Reference no: EM133694373

Assignment:

Upon reading about the Buddha's life, the main problem he faces is clear: suffering. Many religions seek to explain or justify the suffering we experience (it comes from karma, or is a teaching tool, or is a mysterious result of God's will). If a religion is effective, it must at least provide coping mechanisms (like hope for an afterlife without suffering.) But Buddhism seems to be the only religion which has taken the problem head on in a radical way: Siddhartha sought to eliminate suffering, or at least greatly reduce it.

Suffering (dukkha in Sanskrit) has to do with a sense of dissatisfaction, a nagging feeling of not achieving pleasure. It can be the result of large-scale emotional trauma, like the loss of a loved one, but it also can be small things: trying to decide what would be the most satisfying lunch, boredom, and the often vague fear of our own eventual deaths are also types of suffering. The Four Noble Truths attempt to lay out the problem and attack it with the scientific method of diagnosis of the problem, finding its root, and from there the cure.

• But first a person must assess the first assumption: the first Noble Truth is often termed, Life is suffering. Is life suffering? Is this an overly pessimistic view? Or can suffering be lessened? Can it be avoided altogether?
• Try to present your view, or a view, on life's difficulties. Take a look at what your classmates have already posted and try to post something with ideas that aren't repetitive with their views.
• Along with responses from the instructor, let's try to move the discussion from our own general impressions about suffering to what Buddhism believes about the process of lessening suffering in our lives.