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CHAPTER-II

SUFFERING THE BASIC PROBLEM OF HUMAN LIFE:

PERSPECTIVES FROM WESTERN PSYCHOLOGY AND

BUDDHISM

The generic term for the phenomenon with which we are here concerned is

“suffering”, but the term itself is polysemic and has an extremely wide range of

significance. In the Oxford English Dictionary suffering is defined as “The bearing or

undergoing of pain, distress, or tribulation” and “to suffer” as “to have (something

painful, distressing, or injurious) inflicted or imposed upon one; to submit to with pain,

distress, or grief.” “Suffering” is a highly protean term that can refer to just about any of

the vexations “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” to which human flesh is heir.

Suffering occurs in the lives of human beings in numerous manners, and often

dramatically, that is why numerous fields of human activity are concerned, from their

own points of view, with some aspects of suffering. These aspects may include: the

nature of suffering, its processes, its origin and causes, its meaning and significance, its

related personal, social, and cultural behaviors, its remedies, management, and uses. This

chapter deals with the problem of suffering from the perspectives of Vajrayāna

Buddhism and Western Psychology.

2.1 PERSPECTIVES FROM BUDDHISM

The core teaching that The Buddha taught throughout his life after attaining

enlightenment is known as The Four Noble Truths, that are also regarded as the central

doctrine of the Buddhist tradition. These explain the nature of suffering in life, its causes,

its cessation, and the path leading to its cessation. These are:

1. Life in this world is full of suffering or dukkha.

2. There is a cause of this suffering or dukkha-samudaya.

3. It is possible to stop suffering or dukkhanirodha.

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4. There is a path that leads to the cessation of suffering or dukkha-nirodhagāminī

patipatā.1

The Four Noble Truths clearly show that suffering was central to the findings of

The Buddha. According to The Buddha’s teaching, birth (jāti) is suffering, decay (jarā) is

suffering, illness is suffering, and death (maranam) is suffering; these sufferings are

physical in nature. Suffering also involves the presence of objects we hate, separation of

objects we love and not getting what we desire; all this involves mental suffering.2

Let us explain the four noble truths.

2.1.1 Nature of Suffering

The Noble Truth of Suffering: Suffering (Pāli: dukkha; Skt.: duḥkha) 3 means not being

able to bear or tolerate any unpleasant thing. However there is no word in English

covering the same ground as dukkha does in Pāli. Dukha generally termed a suffering,

pain, sorrow, misery etc. in its actual sense represents the Buddhist view of life and the

world. It has a deeper philosophical meaning. The Buddha defines dukkha in the

following way:

In other words, birth is suffering, ageing is suffering, sickness is suffering, death

is suffering, sorrow, pain, grief, and despair are suffering, association with the loathed is

suffering, disassociation with the loved ones is suffering and not getting what one desires

is suffering. In brief, the five aggregates (Rūpa, Vedanā, Sañña, Saṅkhara and Viññana )

themselves are suffering.4

2.1.2 Cause of Suffering

The Noble Truth of Cause of Suffering: The 2nd Noble truth refers to the cause of

suffering. The root cause of all sort of suffering according to the Buddha is craving with

its three modes i.e., craving for material objects, for continuous existence and for

1Chatterjee, Satischandra, and Datta, Dhirendramohan, An introduction to Indian Philosophy, 8th edn. Calcutta: Calcutta University Press, 1984, p. 119. 2 Swāmī Dwārikādās Shāstrī (ed.), Dighanikāya, vol. 2, Varanasi: Bauddha Bharati, 1996, p. 533. 3 T.W. Rhyds Davids & Williams Stede, Pali-English Dictionary, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 2007 (rpt.), p. 324. 4 Vinaya Piṭaka, Mahavagga, Igatpuri: Vipassana Research Institute, 1998, p. 14.

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absolute annihilation after death.5 However according to the Buddha, the cause of

suffering is not the wrath of any heavenly power but it’s the craving, which, as the texts

explain, leads to rebirth again and again and is accomplished by lust for more and more

which seeks pleasure. Craving is never satisfied and manifests itself in various ways. The

Craving includes not only hankering after sensual pleasure, power, wealth or position but

also attachment of ideas, views, opinions, theories and beliefs. All the trouble, according

to the Buddha, arises out of selfish desires which are never satisfied. In fact, there is no

end to them. And clinging to these different desires and seeking to satisfy them brings

temporary successes and failures, hopes and disappointments but never satisfaction. 6

This abstract idea of craving which is sufficiently powerful to bring forth a new life has

been explained by a formula of Dependent Origination or Paṭicca samuppāda (Skt.:

Pratītyasamutpāda) that includes a chain of Twelve Liked causation called Nidāna

explained by the Buddha in detail mentioned in Mahāvagga, Khuddakanikāya,

Dīghnikāya and Saṃyuttanikāya.7

2.1.3 Cessation of Suffering

The Third Noble Truth of Cessation of Suffering: The Buddha does not teach only

suffering rather he shows the path that how one can remove suffering. To remove

suffering, one must remove its cause i.e., desire, craving, thirst etc. 8

And nibbāna is nothing but extinction of craving. The state of desirelessness is

nibbāna. However it is difficult to define nibbāna in simple words. Its nature can never

be defined in words, although we find various descriptions of the term such as: end of

suffering, supreme joy, end of birth and death cycle, blissful state etc.

