similar to this, suffering brings down oneself to the ground. When there is no suffering temporarily, we are so proud of ourselves – "Oh! I am so special!" Then when the conditions we face are undesirable, we suffer and at that time we think – "I am nothing special. I am just like the rest of the people. Maybe I am the worst person." So when we feel that, pride disappears and we think – "What should I do to free from this type of suffering and undesirable conditions?" We try to find out some methods. Secondly, our own experience of suffering gives us opportunity to see all others who are going through similar suffering. In this way, sincere genuine compassion can be cultivated through knowing, understanding our own suffering, not just limited to our relatives, friends but to all sentient beings who go through similar suffering. Thirdly, suffering gives us wisdom. When we suffer, we try to find out where the suffering is coming from. We investigate, analyze and scrutinize to find out the causes of the suffering, to find out whether suffering is independent or dependent on these factors. When we have the wisdom on the causes of suffering, we have the wisdom to avoid the causes of suffering as well. Therefore, it is not enough just to fight against the suffering. It is not enough just to reject or run away from the suffering. It is not enough just to say – "I don’t want the suffering. Why is suffering coming to me?" Those are not the solution to be free from suffering. We need wisdom to understand the suffering and to avoid the causes of suffering. So suffering is not always bad. It gives us great wisdom and opportunities. It is a way to wake us up from our deep sleep of ignorance.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Aug 2013 03:53:45 +0000
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