Protestantism

» paper_turtle - The natureof suffering

Mr Green is the wealthiest man in town--but he is miserable. He is obsessed by the idea that someone will steal all his wealth.
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Mrs Green is no happier than Mr Green, whom she never sees. She has every THING in the world, but inside she is empty.
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You are defining suffering very narrowly. We all suffer because of fear, feelings of inadequacy, physical ailment or condition, hatred, envy, greed, the lust for power, and so-on.
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This suffering is caused by our illusions about the nature of our reality. We perceive a threat where there is none, or we fear something which will never happen. We believe we cannot, and so we render ourselves unable to do it. We hate someone--and all we do is poison our own minds and souls. We envy our neighbor and become unable to see all the wonderful things which are in our lives. We long for material things and then discover things do not make us happy. We want power and then learn the only thing we can really control is ourselves. We bring this kind os suffering on ourselves.
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And we all do this, in one way or another--because we make a "god" of some THING, we form an attachment. People can also be attached to anger, self-righteousness, pride, prejudice, their perception of reality, or whatever. These attachments cause suffering--anxiety, stress, physical problems, lack of sleep, damaged relationships. This kind of suffering is commojn to all.
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The suffering of those who are starving, naked, or whatever, is a matter of deep distress to any Buddhist.
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In addition, you are looking at things from a Western view-point--and making a lot of assumptions about what life was like in the time of Buddha.
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You are very mistaken about the role of priests. And you are very mistaken about control. Buddhists are focused on controlling themselves so that they consistently walk in awareness and respond with compassion. They aren't after power. They are not materialsitic. There may be wealthy Buddhists, but I've never met one. If there are, I feel confident in saying he or she gives away much more than any Western person does.
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Ask the man on the street if life means suffering. I'll bet most would say yes. As I said earlier, the epxerience of suffering is optional, but we all know pain and heartache and longing and loneliness.
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peace and love,
Paper Turtle

-- posted by paper_turtle