The Eight Sufferings, Part One

The Buddha often spoke of the Eight Sufferings, which arise from contact with unpleasant things. 

The first suffering is birth. When the baby is still in the mother’s womb, it is very painful. When the mother swallows something hot, the baby feels the heat. When the mother swallows something cold, the baby feels that as well. When the mother eats too much, the baby feels like it a weight is pushing in on it.

The second suffering is aging. Everyone who undergoes aging suffers. When we want to see something, we cannot see clearly. Wanting to hear something, we cannot hear it well. When we want to eat, there are many foods we can no longer eat. Food we can eat doesn’t taste as good as it used to. When we want to walk, our legs are weak. We feel the heat and cold more than those who are younger. When the weather changes, our joints are painful.

The third suffering is sickness, which affects everyone. When we are sick, whether we are wealthy or poor, we suffer. We may have the best food, but we cannot eat it. We may have a wonderfully comfortable bed, but we cannot sleep. We have no energy. We are very uncomfortable and need to take much medicine. We may need medicine for pain, but not be able to afford it or not have any when we need it. From day to night, we may cry out for help, but no help comes. The Chinese say “even a brave hero fears sickness.” There is no way to avoid the suffering.

The fourth suffering is death. When we are dying, we want to speak but speech is often difficult and others cannot understand us. Our throat may be dry, or our mind may not be clear. We want to sleep but our sleep is erratic. We are in pain and cannot find comfort. We want to die, but although our breath is weak, we cannot die. When we see our loved ones, we feel such suffering.

These are four sufferings that as beings in the cycle of rebirth, we all encounter. Through our practice, we work to understand why suffering arises and how to end it.