Life is all about suffering
Life symbolizes suffering. Human nature is imperfect, just like the world in which we live. Every human being has to endure some sort of suffering in their lives. Suffering includes physical affliction such as pain, exhaustion, injury, old age, and even death in the end. It also involves psychological agony, for instance, sadness, sorrow, fear, frustration, and stress. Some of the experiences we have are the reverse of suffering. Moreover, some anguish makes it possible for human beings to learn. Suffering comes in different measures. However, even with some positive experiences, life is not perfect, and neither is it complete. This is so because we are not permanently placed on earth. The implication is that we can not keep eternally whatever we strive to achieve. Sad moments do not last forever. Happy moments come and pass. In the same way, we all reach our end at some point (The four noble truths).
Gyastso (2005) argues that by knowing the sufferings we will go through in our lives, we are able to develop a tough wish to liberate our future from such suffering. The presentation will be used to create a free and happy future. Without this wish, our lives are wasted for the present life (Gyastso, 2005).
Attachment is responsible for all suffering on earth
When we become emotionally involved with temporary things and the consequential ignorance, we suffer. These transient things include physical objects, ideas, and anything we perceive. Our ignorance is related to how the minds become attached to transient things. We suffer because we desire, chase after wealth and fame, have passion and ardor. The things we long for are temporary. For this reason, we cannot prevent their loss. Suffering follows this loss. Sometimes we become attached to ourselves without knowing that the self is a delusion and an imagined entity. We are just a part of the universe (The four noble truths).
This truth teaches us, as Gyastso (2005) posits, that we should leave the delusions we hold of attachment and clinging. While we want to avoid suffering, we do not abandon our delusions. It is through our control and dumping of these delusions that we will attain freedom from suffering permanently.
It is possible to achieve the end of suffering
We have the potential to reach the end of suffering through nirodha. This is the unmaking of bodily desires and abstract attachment. Suffering can end through the attainment of dispassion, a human activity that involves getting rid of the cause of suffering. For detachment to be achieved, one passes through several stages, and the outcome is the state of Nirvana. This is freedom from suffering, worries, and complexes (The four noble truths).
We should strive to reach the lasting cessation of suffering. Gyastso (2005) goes on to explain that we can do this by developing strong rejection for the cycle of suffering and becoming strongly determined to achieve enlightenment which is the lasting cessation of suffering.
The course to the end of suffering
This denotes the path to the stop of affliction. It is a gradual path to improvement of the self. It can extend all the way through numerous lives, and during this time, one is open to the elements of karmic training. All individual desires, delusions, ignorance, and the effects of the same vanish gradually through this period (The four noble truths).
According to Gyastso (2005), this path is not the physical trail from place to place. It is a divine path that leads to the unadulterated joy of deliverance and enlightenment. Every human should therefore strive to practice the path in order to be liberated.
References
Gyastso, Geshe. (2005). How to solve our human problems: The four noble truths. Colorado: Avalokiteshvara Buddhist Center.
“The four noble truths.” 2009. Web.