The question of suffering comes up much when talking about, or practicing any religion. Many ask why people suffer, and what causes suffering? The various religions try to answer these questions in their own way. Pico Iyer’s editorial, “The Value of Suffering” addresses the questions of suffering and how it is handled. This article could be compared to the Bhagavad-Gita which also addresses and explains suffering through different stories of the interactions of humans and different Gods. One can specifically look at “The Second Teaching” in the Bhagavad-Gita, which explains the interaction between a man named Arjuna and the god Krishna. In it Arjuna is suffering because he does not want to fight in a war and with people whom he should …show more content…
Then Iyer goes on to tell his stories where suffering is looked at in this way. The Bhagavad-Gita says, “...when suffering and joy are equal for him and he has courage, he is fit for immortality.” (Bhagavad-Gita 33) This implies that with the realization that the soul is everlasting therefore should be no suffering going on, because by killing someone one is just releasing the soul to the next life. These two quotes relate and agree because they both talk about suffering and how it is prevalent, but can be cured by looking at life in simpler terms, in terms of the long path rather than in the short term. In other words they say to look at suffering in a positive way by looking at how a situation impacts life in general. This is important because it points out similarities among all the religions and how they view …show more content…
The answer to the question is yes. Although each religion may look at suffering in different ways they all try to put it in a bearable or positive light, and each has the opinion that suffering is a part of life and happens to everyone. An example of dealing with suffering in a different religion is given with the story of Job, “Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:... Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me.” (Job 38:1,3) In this passage Job is suffering for no reason other than that God wills it. Job complains and asks why he deserves such suffering, and God tells him that he has no right to complain and to endure and keep faith. This idea of enduring through the suffering is a common theme throughout all the religions. This is important because even though religions often try to find an answer for suffering and why people suffer, there is still situations where suffering is unexplainable, in which case one must endure and live through it. Each religion agrees that suffering happens to everyone and it is a part of life to learn to deal with the suffering, and the various religions try to put a positive spin on suffering, so to make it easier to live with. They stress faith, faith that suffering and anguish will bring a lesson, or other positive
suffering hurts man spirit is does more good then constant happiness and power. We have to beat
of suffering is most beneficial. However, answering this question about suffering becomes increasingly more difficult with the
To many people religion is a sanctuary. It helps them escape the chaos of their normal lives and become a part of something much bigger. For Jews during the Holocaust, religion helped them survive at first. They remained adamant that God would not allow the genocide of millions of his people. But as time went on, they began to question the existence of god. Elie witnesses the death of one of the inmates Akiba Drumer; recalling, "He just kept repeating that it was all over for him, that he could no longer fight, he had no more strength, no more faith" (76). Many people live for religion; they go on with their lives and no matter how horrific the situation may be, they remain resilient of the fact that god will pull them through any situation. But when this faith is lost, people begin to question their existence. Jewish people grow up knowing that God would always be at their side. The realization that God was not there for them took its toll. Elie loses his faith in God...
Buddhists believe that life is pain, and pain is caused by desire. They believed that ridding themselves of all desire would also end any pain they felt. These beliefs are known as the Four Noble Truths. The last step to end pain is to follow the Eightfold Path. If an individual has right views, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right recollection, right effort, and right meditation all pain would cease (Doc 6). Without the interference of pain, Buddhists strive to reach a state of higher truth, peace, and enlightenment known of nirvana. Reaching nirvana also real eases the soul from its constant cycle of
However, individuals of the World State only require comfort for pain and suffering because they are death conditioned at a young age. Interestingly, soma is compared to religion, a comforting human concept. In chapter seventeen Mustapha Mond states, “Christianity without tears - that’s what soma is” (Huxley 238). Soma provides the desired comfort to its consumers, much like the comfort that Christianity provides to its believers. Soma, however, masks the agonies or “tears” in life while Christianity does not completely eliminate the evil in human lives on earth. The Savage, John, suggests, “it is natural to believe in God when you’re alone - quite alone, in the night, thinking about death” (Huxley 235). While God does provide a natural comfort for humans, He does not provide it to the extreme extent that soma does. The World State civilization relies upon soma’s comfort, becoming addicted to the escape from suffering that the drug provides. John confronts Mustapha Mond for “getting rid of everything unpleasant instead of learning to put up with it” (Huxley 238). Religion provides comfort from “everything unpleasant,” however, it does not simply eliminate these unpleasant feelings. In the ideas of Christianity, people first must endure these hardships in life before being granted complete relief through eternal life in heaven. Soma does not create the necessity
Wolpe experienced suffering in a different way. He suffered due to a battle with cancer. Suffering is one of the real things that Wolpe mentions that our lives pivot on. We cannot see suffering sometimes, but at the same time we cannot see God, but that does not mean God does not exist. Suffering exists even though we cannot see it.
