Suffering

The proper definition of some Pragmatic Buddhism’s terms is essential for its comprehension. Though certain clarifications might look redundant at times, we offer them because Pragmatic Buddhism, as most any knowledge area, has its own terminology—a sort of restricted vocabulary—that is a requirement to introduce the subject. We chose to do so rather than using eastern languages’ vocabulary that would, in any case, require translations and explanations. Furthermore, English words have an average of three different meanings each and the usage of some expressions of Pragmatic Buddhism does not accurately match any of the alternatives in the dictionary.

Let us begin our glossary with the word “suffering.” We use “suffering” in this blog because it is the most accepted translation of the original term in Buddhist texts. Most scholars agree that no English word is exactly equivalent to what the Buddha meant by suffering. The explanation that follows will clarify it. There are a number of rough synonyms of the "suffering" under consideration, such as anguish, discomfort, dissatisfaction, distress, frustration, sorrow and stress; none of them provide the exact sense of Buddhist “suffering.”

For Pragmatic Buddhism, suffering is the whole range of human anxieties from “tolerable” cravings, dislikes and worries, through “problematic” addictions, hatreds and depressions, to “clinical” disorders such as dependence, phobias and compulsive behaviors. Suffering runs from Henry David Thoreau’s “quiet desperation, led in their lives by the mass of men,” to the agonizing misery of those who have totally lost the control of their existence.

Two additional remarks help in the understanding of this thorny item. Suffering covers all the difficulties and uncertainties that characterize life activities including those which that, by their very nature, are or should be expected to be pleasant or interesting. We all know from firsthand experience that some positive and favorable situations, such as a new job assignment, the preparations for a celebration or the initiation of a romantic relationship, lead to or predispose a certain degree of anxiety and are likely to create difficult moments; such anxiety is one of the manifestations of suffering for Buddhism. Still the challenges of a job promotion, the preliminaries of a party or the charms of a potential romance are not "western" suffering, in the common use of this word.

Furthermore, Pragmatic Buddhism differentiates suffering from pain—grief from ache. Suffering, as we use it here, is mental—an intellectual process, a product of the mind—as opposed to pain, which is physical—a corporal process, the result of something wrong in our body. While pain is often unavoidable, suffering is always optional.

The reduction and eventual elimination of this suffering, which we hope it is clearly defined and delimited now, is the agenda of Pragmatic Buddhism.