The ideal of Theravāda Buddhism is nibbāna and that of Mahāyāna is Bodhi.

Bodhi literally means ‘awakening’, in extended connotation, it is ‘enlightenment’,

‘knowledge possessed by ‘The Buddha’.9 The term Bodhi is also found in early texts as a

5 Edward J.Thomas, History of Buddhist Thought, London: Kegan Paul & Trench, Trubner Press, 1933, p. 59. 6 Dr. N.H. Samtani, Religions of India, New Delhi: Clarion Books, 1983, pp.130-31. 7 Vinaya Piṭaka, Mahavagga, op.cit. p. 1. 8 Ibid.

9 Dr. N.H. Samtani, op.cit.

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synonym for nibbāna. Generally, the term nibbāna is used to describe the state of

Arhathood and Bodhi the state of Buddhahood.

Mahāvastu describes nibbāna as the cessation of the continuity of becoming

Bhāva-nirodha; the ultimate destination from where is no return. It is the absence of

death and the woeful experience of old age and disease and many other forms of

suffering. In short, it is the eternal deliverance from suffering. 10

2.1.4 Ways leading to cessation of suffering

The Fourth Noble Truth: The Buddha has shown us the path of removal of suffering. It

is also known as the Middle Path. The Eight fold path is acknowledged as excellent

course of spiritual training and has eight constituents namely:

1. Right Understanding: It consists in understanding the four Noble Truths. It is

understanding of things in their true nature. This is possible when the mind is free

from all obsessions and impurities through ethical conduct and mental culture.

2. Right Thought: It means the thought of renunciation, of detachment, of

compassion and love, of non-harming and non-violence.

3. Right Speech: It is abstention from falsehood, backbiting, slander, harsh and

impolite speech, idle talk and gossip. When one abstains from wrong speech with

all of its harmful and negative qualities, the truth is then naturally spoken as

something that is profitable for the speaker and listener. It is better to be silent

than to engage in useless chatter.11

4. Right Action: It stands for refraining from killing, stealing and sexual

misconduct.12 It aims at promoting the moral and ethical conduct of a person.

5. Right Livelihood : A right livelihood consists in refraining from earning one’s

living in a manner which brings harm to others13 such as, trading in weapons, in

living beings, in flesh and intoxicants, cheating in business etc.

10 Mahāvastu III, p. 251 11 W. Rahula, What The Buddha Taught, Bangkok: Haw Trai Foundation Press, 2005, p. 47. 12 N. Dutt, Early Monastic Buddhism, Calcutta: Firma K.L. Makhopadhyaya Press, 1971, p. 143. 13 Ibid. p. 200.

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6. Right Effort: It is of four kinds: (a) preventing evil thoughts that have not yet

arisen; (b) getting rid of such evil thoughts that have already arisen; (c) producing

and cultivating good and wholesome thoughts that have not yet arisen ; (d)

conserving and bringing to perfection good and wholesome thoughts that have

already arisen.14

7. Right Mindfulness: It is the most crucial step one wishes to attain. It means

becoming constantly aware and mindful of activities of body, sensations, mental

states and ideas or cognitive processes, thoughts etc. By right mindfulness one

gains self-control and becomes self-possessed. In short, it aims at self mastery.

8. Right Concentration: It is the practice of the four dhyānas (Pāli: Jhāna) or

meditative absorption. In the first dhyāna, there arises detachment from sensual

objects and unwholesome states of mind. It is accompanied by initial application

of mind and sustained thought, rapture and joy born of detachment. In the second

dhyāna, all diverse mental activities are suppressed, inner tranquility and one-

pointedness of mind are developed and rapture and joy still continue. In the third

dhyāna, the feeling of joy disappears but rapture continues. In the fourth dhyāna,

all sensations of happiness and unhappiness, joy and sorrow are no more, only

pure equanimity and awareness remains. It should be noted that one-pointedness

is a common factor in all the dhyāna. In fact one-pointedness is the essence of a

dhyāna.15

The Noble Eightfold Path is thus a practical way shown by the Buddha for

a tensionless, tranquil and peaceful life. It is self-discipline of body, word and

mind. It is the path of self-purification.

2.1.5 Suffering as a universal motivating factor in Vajrayāna Buddhism

“All of you friends, who are here, please listen to these words.

