When do you give up suffering?
Buddha said again and again that life is suffering. And what do we suffer, again and again, from rejection, from failure, from too little of this and too much of that, pain follows pain, sorrow and worry affect our moods, again and again we have sorrowful experiences.
Perhaps the following story can illustrate well for you the words of the historical Buddha.
A Buddhist monk was in search of "enlightenment", he lived like an ascetic, fasted incessantly, ate almost nothing, chastised himself, indulged himself little, prayed incessantly. He suffered terribly because he had little to eat, found no joy in life; his life was blameless, he followed the teachings of Buddha, his role model. However, the awakening would not come to him, the longed-for "enlightenment" was not granted to him, which troubled him very much.
In his temple he asked the other monks, asked everyone he met for advice, but no one could help him, could tell him what to do.
He left his monastery and traveled around, constantly trying to get a clue on how to get closer to his goal.
So he walked many ways, with his old monk's shoes, from village to village, from temple to temple, becoming completely obsessed with the all-important question of "awakening". The people he met felt compassion for the monk. When he lamented his suffering to an elderly peasant woman, she told him that there was a Chan master living in the mountains, but that the path there was arduous, that he would probably have to walk a long way, and that the master was not a monk either, whose opinion might not be suitable for him. In desperation, the monk brother set out anyway, wanting to know what the lonely teacher could advise him.
Through the forest he climbed the mountain, the path became more and more difficult to walk, the forest became denser and denser, the light became darker, the sun was no longer visible, trees stood in his path.
But now he had already started, he wanted to question the man, undeterred he climbed up. When he reached the top of the hill, he saw a small hut in a clearing, animals were to be seen, a small brook splashed into the valley. On a wooden bench sat an old man who looked at him as he approached. The monk gave his name and made his request.
"For many years I have been a monk, I have always kept the commandments of my order, I have no possessions, I eat only what is necessary, I have renounced all pleasures and pleasures, I know no greed, no hatred and no delusion; regularly I quote the holy scriptures, but "enlightenment" I cannot experience, I suffer greatly from it," he lamented his fate.
"What can I do to achieve my goal?"
The white man looked at him wearily and replied, "Give up suffering," then he paid no more attention to the monk, went back to his work.
The misfortune can make proud, the suffering makes humble
- Carmen Sylva - Queen of Romania and writer - 1843 to 1916
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