Can problem and suffering help you understand life?

Wherever you in live this world — in a hospital, in an urban city, or in your cosy little apartment even hotel suite — you will always experience problems, unsatisfactoriness and difficulties from time to time.

This is just the nature of life. So when you have problems with your health you shouldn't say, “Doctor, there is something wrong with me — I’m sick”; rather you should say, “I’m sick today and there is nothing wrong with me.” It’s the nature of the human body to be sick now and then.

Sickness comes with this body, so does old age, death and unsatisfactoriness

It’s the natural phenomena of life. It’s like how your IPhone got corrupted and erase all your contacts. It’s the nature of life to be this way. Even though we struggle as human beings to try to make life go smoothly for ourselves and others, nevertheless it’s impossible to ensure that happens.

Most of the time we misinterpret that the suffering comes from the world or people around us but it’s impossible for the world to give you suffering, if you don’t take it.

That’s not how this universe works. If you ask for something from people or the world that can’t provide, you should understand that you’re asking for suffering. So anytime when you work or enjoying your holiday, please accept that things will go wrong from time to time. Your job is not to ask for a smooth journey but to observe and how to handle the unexpected. If you can’t beat suffering, stay close to suffering and understand, accept, and let it go. The more you fight your body, your mind, your enemies, and the world, the more collateral damage you’ll cause and the more pain you’ll experience.

It’s the nature of the world for things to go wrong, that’s why the first noble truth taught by the Buddha, life is subjected by unsatisfactoriness and sufferings.

Don’t be a control Freak

We don’t try to control suffering; rather, we try to understand it by investigating its causes. It’s an important point in our practice, because when most human beings experience suffering, they make the mistake of either running away from it or trying to change it.

We don’t blame the iPhone or technology for its inadequacy, that’s just the nature of machinery. They break down and crushed, So we should change our attitude and stop fighting against the nature.

We are wise enough to stop running away from those problems or trying to change them. It’s like having a rotten apple and trying to cut out the rotten parts so you can eat the rest.

Unsatifactoriness, Old age, Sickness and Death is your inheritance. This is what awaits you in the future. This is something that’s certain: you can’t run away from it, all you can do is realising the existence. Everything will get old, disintegrate, and die—everything goes wrong and breaks down. The Buddha-to-be was wise enough to know that even with all his spiritual qualities and accumulated merit, he could not avoid that suffering. A different response was needed: to fully understand it.

Difficult times are wonderful opportunities to sit down and face suffering, to understand it fully and not take the easy option of always running away.

It’s the nature of most human beings to avoid suffering or problems whenever they are suffering, they have their escape routes: shopping therapy, eating disorders, lamenting non-stop. What are we really walking away from? What have we done to understand the problems or sufferings?

There’s the famous story of Kisāgotamī, a mother whom lost his son tragically by asking Buddha to retrieve his son back to life.

The Buddha’s strategy for moving Kisāgotamī away from the grief and suffering caused by the death of her son was to make sure she understands that other people die as well: the death of her son was not the only death in this world. If the Buddha had consoled her and told her to deal with it, I don’t think she would have understand it, so Buddha asked her to collect a mustard seed from a family that death has never occurred.

After spending weeks to find the mustard seed, she finally understands and comprehends the impermanence of life. Even the richest man and most beautiful woman can’t run away from death. She then buried her son and went back to Buddha and asks for ordination to become a nun, she was one of the outstanding nun whom attend arahantship (Enlightenment).

Full story: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/hecker/wheel292.html#kisa

Buddha taught Kisāgotamī to understand the universality of this problem.

When we understand, we don’t just accept things, because that’s not good enough either. To think, Just let it be, this is the way things are, When we fully understand the problem of suffering, what we’re in for, what life is truly like, there’s only one natural response. It’s neither trying to escape but to accept it and take this suffering or pain as a lesson to understand it and how we live our life and benefit others that matters the most...

For all you know, there's nothing wrong with me, I'm just sick.

Inspired by the teachings of Ajahn Brahm on The Art of Disappearing
http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Disappearing-Buddhas-Lasting/dp/086171668X