When you are young and vigorous, you never think of getting older, but aging

approaches slowly and steadily, like a seed growing underground.

14 Dr. N.H. Samtani, Religions of India, chp. 3, op.cit., p. 132. 15 Dr. N.H. Samtani, Religions of India, chp. 3, op.cit., pp. 132-33

13

When all the five elements of the body flourish, you never think of getting sick,

but sickness descends on you firmly and forcefully, like something that shatters your

mind.

When the appearances of this life seem so solid, you never think of your

impending death, but death may strike you down suddenly, like a thunderbolt.

The three pains of aging, sickness and death are always within reach, like your

hand and mouth. Like a watchman over a mountain-pass, the lord of death lies in wait, to

hit you with the arrow of a sudden accident. The three stages of this life, the next one,

and the in-between are arranged in line, like blind birds following one another. Given the

presence of those three inseparable guests, are you not afraid of your wrong-doings?

The three bad destinies of hell-beings, hungry ghosts, and animals are waiting in

ambush like powerful archers. Given the presence of those three immutable perils, are

you not frightened off by the pain you have already had?

Are you not apprehensive of the pain you have now? Pain is like ripples on water

– before one is over, the next one arises. Is it not time to stop them?

Happiness and sadness are like two road-companions – now they are there, and

now they are not. Is it not time to part with them?

Comfort and safety are like warming in the sun. Do not you know that

impermanence, like a snow storm, arrives suddenly? Think about this, and practice the

divine Dharma!”16

The passage above on the pains of aging, sickness and death forms part of

Milārepā’s admonishments to a physician called Yāng nge and his circle of friends. The

words of Milārepā clearly enunciate the importance of suffering in the Vajrayāna

tradition. Suffering in Vajrayāna is like a wall on which the ladder of Dharma rests so

that a seeker can use it to go beyond the cycle of birth and death.

Vajrayāna challenges a seeker out of slumber of temporary joy to walk the path of

Dharma towards permanent light of bliss. In fact the presence of unending suffering and

16 C.C. Chang, The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milārepā, (HTS) trl. Garma, Boston: Shambhala, 1977. pp. 634-35

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absence of permanent joy provides the proper context for the Vajrayāna teachings to

make sense. In the absence of suffering even the best teachings make no sense and hold

no ground.

Hence it would be right to see suffering in positive light as a precursor of

permanent bliss as also inferred in various Tantras practiced in Vajrayāna.

In the book Luminous Mind The way of the Buddha a well respected teacher of

Vajrayāna tradition Kalu Rinpoche talks about three kinds of suffering that infects human

life.

1. The first kind of suffering is quite subtle. It is the suffering that is inherent to the

individuality and is due to imperfections and limitations inherent in the very fact

of existing, and the sole fact of being composed of five aggregates i.e. form,

feeling, perception, compositional factors, and consciousness. Anything or

anyone that is made up of the five aggregates is imperfect and is bound to suffer.

This form of suffering is extremely subtle and is practically imperceptible. All

other forms of suffering develop on the basis of the suffering of individuality.

2. The second kind of suffering that is more perceptible is caked the suffering of

change. It is a form of suffering that is hidden naturally in what we regard as

happiness, pleasures, and comforts, whether mental or physical. It belongs to

desires, attachments, and impermanence. It is the anger, frustration and discontent

that is experienced every time something we love, care for, or something that

pleases us change, decays, or disappears.

3. The third kind of suffering is simply known as suffering because it causes pain

and unhappiness. It is the suffering of suffering caused by pains and problems that

lead from one to another in daily life.

Besides these three kinds of suffering Kalu Rinpoche also talks about four

main types of suffering that affects humans: birth, old age, sickness, and death.

1. Suffering during Birth: When the rebirth consciousness unites with the mother’s

and father’s substances, memories become confused and being to disappear like

the clouded dreams of deep sleep. During the first week in the womb, the embryo

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looks like rice mush and suffers as though it were being cooked in a copper pot.

The embryo continues to change until in the seventh week, when the spiral wind

forms the four limbs, creating the feeling of being forcefully stretched, as if across

a stick. During this week the opening wind produced the nine bodily openings and

this makes embryo feel as if an open wound is being poked by a finger. From this

point onwards when the mother eats something cold the embryo feels as if

someone has throne ice; if the mother eats a lot of food the embryo feels pressed

between rocks; mother eats too little, embryo feels being whipped around in the

air; if the mother has sex, embryo feels flogged with thorns. After thirty seven

weeks the fetus starts to perceive the mother’s womb as a prison and wants to get

out. During the thirty-ninth week, the baby is directed towards the birth canal and

feels as though the body were being carried away by a moving wheel. Finally,

baby emerges, arms folded, suffering as though being forced through a narrow

tube and when it comes out of the womb it has a feeling of being deposited on to

thorns; and when it is cleaned and dried, it feels like it is being burned alive. This

summarizes the suffering due to birth.

