On Suffering and Meaning

“Accepting our human condition of unsatisfactoriness is the antidote to suffering, for somebody who knows that the oil in his lamp is limited, will not moan after its extinction. One who knows that the lamp which he has lit is not safe from the harsh winds will not scream when it is blown out.” — Bayazid al-Bistami

A simple surfing of the internet or single remote control flick unleash the floodgates of terrible news and scenes of suffering from all around the world. News cycles often feature stories of poverty, famine, death, illness, injustice, torture, wars and conflict, a clear reflection of the amount of suffering endured on a daily basis all around the world.

Still, some would argue that the overall condition of modern-day society is progressing with somewhat of that suffering being alleviated. Even if that were true, this completely ignores the individualistic view of suffering found in every home around the globe, of course in varying amounts. Sure, our economic, political and social statuses might be improving, but that does not mean the world is any less insufferable.

Since the dawn of civilization, philosophers, theologians, spiritualists, social scientists and artists have tried to make sense of the world’s problem of suffering, searching for ways to cope with this recurring state.

Starting with Buddhism’s ‘Four Noble Truths’, we find Siddhartha Gautama enlightening seekers about the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering.

The Four Noble Truths contain the essence of the Buddha’s teachings. It was these four principles that the Buddha came to understand during his meditation under the Bodhi tree:

The truth of suffering The truth of the origin of suffering The truth of the cessation of suffering The truth of the path to the cessation of suffering

In the Fire Sermon, delivered to a thousand Bhikkhus (Buddhist monks), the Buddha elaborated more on suffering and its true cause.

Bhikkhus, all is burning. And what is the all that is burning? The eye is burning, forms are burning, eye-consciousness is burning, eye-contact is burning, also whatever is felt as pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant that arises with eye-contact for its indispensable condition, that too is burning. Burning with what? Burning with the fire of lust, with the fire of hate, with the fire of delusion. I say it is burning with birth, aging and death, with sorrows, with lamentations, with pains, with griefs, with despairs. — The Fire Sermon (SN 35:28), translation by N̄anamoli Thera.

In Buddhism, suffering is associated with attachment, and the release from that state can only be achieved by relinquishing the delusion and ignorance that fuel the attachment and clinging. The cessation of suffering is the nirvana.

According to Hindu literature and thought, suffering is an inevitable and essential aspect of life. Religious practice in various schools of Hinduism has a purpose of resolving human suffering that arises from samsara, which in a specific sense means the cycle of births and deaths and in a more general sense, transient life. As long as one is blinded by this transient life, indulging in all its materialistic and mundane aspects, one stays bound by attachment, with no escape from suffering.

Hindu traditions call for coping with suffering by accepting it as a fair and just consequence, keeping in mind that suffering is not random. If one were to ask why is he facing all grief and suffering, with a thought of certain circumstances being unfair, the response would be that his current situation is the exact, accurate and correct situation for him to be in, given his soul’s previous actions.

As a concept, Taoists do not maintain the philosophical position of good versus evil; rather believing in the interdependence of all dualities. Therefore, by labeling something as good, one automatically creates evil. In this sense, all actions contain some aspect of what we call good and evil. This is represented in the Taiji, the “Great Ultimate” state of undifferentiated absolute and infinite potential, oneness before duality, from which the wide-known Yin and Yang terms originate.

According to the Tao Te Ching and Zhuangzi, nature is indifferent, amoral and cares nothing for individuals. For instance, the Zhuangzi emphasizes that death is a mere part of the natural cycle, and that illness, death, and misfortune, all considered manifestations of suffering, are inevitable aspects of human life. Similar to the Buddhist concept of Śūnyatā — translated most often as voidness and sometimes emptiness — good and evil are just empty conceptual abstractions that have no permanent independent existence.

Islam teaches enduring grief and suffering through hope and faith. Those who are faithful should not resist it, nor ask why. Instead, the faithful must accept suffering as “God’s will” and live through it with faith that God never asks more of them than they can endure.

Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity. It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned. — Quran [2:286]

Sufism, or the mystical branch of Islam, offers a more down-to-earth existentialist perspective concerning suffering and its purpose with respect to our human condition of “unsatisfactoriness”. In this regard, Hazrat Bayazid Bistami, a Persian Sufi spiritual master, explains:

Accepting our human condition of unsatisfactoriness is the antidote to suffering, for somebody who knows that the oil in his lamp is limited, will not moan after its extinction. One who knows that the lamp which he has lit is not safe from the harsh winds will not scream when it is blown out.

Sufism, like Buddhist thought, acknowledges the inevitability of suffering as part of the general structure of this existence, and spiritually speaking, suffering is beneficial, even a blessing, if one knows its redemptive purport, transformative aim and transcendental objective.

Some Sufis have been called the “people of the graves”, because of their practice of frequenting graveyards to ponder on death and one’s mortality, as a way of reminding themselves of the true nature of existence and the true aim. Constant remembrance of death and its inevitability leads the Sufi to reassess many things, in particular, Sufis develop a careful attitude towards the time which they have on Earth. Reflections on death are an efficient means of fighting unwanted attachments and habits. In this regard, Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali states: “If you like something of the world and an attachment is born in you — recall about death.”

One cannot examine the problem of suffering without touching on the issue of Jesus’ trials and tribulations. Throughout these trials, Jesus was faced by physical pain, emotional and even spiritual, with both exoteric and esoteric interpretations giving great importance to that idea. In a way, Jesus’ suffering and burdens meant to highlight the role of suffering in transcending the materiality of the world, with all its vices, and reaching the ultimate truth and meaning.

The Bible’s Book of Job reflects and examines the nature and meaning of suffering. This ancient wisdom literature is often used to ponder the purpose of suffering and the outcome to be reached after experiencing dreadful pain and despair. The Book of Job has without a doubt one of the most in-depth descriptions of the human psyche when faced with hardships and suffering, with plenty of lessons and morals to be derived both in spiritual and earthly senses.

Tales and mentions of Job’s suffering can be found in Jewish, Christian, Bahá’í and Islamic literature, with details describing the distress, intense illness and suffering he went through. Job’s endurance of suffering and his strong faith may be powerful symbols of how a human being should treat misfortune and the hardships that come along the journey of life, no matter how devastating.

According to the Bahá’í Faith, suffering is nothing but a brief and temporary manifestation of physical life, whose source is the material aspects of physical existence, and often attachment to them, whereas only joy exists in the spiritual worlds. In the words of `Abdu’l-Bahá:

All these examples are to show you that the trials which beset our every step, all our sorrow, pain, shame and grief, are born in the world of matter; whereas the spiritual Kingdom never causes sadness. A man living with his thoughts in this Kingdom knows perpetual joy. The ills all flesh is heir to do not pass him by, but they only touch the surface of his life, the depths are calm and serene.

Suffering has also been a concept of interest for Stoic philosophers and thinkers. For Stoics, the greatest good lies in reason and virtue, but the soul best reaches it through a kind of indifference to pleasure and pain: as a consequence, this doctrine has become identified with stern self-control in regard to suffering.

In this regard, Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius writes:

Whenever you suffer pain, keep in mind that it’s nothing to be ashamed of and that it can’t degrade your guiding intelligence, nor keep it from acting rationally and for the common good. And in most cases you should be helped by the saying of Epicurus, that pain is never unbearable or unending, so you can remember these limits and not add to them in your imagination. Remember too that many common annoyances are pain in disguise, such as sleepiness, fever and loss of appetite. When they start to get you down, tell yourself you are giving in to pain.

In one of literature’s most powerful works, we see Seneca, the Stoic philosopher and statesman, write a consolatory letter to his friend Marcia years after she lost her son Metilius. Through this letter, Seneca intended to cure Marcia’s chronic sorrow that was bounding her, warning his friend that he is willing to battle this grief.

