Knowing and Experiencing suffering means without being suffered

Suffering is one of the main doctrines of Buddhism. For Buddhism, human lifetime is a process of enduring such suffering as of birth, of old age, of sickness and of death.

Besides these things we also bear the suffering of asking something but unsatisfaction,  hating someone but regularly being met, aspiring for the five skandhas, which are called EIGHT SUFFERINGS. The utmost purpose of Buddhism is to cut off and evade griefsl First is to realize the suffering.   Buddhism analyzes in details the forms of suffering to help people understand which is the main cause leading to suffering. However, it will be useless if we only have the concept of suffering from other experiences or from itsdoctrine without personal experience, then we have no way to comprehend it. It only explains about the general shape of suffering. This, therefore, cannot help us in facing withthe real suffering and if we are in unexpected events, we still express our weak side such as greed, hatred and delusion. When facing with favorite things, we early attain them for our own Finally we are still surrounded by suffering with having known what its nature is. Then the way of ending suffering could, naturally, not be reached. This will prevent the ways to escape from suffering.

For everything we should taste by ourselves to get the impressive remark. For some people they immediately put themselves into practice after learning Buddhism and get the nature of suffering. However, mostly people still wait until something happening then they may get the real existence of suffering. This happens for those who survive after a serious illness or the sole survivor of an airplane accident. Those people will totally change their living attitude and really treasure their lives. Furthermore, They can recognize that the concept of suffering has less power for them than the others because the highest suffering is death which is tasted by them already.

For some people they may change their mind when witness the passing away from relative by realizing the temporary life of human being. Because of this they try to live and contribute for a better society as the way to repay for their luckiness than the others. To show their affection to the fatal, unlucky dead, they change their attitude of living, or do charity, devote all his capacity to society, or support with their properties.   The experience of suffering helps them realize the impermanence of life and, therefore, the feeling of suffering has no more power, no more existence.

Those matters above have proved that the all Boddhisatvas practiced and succeed from suffering contain their own suffering and the sentient beings’ suffering. To release the suffering of living beings they have thrown themselves in there. Finally the taste of suffering was replaced by the happiness of spreading compassion. The Ká¹£itigarbha Boddhisatva has been said that “If we are, the Boddhisatvas, not entering the hell then who will be there for saving the sentient beings.” How great is for the Boddhisatva’s compassion!

 

This lesson is taken out from those things: to identify and to be out of the control of suffering we have to taste and experience by ourselves then we will get no more suffer when facing suffering. However, it is Boddhisatva and experienced ones who understand it.  Furthermore, for a real practitioner we should sustained effort to overcome all the hindrances and cease  suffering forever.

 HT. Thánh Nghiêm