2. The suffering caused by illness is often intolerable. The weaknesses, inability to

undertake tasks, sleeplessness, ingesting sour medicines reflect the suffering that

we face as a consequence of illness.

3. The suffering caused by old age is even greater. Our body becomes crooked and

shrinks. Our hair turns gray and fall out; we become bald and lose our

attractiveness. Our skin becomes wrinkled and the strength wanes. Senses lose

their sharpness; eyes cannot see, nose cannot smell, sense of touch no longer

brings pleasure, tongue cannot taste, ears hardly hear anything. Mind becomes

weak and memories fade away. We lose our sense of belonging. Our wealth and

authority dwindles and nobody thinks of us except with pity. We realize that there

is only one thing ahead of us and that is death and such thoughts keep us in

perpetual depression.

4. The suffering caused by death is so intense that the mere thought of it turns our

mouth dry and throws us in the dark boundless depths of depression and misery.

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We soil ourselves with saliva, urine, sweat and vomit and in helplessness express

anger. Breathing slows down and creates discomfort; we fear losing everything

that we have accumulated in exchange of our live; we feel the pain of going away

from our loved ones; we also feel the uncertainty and fear of what lies next.17

Vajrayāna uses the force of this intense and infinite suffering and

transforms it into the supreme bliss of Buddhahood.

2.2 SUFFERING THE BASIC PROBLEM OF HUMAN LIFE:

PERSPECTIVES FROM WESTERN PSYCHOLOGY

Western industrialized societies benefit from high levels of education, health care

and employment. Furthermore, Western societies have also made great progress in the

last decades in advancing human rights. Nevertheless, there is evidence that economic

development, especially increasing per capita wealth, has been achieved in these

countries at some cost to individual well-being. According to the "Statistical abstract of

the United States”18 between the years 1940 and 1990 income rose steadily in the U.S.

while the index variable "very happy" decreased. In the European countries, income

increased fourfold between 1930 and 1990, but satisfaction, first assessed in the late

1950's, remained constant. 19

Moreover, specific indices of psychological suffering have also showed some

unfavorable trends. For instance, Twenge20 has discovered that trait anxiety has increased

in the United States in the last decades. At the same time, the rate of depression has

increased even more dramatically, claims Buie21.

17 Kalu Rinpoche, Luminous Mind The way of the Buddha, trl. , Wisdom Publication, 1997. pp. 81-83 18 Statistical Abstract of the United States, United States Census Bureau, Washington D. C, 1995. 19 D. M. Myers, The Pursuit of Happiness, Morrow, New York, 1992, sf. 20 J. M. Twenge, The age of anxiety? Birth cohort change in anxiety and neuroticism, 1952-1993, Journal

of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 79, pp. 1007-1021, 2000. 21 J. Buie, "Me" decades generate depression: Individualism erodes commitment to others. APA

Monitor, 19, 18, 1988.

17

Furthermore, Kessler, McGonagle, Zhao, Nelson, et al.22 concluded that one fifth

of the American public would be eligible for a diagnosis of major depression. Many other

studies have shown that people living in Western countries have prevalence of

depression. This proves that a degree of material wealth is important for the subjective

well-being, but excessive attention to the acquisition of material wealth appears to be

associated with decreases in the subjective well-being and can lead to suffering.

2.2.1 Nature of Suffering

Suffering is a universal human experience, central to the human condition and is

considered by most specialists to be the primary reason why people seek psychological

treatment. Throughout history, suffering has taken on various meanings and significance

and has been investigated in different fields, from medicine to theology. Suffering has

held various meanings over culture and time. For example, The Stoics in Greece believed

that suffering is at the core of life, and counseled detachment. On the other hand, in the

Judeo-Christian and Western Tradition, suffering is considered to be something that

human beings have to endure, a learning experience that provides the path for

redemption.

However, there seems to be a general agreement that suffering is a

phenomenological experience that involves not only physical, mental, and emotional

pain, but also spiritual and existential pain. In psychology, nonetheless, the language of

mental pain and suffering has been primarily replaced by a vocabulary of illnesses and

disorders with suffering reduced to diagnoses made from symptoms and criteria.

As a result, psychology has largely been silent on the construct of suffering with

discussion about suffering relegated to areas of pastoral psychology and occasionally,

humanistic and psychoanalytic literature, considers Sherlyn Jimenez23.

