Buddhism And Suffering

William James said, “All religions and spiritual traditions began with the cry ‘Help!’” Regardless of who we are or where we live, we struggle with circumstances in our lives that are beyond our control. We will have disappointments and setbacks, grow old, lose possessions, the people we love will leave us, and we ourselves will die. This is the suffering the Buddha spoke of, and it is present for all human beings. At its core, Buddhism is the recognition of this suffering as a core facet of human existence. Like many religions and spiritual paths, it answers the cry for help with a prescription to make peace with the nature of our existence.

In the First Noble Truth, the Buddha tells us there is suffering, or dukkha. To someone unfamiliar

We can see this in our modern lives reflected in advertising that encourages us to purchase and consume more, but we can also understand this in the context of the environment our ancestors evolved in. In an environment of abundance, the evolutionary “cost” of not acquiring more is minimal – the fundamental needs required to ensure transmission of our genetics into the next generation are readily available. The same cannot be said of our ancestors. Scarcity of resources means that someone who has less of a competitive drive to acquire and retain resources might not survive to reproduce. While this trait served our ancestors well, it becomes a source of suffering in an environment of relative abundance. We are unable to be satisfied with what we have because the potentially greater possessions of others are perceived as a threat to our well-being and security.

The recognition of the source of our suffering is liberating, as it allows us to stop searching our lives for the cause of the suffering we experience. The suffering exists because we are humans – it is intrinsic to the biological nature of our minds, and not the result of a flaw in our character or in the character of those around us. When we accept that our biology, for historically valid reasons, leads us to craving and grasping which can never be satisfied, we realize that a pathway to peace lies in changing our perception of the world, not in vain attempts to change