Quote:
Originally Posted by Athena  "Life is suffering" .... WHAT!!!??
did the Buddha say that or did someone else transcribe that?
he was just having a bad day if and when he said that 
as far as I know, life is pretty blissful.  |
I'm not a Buddhist, but I believe the reason one of the tennets of Buddhism is "life is suffering" is not to say that ALL life is suffering, but to say that when you have desire that goes unfulfilled, it is suffering.
In my opinion, I think rather than seek to eliminate desire completely, we should seek to control our desires, so that we may choose them to some extent. However, on the other side of the coin, I believe if you are balanced inwardly, you will not have desires that go unfulfilled. Maybe that's what Buddhists meant, then again, maybe not.
I find the more mentally balanced I become, the more my desires reflect that. For example, if I'm at peace, I have cravings for certain types of food. And as far as I can tell from my increasing state of energy and vitality, the food that I am drawn to eat seems to improve my general well being and health.
Then again, I may just keel over tommorrow.