Research on suffering has also been done in other fields, especially in the nursing

and medical sciences, mostly in the context of pain and palliative care, focusing on the

22 R. C, Kessler, K. A. McGonagle, S. Zhao, C. B. Nelson, M. Hughes, S. Eshleman, et al., Lifetime and

12-month prevalence of DMS-III-R psychiatric disorders in the United States: Results from the National

Comorbidity Study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 51, 8-19, 1994. 23 Shane J. Lopez, “Suffering”, in The Encyclopedia of Positive Psychology, Singapore: Wiley-Blackwell,

2009, sf.

18

qualitative nature. Cassell 24 considers that “suffering occurs when an impending

destruction of the person is perceived; it continues until the threat of disintegration has

passed or until the integrity of the person can be restored in some other manner.” He

observed that modern medicine in its practice can involuntarily contribute at times to

patient suffering. He later underlined that to appreciate the suffering of others requires a

full understanding of the personal narrative of the individual.25 Suffering may be

divided into physical26 or mental.27 In addition, it may come in all degrees of intensity,

from mild to intolerable. Factors of duration and frequency of occurrence usually

compound that of intensity. Even those who in fact suffer little sometimes invent for

themselves factitious forms of suffering—creating pain out of discomfort—in order to

suffer more, the name for this peculiarly human abnormality being “hypochondria.

Even though “to suffer” and “to be in pain” function in many instances as

synonyms, the former term has a broader significance than does the latter. For while pain

can be a source of suffering, so too can a great many other things—there would seem to

be no end to the kinds of upsets and misfortunes that can befall us as we wend our way

through life and that can give rise to suffering. Metaphorically speaking, the terms “pain”

and “painful” can be used to refer to just about any kind of adverse condition of a

physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual sort, but their primary significance, their

24 E.J. Cassell, The nature of suffering and the goals of medicine, N Engl J Med, Mar 18;306(11), pp. 639-

645,1982 25 E.J. Cassell, The nature of suffering and the goals of medicine, Oxford University Press., Oxford, 1991,

cf. 26 Examples of physical suffering: pain, certain kinds of itching, tickling, tingling, certain feelings of

hunger or thirst, various sickness feelings like nausea, shortness of breath, weakness, mouth dryness. Other

examples are given by L. W. Sumner, on page 103 of Welfare, Happiness, and Ethics: "Think for a

moment of the many physical symptoms which, when persistent, can make our lives miserable: nausea,

hiccups, sneezing, dizziness, disorientation, loss of balance, itching, 'pins and needles', 'restless legs', tics,

twitching, fatigue, difficulty in breathing, and so on." Sensations of cold or heat may be two other common

physical sufferings. 27 Mental suffering can also be called psychological or emotional. Examples of mental suffering: grief,

sadness, depression (mood), disgust, irritation, anger, rage, hate, horror, righteous indignation contempt,

jealousy, envy, angst, fear, panic, shame, craving or yearning, hopelessness, doubt, emptiness,

homesickness embarrassment, humiliation, boredom frustration, heartbreak, anguish, anxiety, guilt,

remorse, regret, resentment, repentance, apathy, confusion, disappointment, loneliness, rejection, pity, self-

pity.

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semantic home-base, so to speak, is nevertheless physical, argues Madison28. Webster’s

New World Dictionary defines pain as “a sensation of hurting or strong discomfort, in

some part of the body, caused by an injury, disease, or functional disorder, and

transmitted through the nervous system.” Pain is primarily a neurological phenomenon,

not a spiritual phenomenon, whereas a great deal of suffering is of a properly spiritual or

“existential” nature, “psychic pain.”

Additionally, the French phenomenologist Paul Ricoeur29 observes that while

“pain” and “suffering” are commonly used inter-changeably in ordinary parlance. They

nonetheless represent to distinct “ideal types.” Pain and suffering, as physician Eric

Cassell has pointed out in an oft-cited article, are “phenomenologically distinct” 30 .

Suffering differs from pain in that, as Cassell says, it is a specifically human

phenomenon; bodies can experience pain, but only persons suffer. “Bodies do not suffer,

persons suffer,” as Cassell puts it. Failure on the part of physicians to recognize the

difference between pain and suffering can result, he says, in medical interventions that

not only “fail to deal effectively with suffering but can become a source of suffering in

their own right.”

Summing the matter up, Cassell states, “Suffering is an affliction of persons, not

bodies, and can occur in relation to any aspect of a person: physical, psychological,

social, or spiritual”31.

Altogether, while pain can be a cause of suffering, it can act as such only to the

degree that we allow it to do so. Montaigne32 said, speaking from his own experience,

“Even real [physical] pain is not so shrill, harsh and stabbing that a man of settled

temperament must go mad with despair” (Essais II, 37). Indeed, depending on how

28 Gary Brent Madison, On suffering: Philosophical Reflections on What It Means to be Human, Les

Érables Publishing/McMaster Innovation Press, 2009, cf. 29 Jean-Pierre Changeux, Paul Ricoeur, What Makes Us Think?: A Neuroscientist and a Philosopher Argue

about Ethics, Human Nature, and the Brain, New Jersy: Princeton University Press, p. 308, 2002 30 E.J. Cassell, The nature of suffering and the goals of medicine, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1991,

cf. 31 E.J. Cassell, Doctoring: The Nature of Primary Care Medicine, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2002,

cf. 32 Readers seeking to find the exact location (in the French text) of this or that citation from Montaigne can

do so through a word search by means of the Montaigne Project (http:www.lib.uchicago.edu/efts/ARTFL/

projects/ Montaigne).

