3. He spent six years experiencing 5 “extreme self-denial techniques” (p. 131). What were they?…
e ringer to have a child, but if you ask any good mother, they’d do it all over again for their kid.…
This quote reflects the attitude that the Buddha believes is necessary to deal with suffering. First we must recognise that suffering exists, but that it is not a part of us. By saying “I suffer” rather than “There is suffering” we separate the suffering from ourselves and make it a collective thing that each person and creature has a part of. We are not the only one who suffers and this fact helps us to let go of our suffering in awareness of others worse off than ourselves.…
Suffering is a term that is closely related to the concepts of evil and pain. The verb, suffer, means to undergo or endure. Suffering is linked with the experience of anguish or misery in which humans are aware of the hardships of their intent or function. Suffering, with its biological and psychological matters, may be the result of moral evil where human sin leads to affliction (injustice, greed, war, rape, exploitation) or of natural evil (droughts, floods, earthquakes, accident, illness). Suffering, as a state of mind, may also relate to circumstances of places, possessions and people rather than evil (Atkinson…
What is pity? Pity is simply the concern aroused by the misfortune or suffering of others. As the emotion of pity deepens, it can correlate itself with sympathy and lead to compassion (Baird 1). Dante comprises this idea of pity within the narration of his characters in the Inferno. Dante creates fluctuating moralities that contrasts with the narrative tale of the sinners to the protagonist. The contrasts that are made by the sinner are reflected upon by Dante, he refers to this as the struggle pity. The great struggle of pity is brought on upon by the sinners, whom create scapegoats to relieve blame from their own sins and to provoke pity from their audiences.…
I believe that suffering does help one become more human, that one cannot, or should not avoid suffering, and that by suffering we can form a bond and understanding of other people. In my opinion, there is not a single person that has not had to endure pain and suffering. It seems that some people go through more pain and suffering than others, but all go through some form or degree of it. Research suggest that, despite its unpleasantness, suffering may actually have positive social consequences, acting as a sort of “social glue” that fosters cohesion and solidarity within groups of people. Suffering is simply a part of life. I think that our own suffering helps us to empathize with others suffers, and because we have truly walked in the…
The concept of human suffering is relevant in many different texts and cultures. But what does it all mean? How do different cultures such as the Ancient Greeks and Romans, or the Jewish and Christians view and value human suffering. In the Aeneid, Aeneas suffers a mystery. The fate and destiny of Aeneas is to escape from Troy and sail into Italy, where his descendants, Romulus and Remus, will eventually find the mightiest empire in the world, Rome. However, Aeneas suffers over the course of his journey because the goddess Juno, who holds a grudge against the Trojans, stand in their way. In the Book of Job, Job suffers a mystery because God allows the satan to test Job’s faith, without Job knowledge. Human suffering in these texts originates…
Foreshadowing or first obstacle helps to identify, or gives a hint (idea) of what the problem of the story is. Paolo Coelho has several foreshadowing events in the Alchemist; for example, the scene in which Santiago relates his dream to the gypsy, regarding the Egyptian pyramids. The dream itself is an indication of a foreshadowing event. It indicates the events that eventually will occur through the book, ‘’gives a taste of the problem ‘’.…
Suffering is an individual's basic affective experience of pain or distress, often as a result of one’s physical, emotional or spiritual circumstance (Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy 2006). Suffering can be classified as physical; for example pain caused by a dislocated knee, emotional; for example one’s grief over the death of a loved one, or spiritual; which is described as the state of being separated from the blissful nature of your divine self (soul). To suffer physically or emotionally is often unavoidable;…
One thing that doesn’t come up when you think of the meaning of suffering is that it can be good thing. A lot of people think that people suffer for their sins but in Robert Schroeder’s book he writes about John Paul’s response to the book of Job.“John Paul responds that job teaches us an essential lesson about the relationship between God, humanity, and suffering- namely, that not all suffering is a punishment for sin.” (Schroeder, 92) Pope John Paul II wanted to get the point across that sometimes people can suffer innocently. To prove his point he goes into the book of Job and job’s story of suffering. I think that people can turn away from their faith because they suffer. The Catechism states “Our experiences of evil and suffering, injustice,…
I believe suffering is something ones self is born with. When we give our first steps in this world we soon realize there is struggle and the struggle is ever lasting in ones life. Alaska Young was brought down with the suffering in her life. The labyrinth of her life dragged her down and the question of escaping the labryitnh would not leave her mind. She broke. Alaska got out of her labyrinth “straight and fast.”…
Dreams are the purpose of life. In order to achieve them, we must suffer to gain knowledge. In one of their conversations, the alchemist tells Santiago that suffering is very significant to “ master the lessons we’ve learned as we’ve moved toward the dream” (132). In other words, it pain and hardships makes us stronger, and those who become stronger, succeed in achieving their desires and dreams. However, some people simply ignore the misfortunes life gives us and follow an easier path. That path will not conduct them to their dreams, but a meaningless, passionless life. Therefore, undergoing some kind of misery or distress throughout our journey will not only makes us mentally and physically stronger, but it will also gives us excitement and…
Suffering is an inescapable part of life. Whether it involves the minor bumps and bruises of daily living or major traumas such as terminal illness, death, or the breaking of a family, suffering touches all of our lives at one point or another. Helen Keller once said, "The world is full of suffering, but it is also full of people overcoming it". Though Helen Keller was not a philosopher, in this quote she tells us why the topic of suffering is extremely important in life. The fact that so many people face suffering everyday and question it's existence in their lives, is the reason that so many strive to make the best out of the times when they are not suffering. Suffering makes us stronger and more understanding individuals because it gives us a chance to rise above hard times and help others going through the same things. Without suffering, we would not have many of the religions and faiths that we see in the world today. This is because many times when people suffer, they question, "why is this happening to me" and find comfort in a religious group whose beliefs give them they answer they are looking for. On September 11, 2001, the United States was given an example of why suffering can be so important. We saw a nation of people with different religions, backgrounds, and beliefs come together as one. We see every day that in the wake of suffering, people come together without question to help each other through the hard times. Suffering also plays a large role in appreciating life by giving people a reason to make the most of the time, things, and relationships they have, while they have them. Seeing how quickly suffering can strike and change lives, makes people realize just how precious life is. We see this often times when someone loses a loved one and are left to question if they told that person enough how important they were to them. Many times when we lose…
My first year of high school has been challenging. My world literature class’s writing assignments were the most challenging. There were many things that I find difficult but I had to make adjustments so I can improve as a writer in high school.…
Yelling and screaming of the ecstatic crowd is all that could be heard. They couldn't even tell what was going on down on the field; everyone was silent. At age twenty seven and only five years into his career the second best rusher in the National Football league had been injured. It was on a Christmas eve, a game where Adrian Peterson’s great year would come to an alarming end. It was on a regular routine run play up the middle where he obtained the complete ACL and partial MCL tear, only after being so close to the previous rushing record held by Eric Dickerson since 1984(Wikipedia contributors). All of the hard work he had put in had turned into nothing but pain and suffering from one critical leg injury.…