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“Pain is an inevitable aspect of life; suffering is an optional perspective that we can break.”
Whether I am aware of it or not, my perception and interpretation of the world are a result of my perspective.
For a long time, my primary perspective was worry or avoidance.
It took me years to recognize and admit that I was living my life from a perspective that created suffering. This revelation became the starting point that allowed me to create a more peaceful life.
In this article, I will share a 2,500-year-old framework that I use for understanding the origin of my suffering and end it.
As usual, let’s start with a working definition.
Definition: Pain vs. Suffering
Pain is an unavoidable physical sensation. It’s a natural part of life. It is our body’s response to stimuli.
Suffering is mental distress caused by our reaction to pain or unpleasant feelings and emotions. It is a result of resisting reality, clinging, or avoiding specific outcomes and experiences.
The Four Noble Truths: a Plan of Action
In Buddhism, there are four foundational principles known as the Four Noble Truths.
- Suffering is inherent in me.
- Suffering arises from my cravings and attachments.
- Suffering can only be ended by me.
- There is a path to end suffering, and I’m responsible for staying on it.
These Four guiding lights form the cornerstone of my thinking and decision-making proccces.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these in more detail.
1. Suffering is Inherent in Life
Dissatisfaction and discontentment are the primary fundamental aspects of human existence that create most suffering. They are driven by our need to fit in, that manifests as fear of lack and not being good enough.
The consumer society and social media fuel our dissatisfaction and suffering in ways most of us don’t understand until it’s too late.
Most of us are so invested in the pursuit of status through material possessions that we don’t notice that it leads to a sense of dissatisfaction and emptiness.
Despite acquiring the latest, and watching the latest, we still feel unfulfilled, only adding to our suffering.
The beauty, fashion, and entertainment industries often set unrealistic expectations for our appearance and media consumption.
The inadequacy it creates and the tendency to compare ourselves to others are no longer debatable.The question is to what extent it causes us to lose sight of what a life free of suffering feels like.
The negative impact of consumerism and comparison on our health and our relationships contributes to feelings of guilt, anxiety, and despair.
In our pursuit of happiness through material possessions, consumption, and comparison, we inadvertently create new forms of suffering—forms that wouldn’t exist if we stepped off this relentless hamster wheel. I’ll elaborate on this further in my closing thoughts.
The realization that suffering is an inherent part of life has and keeps inviting me to reflect on my choices and habits.
2. Suffering Arises from Craving or Attachment
External circumstances do not cause my suffering.
It arises from me craving for things and people to be different from what they are.
My attachment to specific states of being creates a state of dissatisfaction and suffering.
By recognizing and taking responsibility for my cravings and attachments with self-compassion, I have been able to reduce my suffering by 90%.
3. Suffering can be Ended
When I lost loved ones, or even think about losing them, my initial reaction is to resist the reality of their death, creating more suffering.
Accepting loss, while painful, reduces my suffering.
In my attachment to the loss of a relationship, or friendship I prolong my suffering.
I alleviate suffering by being present and observing it without judgment. Letting go of my expectations of permanence reduces rumination and avoidance.
Intelectual understanding doesn’t eliminate suffering – practice does.
My goal isn’t to eliminate pain, which I recognize as a natural part of life – My goal is to reduce the additional suffering I create through my reactions to pain.
Rather than pursuing happiness, I strive to achieve a state free from mental anguish and dissatisfaction. This, in my observations, is a more sustainable way of living.
4. There is a Path to end Suffering
Once you have internalized the Four Noble Truths, you’re ready to enter the Eightfold Path. This path provides a practical guide for addressing the root causes of suffering and achieving personal growth.
Recovering Sanity: Shifting Perspectives on Suffering and Self
For the first 28 years of my life, I subscribed to the idea that suffering was an inevitable part of life. Ironically, this belief itself became a major source of my suffering.
I began to recover my sanity the moment I accepted that nothing exists independently, but arises in relationship to all things.
What I call the self is not a fixed entity but a collection of interconnected mental states and behaviors, leading to the creation or ending of suffering.
My thoughts and actions condition my experiences.
Personal growth is based on my understanding that attachment to pain creates suffering. This realization can only come from examining the sources of suffering in my own life.
Note to Self:
While I cannot control the pain I experience, I can choose how I respond to it. Cultivating a mindful and compassionate approach, I minimize suffering and find peace amidst life’s challenges.
The Eightfold Path: Practical Steps to End Suffering
The Eightfold Path is one of the oldest experiential practices to achieving a state of profound freedom from all delusions and attachments.
Staying on this path has opened my eyes to the nature of my self-made reality that gets me into trouble.
By practicing these principles, I have gradually transformed my mind and life, moving towards greater wisdom, compassion, and inner peace.
The Eightfold Path consists of three main categories: wisdom, ethical conduct, and mental discipline. Each containing practical guidelines for living a meaningful and fulfilling life.
1. Wisdom
Right View: begins with understanding the true nature of reality as outlined in the Four Noble Truths.
Right Intention: Cultivating pure and healthy intentions, free from greed, hatred, and delusion.
2. Ethical Conduct
Right Speech: Speaking truthfully, kindly, and beneficially.
Right Action: Engaging in ethical and compassionate behaviors and habits.
Right Livelihood: Earning a living in a way that is ethical and beneficial to others.
3. Mental Discipline
Right Effort: Applying effort to cultivate healthy and constructive states of mind while eliminating harmful ones.
Right Mindfulness: Cultivating awareness of the present moment without judgment.
Right Concentration: Developing deep and sustained concentration on the right things.
Closing Thoughts
Like a hamster running on a wheel, most of us are constantly moving but never actually progressing.
We are mindless consumers, chasing temporary satisfaction from new acquisitions, quickly followed by renewed dissatisfaction.
We work harder to afford more things, believing they will bring happiness.
The truth is that this relentless pursuit creates a self-perpetuating cycle of craving and dissatisfaction, leading to increased suffering rather than the happiness and fulfillment we seek.
Recognizing the “hamster wheel” is a crucial step in breaking free from it and finding more meaningful sources of happiness and personal growth.
How do we make this transition?
The first step is accepting that the self is not a fixed entity but a continuous process without a definite endpoint. Only when I embraced this truth did I begin to see noticeable improvements in my thoughts, actions, and feelings.
Viewing the self as a process is one of the most important cornerstones of personal growth.
The right path is not created; it’s revealed through practice. It is ever-present in the here and now, even if often obscured by unhealthy desire and attachment.
It is not technology, but our perspective that is the glue that puts everything together, this and this only, has the potential to revolutionize humanity.
I don’t strive to be a saint; I strive to be a practitioner of mindfulness and compassion towards myself and others.
In my experience, if you have a mind, then Buddhist teachings are for you.
The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path represent the qualities we all need to stop inflicting suffering on ourselves and others.
By following the eightfold path, you awaken to a deeper understanding of reality, that will transform your perspective on yourself, ultimately fostering greater inner peace.
Thank you for reading. If you found this useful, share it!