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human beings react to painful experiences, these experiences will become either

millstones weighing us down or stepping-stones leading to an enhanced mode of being.

Suffering of an unnecessary sort occurs when, as a psychologist might say, we

“elaborate” on our pains and other sorts of physical/psychic discomfort and

unpleasantness and let ourselves become caught up in negative attitudes towards them—

or, what comes down to the same thing, when we let ourselves get all wrapped up in

avoidance responses in order to deny or flee from them. The real issue is not whether we

shall suffer but how we choose to suffer, when suffer we must.

2.2.2 Causes of Suffering

Research has proven that there are numerous forms of human suffering and there

are various ways of distinguishing between different types of human suffering. Perhaps

one of the most, if not the most reliable, effective and adequate way of distinguishing

between different kinds of human suffering is by their external causes, the determinable

causes outside of the individual body, the emotional self, the cognitive self and the mind

of a person.

According to Ulrich Diehl33, people may suffer from a variety of circumstances,

such as:

a) Harmful natural conditions (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and bush fires,

hurricanes, tornados and other extreme weather conditions),

b) harmful ecological conditions (radioactive or chemical contamination of the

atmosphere and landscape in a certain geographic region including people,

animals and plants, food and water, or biological contamination with viruses or

bacteria causing epidemics),

c) harmful political conditions (dictatorship or anarchy, war or terrorist attacks, bad

government, the absence of a modern constitution and a legal state which

guarantees basic human rights, law and order),

33 Ulrich Diehl, Human Suffering as a challenge for the meaning of life, published in Existenz, vo. 4,

no. 2, 2009

21

d) harmful economic conditions (lack of economic growth, unemployment and

inflation, the untamed globalization of the market, evasive international

companies, lack of social and economic responsibility within management, the

weakening of the political power of national governments),

e) harmful social conditions (inability to satisfy basic human needs, such as hunger

and thirst, hygiene, shelter and clothing, security from aggression and crime),

f) harmful emotional conditions (inability to satisfy one's emotional needs for

company, belonging and acceptance, the need for decent work, perspectives for

one's future and self-respect through the freedom of self-determination),

g) harmful cognitive and spiritual conditions (inability to understand the natural and

social world we live in, the inability to understand the condition humane, i.e. the

special position of human beings within the world equipped with the abilities for

the acquisition of language and thought, of communication and community, of

labor and cooperation, of love and self transcendence through labour, art, science

and religion), and

h) inability to experience and grasp some meaning of life.

Another effective and reliable way of classifying various forms of human

suffering is to distinguish them by their immediate and concrete sources within human

beings themselves, claims Diehl. Accordingly we can distinguish, discover and

investigate four types of internal causes of human suffering: First, there are causes of

human suffering within the physical body, such as an ordinary toothache, a pain caused

by a broken arm or a wound hurting after an operation. Second, there are human suffering

conditions within the emotional self such as normal frustration, good and bad stress,

mourning, feelings of guilt and shame, fear and depression, lack of faith, hope and love.

Third, there are human suffering conditions within the cognitive self such as the

weakness of one's memory, lack of concentration and vigilance, lack of flexibility and

good sense of judgment, the inability to understand one's friends, relatives or other people

we relate to, or the lack of understanding of the social, economic and political structures

and events. Fourth and finally, there are conditions of human suffering within the

spiritual self, such as:

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a) existential anxiety through lack of self-assertive and self-binding answers to such

existential questions as: “Who am I?”, “Where do I come from?”, “Where am I

going?”, “What do I want to do and realize in my life?”, “What matters the most

to me in life?”, “What is my personal hierarchy of utilitarian, aesthetic, ethical

and religious values?”, “Which ethical ideals, principles, norms and values are

most important to me?”

b) When someone is losing faith in the existence of God, faith in the potential

presence of God, faith in the personal relationship to God or faith in the love and

mercy of God in view of one's shortcomings, failures and mistakes.

c) When someone is losing his or her basic trust in life, losing his or her sense of

caring about one's life, losing his or her will to live on and to make the best out of

one's life. In other words there is someone who suffers from the inability to grasp

some meaning of life.

This means that human beings do not only suffer from physical pain (similar to

other living beings, such as animals with an adequate nervous system within the spinal

cord), they also suffer from emotional grief, from cognitive failure and spiritual sorrow

(unlike related living beings, such as chimpanzees or dolphins).