Through this work, Seneca offers several Stoic statements regarding the nature of life, the truth about death, while addressing the issues of grief, suffering and misfortune which often bond human beings.

I have determined to do battle with your grief, and I will dry those weary and exhausted eyes, which already, to tell you the truth, are weeping more from habit than from sorrow. I will effect this cure, if possible, with your goodwill: if you disapprove of my efforts, or dislike them, then you must continue to hug and fondle the grief which you have adopted as the survivor of your son. All vices sink into our whole being, if we do not crush them before they gain a footing; and in like manner these sad, pitiable, and discordant feelings end by feeding upon their own bitterness, until the unhappy mind takes a sort of morbid delight in grief. What madness this is, to punish one’s self because one is unfortunate, and not to lessen, but to increase one’s ills! … For there is such a thing as self-restraint in grief also. There is no great credit in behaving bravely in times of prosperity, when life glides easily with a favoring current, neither does a calm sea and fair wind display the art of the pilot. Some foul weather is wanted to prove his courage.

Stoicism’s prominent leaders and philosophers, especially Epictetus, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius, offered rules and guidelines to help people get through the hardships of life, with brilliant words and aphorisms.

Epictetus overcame the horrors of slavery, ending up founding his own school which led to teaching many of Romes greatest minds. Seneca, the man who was charged with suicide by Nero, was concerned with consoling his wife and friends. And of course, Marcus Aurelius, one of the greatest leaders in his time, spent a good portion of his time in meditation writing brilliant pages calling for compassion, patience, and restraint.

The central essay of Albert Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus revolves around a portrait of the mythological figure of Sisyphus. Sisyphus, the king of Corinth, was infamous for his trickery, ultimately cheating death twice, which ultimately led Zeus to sentence him to an eternal punishment of rolling a boulder up a hill in the depth of Hades, only for the boulder to roll back down again.

Camus presents The Myth of Sisyphus as an allegory attempting to justify the view that life is meaningless and absurd, but nonetheless should be taken as a challenge. Sisyphus is a symbol of mankind as a whole and Sisyphus’ punishment symbolizes what we do every single day during our lives. In Camus’ view, our actions are also as meaningless and fruitless just like Sisyphus’ boulder-rolling.

Surely this sounds horrifying, a life lived with utter despair, but Camus tells us that we should imagine Sisyphus happy, he writes:

I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain. One always finds one’s burden again.But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night-filled mountain, in itself, forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.

Sisyphus is happy because he has accepted the punishment assigned to him. Sisyphus understands that he has to roll the boulder up, and when he achieves this goal while standing at the top of the hill he experiences happiness, momentary happiness. He looks forward to this happiness.

The idea that life is full of suffering is not a call to hopelessness and despair. On the contrary, acknowledging suffering and its indifferent and inevitable nature requires an immense amount of will, with the aim of overcoming in mind. Tibetan Buddhists believe that the best world to be born in is the physical world, due to its great opportunity for spiritual growth and realization, placing great importance in suffering as a tool for reaching enlightenment.

People rarely consider suffering and misfortune blessings, yet suffering usually brings out strengths most people are unaware of. Devoid of any attachment to mundane desires, one begins his true journey towards meaning, through which essence and truth are deciphered.

In his masterpiece On The Genealogy of Morals, German Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche writes that man’s problem,“Was not suffering itself, but the lack of an answer to that crying question, “To what purpose do we suffer?” Man, the bravest animal and the one most inured to suffering, does not repudiate suffering in itself: he wills it, he even seeks it out, provided that he is shown a meaning for it, a purpose of suffering”.

And in Man’s Search For Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl writes that,“In some way, suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice….That is why man is even ready to suffer, on the condition, to be sure, that his suffering has a meaning.”

Fortuna cannot be outsmarted, but with the right mentality it could become powerless. One shouldn’t live terrified of possible grief, nor should be crippled by the presence of suffering. Suffering shouldn’t be something one runs away from, nor tries to ignore, on the contrary, suffering should be embraced as the necessary dark tunnel one goes through to reach the brighter side.