“Sonny’s Blues” is a short story in which James Baldwin, the author, presents an existential world where suffering characterizes a man’s basic state. The theme of tragedy and suffering can be transformed into a communal art form such as blues music. Blues music serves as a catalyst for change because the narrator starts to understand that not only the music but also himself and his relationship with Sonny. The narrator’s view of his brother begins to change; he understands that Sonny uses music as an exit of his suffering and pain. This story illustrates a wide critical examination. Richard N. Albert is one critic that explores and analyzes the world of “Sonny’s Blues”. His analysis, “The Jazz-Blues Motif in James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”” is an example of how one can discover plot, characterization and jazz motif that builds this theme of suffering.
Suffering is apart of life, just like joy and love is. We can never choose how life treats us but we can always choose how we react and get back up again. Through Fever 1793 we see up close and personal how suffering can affect us, and how sometimes it can affect us in positive ways. How suffering can help turn the page to the next chapter in our lives. How suffering doesn’t always mean losing but also gaining.
In Sickness unto Death, Kierkegaard stresses the importance of becoming a “self”. He explains the dangers of despair and of society. According to Kierkegaard, the “self ” is a synthesis of the finite and the infinite and of possibility and necessity. In order to become a “self”, a person must find and keep a balance between these states of being. The self is who a person is meant to be, no more and no less. A person should not attempt to become more than he or she is able to be, because he or she will always be chasing something that is unattainable. When a person does this, Kierkegaard says they are in infinitude’s despair. Whether people want to believe it or not, people are not equal in the eyes of the world. A person with one arm will never be as great of a guitar player as Clapton or Satriani. A blind person will not be able to play tennis as well people with vision. We should take Franklins advice that, “you can do anything you set your mind to” with a grain of salt, and realize that while we may be able t...
The passage states how the world is filled with suffering. This relates back to The Noble Truth of Dukkha. “In fact, life that is not free from desire and passion is always involved with suffering (Buddha 280).” He also generally mentions the truth of suffering and how to stop desire. To stop desire one has to remove it from their life and follow the Noble Path stages. This means having Right ideas, resolution, speech, behavior, vocation, effort, mindfulness, and concentration (Buddha 281). Then, the author states that one
Pain and suffering are common sensations that all people will experience in today’s world. Most people would believe that there is a hierarchy to pain and that some individuals experience worse pain than others. This is not so with the Bodhisattva ideal where they have a belief that there should be no distinction between beings and ultimately, no distinction between pain (Jeffreys, April 12). I disagree with the Bodhisattva ideal because I stand with the opinion that suffering has a hierarchy and that pain has a subject.
These positions can alter, and lead to different consequences. Often times, the position of one person chooses to ignore the position of another. The humanly way of suffering varies in the levels of pain, and the characteristic that makes it distinct from other forms of suffering is the possibility of being ignored in the earthly world we dwell in. Additionally, the personal reaction from humanly suffering distinguishes the amazing qualities we have. Enduring torture can build up strength to overcome the pain, which leads to a better understanding of what someone can do in a hardship.
It states that the cause of suffering is known as samudaya or tanha. In greater detail, this Truth explains how in Buddhism, desire is understood to be the origin of suffering. Buddha speaks of this origin of suffering when he states: "It is craving, which brings renewal of being, is accompanied by delight and lust, that is, craving for sensual pleasure, craving for being, and craving for non-being. This is called the origin of suffering" (Christensen, 5). Buddhists refer to the sensation of desire as a mental state of cravings, all of which are aspirations that can never be satisfied since attachments are temporary and loss is inevitable, thus suffering will follow.
Suffering can be defined as an experience of discomfort suffered by a person during his life. The New York Times published an article entitled what suffering does, by David Brooks (2014). In this article, Brooks explains how suffering plays an important role in our pursuit of happiness. He explains firstly that happiness is found through experiences and then, suffering can also be a motivation in our pursuit of happiness. In other words, suffering is a fearful but necessary gift to acquire happiness. This paper is related to motivation and emotion, two keys words to the pursuit of happiness (King, 2010).
The Buddha stated that to live means to inescapably experience sorrow and dissatisfaction. Each new obstacle needs to be analyzed and understood so a solution can be found. Suffering cannot be avoided but the four noble truths indicate how each person can respond to it (Ellwood, McGraw, 121).