Although animals do have some instinctual and habitual feelings of sorts, human

feelings do only share some similarities with animal feelings. Apart from these

similarities there is a large variety of culturally and socially shaped human feelings which

we don't find in animals, such as social, aesthetic, ethical and religious feelings.

Moreover, humans can suffer from their reflective awareness of all kinds of

suffering, such as physical, spiritual, emotional and cognitive suffering. This is not only a

quantitative difference or additional factor among the various ways of human suffering.

The human capacity to be aware of, to focus on and to reflect on their own human

suffering and the suffering of other human beings is changing the very quality of human

suffering in many different ways.

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One reason for the special quality of human suffering is the human nature. As

scientists and psychologist have proven, there are34:

1. physical objects and events which are unable to suffer (i.e. suffering in the sense

of feeling pain rather than in the sense of undergoing some effected change), like

all kinds of matter and energy.

2. living things that grow, age and die, but cannot feel any pain such as plants or

lower animals (without a spinal cord).

3. living beings which grow, age and die, breathe, eat and drink, move around, hunt

and procreate, which can feel pain and other sensations in their bodies and

consciousness, but (a) which cannot feel the same kind of culture-dependent and

socially shaped kinds of suffering, e.g. like shame or guilt, anxiety or despair, (b)

which are not able to share a similar kind of reflective awareness of their own

suffering as their own suffering, (c) which are not able to engage in cognitive

understanding, reflecting and explaining of their own suffering while it is still

lasting or afterwards when remembering it.

2.2.3 Cessation of suffering

Western psychology offers many options in the forms of theory and therapies to

solve the problem of human suffering. Within the perspective of Western psychology,

psychotherapy deals with a complex range of suffering involving physical, emotional,

cognitive, and behavioral states, which affect persons’ relation to life and produce an

intimate and existential suffering that undermines the achievement of personal and

interpersonal goals. In particular, it hurts the quality of individual freedom and frequently

its aims. Throughout history, there have been established different schools of

psychotherapy, each based on a set of notions on the nature of the human person and of

health and suffering, developed according to a given cultural paradigm and the

corresponding philosophy and world vision, which is the context of the science of

psychotherapy. Laura Boggio Gilot considers that there are great differences in the so-

34 Ulrich Diehl, Human Suffering as a challenge for the meaning of life, published in Existenz, vo. 4, no. 2, 2009

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called four forces of Western psychology: psychoanalysis, behavioral and cognitive

psychology, humanistic psychology, and transpersonal psychology.

The former two, psychoanalysis and cognitive-behavioral psychology, are the

product of the mechanistic paradigm and the materialistic vision that restricts reality to

the physical universe. Humanistic psychology includes existential philosophy and

systemic science in its embrace, as the human being is primary and central to its vision.

Transpersonal psychology, however, is based on a vision of the human being and

the world that includes spiritual reality and considers its experience and expression as the

utmost peak of psychological growth.

With transpersonal psychology, a suffering is described that relates to the

separation of the ego from its spiritual essence: this involves not only the deprivation of

the most profound values and the lack of meaning in life with the associated feelings of

alienation, boredom and despair, but also the lack of connection with the spiritual

dimension toward which the individuality naturally tends. Transpersonal psychology

underlines a suffering that is more specifically related to the removal of the sublime and

the crises faced in the phase of spiritual awakening, which generally occurs around the

middle of life35.

However, the various conceptions of suffering have in common the recognition

that suffering manifests itself through a state of lack, which reflects the frustration of

fundamental human needs. For instance, the psychodynamic conceptions, more related to

early biographic experiences, refer to the primary needs of safety, love and esteem, while

the humanistic-existential conceptions refer to the needs of growth, self-realization, and

meaning. The transpersonal conception refers to the lack in the needs of connection with

the Sacred, of knowledge, truth and self-transcendence.

Going back to a spiritual cultural context recognizing the unity of life and its

transcendent matrix, it appears that the greatest source of suffering is the ontological

ignorance, the deprivation of a contact of individual life with the universal life, due to the

35 L. Boggio Gilot, Il cammino dello sviluppo integrale [The Path of Integral Development]. Rome:

Satya-Aipt, 2005, cf.

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identification with the historical ego, immersed in the outer flow and separated from

developmental and ideal values.

When one’s suffering is attributed to others, ill-feelings and anger naturally

develop, and particularly when suffering is exclusively related to early emotional

traumas, hate against the parents can burst with unforeseeable outcomes. In this

perspective, psychotherapy, rather than being an instrument to foster peace and unity in

the family and society may instead increase separation.

