First of all, I want to declare that I am not a real Buddhist. Although I believe in Buddhist theory, I don't practice it. It's too difficult to do it. But I still want to say that it is reasonable for Buddhism to say that life is a sea of suffering. Let me talk about my understanding of the seven pains of life.
The first bitter: health
Many people don't understand this kind of suffering, because everyone thinks it is good to live. Many people are afraid of death and greedy for life, which proves that everyone wants to live. How can they suffer?
Some people think that the suffering of life refers to having children, especially women, which is particularly reasonable. Needless to say, this answer is definitely wrong. Because the Buddha said that the suffering of life must point to the public, including men and women. Giving birth to children is bitter, but it is also limited to women and has no effect on men.
In fact, the suffering of life refers to the suffering of survival. In order to live, people must first solve the problem of food and clothing. Maybe this is something that modern people can't feel. But the older generation has some experience. When I was a child, I often heard my grandmother talk about how hungry I used to be. When there is not enough rice, I have to eat sweet potatoes and cassava. This is already very good. This is the life that people who live in the mountains enjoy. People living in the village have no spare place to grow miscellaneous grains for them. You really have to tighten your belt when you are hungry.
Grandma also said something even more tragic, that is, one year the harvest was not good, and it was almost gone, and it was not time to harvest new grain. It is very difficult to borrow from others. On the one hand, others have little surplus grain. On the other hand, even if people who have surplus grain are willing to borrow it, they have to look at others. If they think you may not be able to repay, they won't lend it to you. This is human nature, and there is no need to blame.
At that time, grandma had not gone through the door, Taigong was far away in Thailand, and the pressure she had to face with her young grandfather and two aunts could be imagined. Finally, I had no choice but to entrust a neighbor who came back from Thailand to visit relatives and asked him to tell the squire about his family. Taigong sent back 100 yuan from Thailand to help the whole family tide over the difficulties.
At that time, the family really faced the threat of starvation, and it was sad to think about it. In those years, every year at the end of the busy farming, grandma was seriously ill. Although I have never seen her, I also feel that she is very poor and not easy.
If we look around the world, think about the countries that have suffered from war and think about the hungry people in Africa. Although it has been 2 1 century, the suffering of human existence is far from being solved.
Even in the developed cities of China, people live in peace and prosperity, and they still feel the pressure of life, but this is not a matter of food and clothing, but a matter of whether they live a decent life. If these problems are not solved well, they will also feel the pain of living.
The second bitter: old.
Youth is the best, and it is also the easiest to make people feel happy, whether it is physical condition or mental condition. But youth will always pass away. Entering middle age, people will feel more and more flesh on their bodies, more and more wrinkles on their faces, rounder chins and bigger trousers. People are afraid to take pictures at this time. If they have to take pictures, they must find the angle, and the most important thing is to use a beauty camera. In order to delay aging, people are willing to spend money on various gyms and beauty shops.
Middle age is not as beautiful as adolescence, but it will not bring too much trouble to life. The real headache is getting old. The strength is not as good as before. You have to take a few breaks on several floors, you have to be panting after running a few steps, and it will break when you fall lightly. These are all bitter places.
The third pain: disease
A healthy person will not know the pain of illness. A person who has no concept of health shows that he is healthy. It is important to feel healthy, which shows that he has experienced the pain of illness.
If someone feels that life is dull and they get too little, they can go to the hospital and look at those who are in wheelchairs or lying in bed with broken hands and feet, those who are pale and have no eyes, and those who can't bear to be tortured and groaned. I believe that happiness will increase a lot.
I know a man who often complains about his poverty and envies the life of those rich people. Once he was ill and it was a chronic disease, which made him lose his temper. I went to see him, and he said to me sincerely, "In fact, it doesn't matter if you are poor, as long as you are healthy. Really, it doesn't matter if you eat less, eat rougher, or live worse. "
He has felt the pain of the disease. I also have a deep understanding of the pain of illness. I was really desperate when I was sick. All the splendor is dirt in my eyes, so I think it's good to live healthily.
The fourth bitterness: death
This is perhaps the most unwilling and taboo topic among the seven sufferings. On many occasions, you can't talk about this topic casually. Even those atheists who look very scientific don't like talking about this topic, because everyone will feel unlucky. This shows people's fear of death.
Especially for people without religious beliefs, they are more afraid of death, because they think that people have only one life, and when they die, they have nothing, which is a terrible thing. People are unhappy and even miserable when they are alive, but they would rather live than die, because although there is pain, at least there is happiness, even if it is not much. So many people would rather be disabled, live a miserable life and stay in this world.
People with religious beliefs will be relatively optimistic, because these people believe that after death, there is not nothing left, and the soul will continue to live. So some of these people even accepted death gladly.
Fifth bitterness: resentment and hatred
Living with annoying people is also very painful. Some people hate a person, and when they see him, they will be emotional, or they will be calm on the surface and have a rough heart. They will always think about him, hate him while thinking about it, and feel uncomfortable all over. This kind of life is also very difficult.
In reality, some people resign angrily on the grounds that they don't like someone. To be able to lose all your jobs is to hate the pain of society.
Of course, there are other situations that cannot be listed one by one.
Sixth Bitterness: Love Parting
Love here is not only love, but also family friendship and some other emotions. It refers to a kind of friendship. Of course, the highest proportion that may happen in reality is love.
Love to the depths, feel so beautiful, it is easy to go crazy, just want to have it forever, don't want to lose it.
Once lost, it will certainly be extremely painful.
The loss of love, friendship and affection will make people who are deeply involved cry. What is weight, heartbreak and despair? These are real adjectives, not too many.
Not to mention people, it is said that modern people like pet dogs, because dogs only have a life span of more than ten years, and it is also painful for owners to face the natural death of dogs. All this is because we want to leave love.
The seventh bitter: welcome.
This kind of suffering should afflict almost everyone, because everyone has his own pursuit, but it is not so easy to get it. In order to get it, do everything possible, or do nothing but try to get it. This state is unpleasant. Even if you get it, you will have new pursuits and desires and fall into new pain.
I know a farmer who used to be poor. He did a lot of manual work, so he was naturally tired. The problem of food and clothing is barely solved, and fish are naturally scarce. I remember he said at that time, "If one day I don't need to work and have food, then I will be satisfied."
But later his wish came true, because he had been supported by his children and didn't have to do farm work. But he didn't feel happy, because he began to envy others, Sun Mantang, and his money rolled in.
Many people envy those who have successful careers around them and think that they must live happily. Actually, not necessarily, because those people will not compare with the people below. Their eyes are fixed on the higher society, and they feel nothing.
So it is right to say that contentment is always happy. If you are satisfied, you have nothing to ask for.
Life is so bitter, is there really nothing good in life? There is nothing to miss. Actually, it's not. I don't think so. I'm sure Buddha wouldn't think so either. There are many beautiful things in life, such as youth, love, friendship, affection and so on.
Although youth is beautiful, people always get old, get sick and eventually die. It's good to be happy with your wife and children, but these relationships won't last long. Someone will go first and everything will be lost.
This is why the Buddha wants to find out what is the essence of these things in the world, what is the truth, and who decides all this. He felt that he couldn't find the answers to these questions at home, so he left home to find the answers alone.
But this is not enlightenment, not Buddha, but a higher realm of life. This is not easy, because knowing is easier than doing, and people are still easy to get into the play. I understood it for a while, but something happened in reality and I forgot it right away, so I should still do what I should do. I don't know what enlightenment is and what Buddha is, and I dare not talk nonsense.
This is my superficial understanding of Buddhism, which is for communication only. I hope Dade can correct me.