In addition to the four sufferings and the eight sufferings, which describe types of suffering, Buddhism analyzes suffering according to its cause in three ways (the three sufferings): suffering caused directly, the physical pain experienced by all living creatures with sensory systems; suffering caused by loss or destruction of things to which human beings have attachments or of which they entertain expectations; and suffering caused by the impermanence of all things. The first kind of suffering is objective. The second is subjective and can be relieved by altering one’s mental attitude. Much of the suffering that human beings experience is of this kind, as is most of the suffering that religions are called upon to succor. The last of the three sufferings, caused by the impermanence of all things, is an idea that permeates Buddhism and Indian philosophy in general.Basic Buddhist Concepts
Monthly Archives: September 2018
Daily Dharma – Sept. 1, 2018
Flower-Virtue! This Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva protects all living beings in this Sahā-World. He transforms himself into one or another of these various living beings in this Sahā-World and expounds this sūtra to all living beings without reducing his supernatural powers, [his power of] transformation, and his wisdom.
The Buddha gives this explanation to Flower-Virtue Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty-Four of the Lotus Sūtra. Like many of the Bodhisattvas, Wonderful-Voice takes on the form of countless beings to reach those whom he has vowed to lead to enlightenment. For those who can be reached by a teacher, he becomes a teacher. For those who can be reached by a child, he becomes a child. For those who can be reached by a stranger, he becomes a stranger. Understanding the innumerable forms the Bodhisattvas take on to help us, we can ask: Who in this world of conflict and suffering is not a Bodhisattva? From whom can we not learn how to see things for what they are?
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