It's subjective. You catch a fish, and the fish perceives suffering. You perceive a good catch, are happy, and you eat the fish, and you see the situation as very good. How can you claim an eternal exemption from what the fish experienced...suffering and death? You can't. You came to a physical existence, and like the fish you too must face your own limitations on a frequent basis. That entails suffering.

This is why many spiritual philosophies state that Life IS suffering. I don't agree with that viewpoint. Life is all things, and suffering is just part of the picture. Life is also joy, struggle, play, accomplishment, puzzlement, wonder, laughter, work, and so on. And that's good. It would be dull if we were already at "the goal". What would be the point of that?

It's no fun playing a great game of chess if you're already at the checkmate before you thought of the first move! And it's not much fun playing a game of chess that's so easy (because of a weak opponent) that you win every time in 7 moves or less. A good game of chess involves risk, struggle, and suffering. And you learn a lot from it that way. You become much better at it.

Suffering is a step on the road to greater accomplishment and greater joy.

And we do have exactly what we need...we just don't necessarily have what we consciously want at any given time. And people call that "suffering". I'd call it "motivation". Where would we be without motivation?

Most of the time, I find Life to be pretty good. Not perfect, just pretty good. I imagine the dinosaurs enjoyed Life most of the time too. Most animals do. I've watched them, and they look more relaxed and happy than a lot of people I know. People think too much (in a certain sense), and they "want" too much. That makes them unhappy.

People need to cultivate more gratitude.

- LH