Seeing the suffering as originated by others, it is only natural to consider that

salvation should also come from the outside and if will or means to access it are lacking,

then what is left in front of suffering is to dull one’s senses, having recourse to pleasure,

alcohol, drug, the alienating hedonistic distraction, and affirming one’s power, as means

to compensate for the wrongs one considers to be the victim of. When such is the human

condition, suffering is no longer an instrument of contact with oneself, a means of

knowledge and growth, but rather becomes an instrument of alienation and loss of a

realistic and developmental relation with life.36

2.2.4 Ways leading to cessation of suffering

In western psychology, many schools of thought address the problem of suffering.

These schools have created their own systems, procedures and techniques that act as tools

to eliminate suffering. In many cases one school of thought may be using various tools to

address the same problem. Most of these therapeutic systems overlap suggesting some

unifying principles for eradication of suffering.

NLP

NLP (neuro-linguistic programming), a modeling tool which was developed in the

USA four decades ago. It is a collection of a wide range of methods and models which

create an understanding of thought process and behavior. Its creators, Richard Bandler

and John Grinder3738, claim a connection between the neurological processes ("neuro"),

36 Ibid. 37 R., Bandler, J. Grinder, The Structure of Magic I: A Book About Language and Therapy, California:

Science and Behavior Books, 1975, cf.

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language ("linguistic") and behavioral patterns learned through experience

("programming") and that these can be changed to achieve specific goals in life.

Moreover, the authors say that the skills of exceptional people can be "modeled" using

NLP methodology and then those skills can be acquired by anyone.39

NLP is used worldwide for curing not only suffering, but also problems such as:

habit disorder, depression, phobias, psychosomatic illnesses or allergy and has been

adopted by some hypnotherapists and in seminars marketed to business and government.

Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis is another technique used for treating suffering, based on the

observation that individuals are often unaware of the factors that determine their

emotions and behavior. This treatment explores how the unconscious factors affect

relationships and patterns of emotion, thought and behavior. From the beginning of

therapy, patient and psychoanalyst work together to build up a safe and trusting

relationship that enables the patient to experience aspects of his or her inner life that have

been hidden because they are painful, embarrassing, or guilt-provoking40. Usually, the

patient and the psychoanalyst meet three or four times a week. The patient lies on a

couch, and attempts to communicate as openly and freely as possible, saying whatever

comes to mind. These conditions create the analytic setting, which enables him to

become more aware of aspects of his internal experience previously hidden. Gradually,

psychoanalysis changes the patient in deep and meaningful ways, helping him in terms of

behavior, relationships and sense of self.

Gestalt Therapy

Another way leading to the cessation of suffering is using the Gestalt therapy,

developed in the 1940’s and 1950’s, an existential and experiential therapy that focuses

38 R., Bandler, , J. Grinder, The Structure of Magic II. A Book About Communication and Change,

California: Science and Behavior Books, 1976, cf. 39 R., Bandler, J. Grinder, Reframing: Neuro-Linguistic Programming and the Transformation of Meaning,

Real People Press, 1981. 40 André, Green, Psychoanalysis: A Paradigm for Clinical Thinking, Free Association Books, 2005.

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on the individual's experience in the present moment.41 Gestalt therapy has distinguished

itself by moving to action in the therapy session and away from just talk therapy.

It addresses the person as a functional, whole, and basically healthy person who is

striving towards higher levels of potentiality, wellness, and actualization and it assists the

patient in discovering and restoring his or her own natural ability to self-regulate, create

feelings of contentment, and have successful and fulfilling contact with others.42 In

Gestalt therapy, the individual is encouraged to become aware of his or her own feelings

and behaviors, and their effect upon his environment in the here and now. By focusing on

self-awareness as part of present reality, new insights can be made about thoughts and

behaviors and the client can engage in self-healing.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a therapeutic approach that helps to

transform dysfunctional emotions, behaviors and cognition through a goal-oriented,

focused approach.43 In this type of therapy, the objective is typically to identify and

monitor thoughts, assumptions, beliefs and behaviors that are related and may causing

debilitating negative emotions44. There are various therapeutic techniques with Cognitive

Behavioral Therapy, according to the particular kind of problem or issue: the client

keeping a diary of significant events and associated feelings, may have homework

assignments to work on between sessions, be taught techniques that create greater

awareness of thoughts and behaviors; questioning and testing cognition, looking at

assumptions made, looking at evaluations and beliefs that might be unhelpful and

unrealistic; gradually facing activities which may have been avoided; and trying out new

ways of behaving and reacting45.

41 J, Latner, The Theory of Gestalt Therapy, in “Gestalt therapy: Perspectives and Applications”, MA: Gestalt Press, Edwin Nevis (ed.) Cambridge, 2000. 42 Zinker, Joseph, The Creative Process in Gestalt Therapy, Vintage Books, New York, 1977. 43 Beck, Aaron T., Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders, Plume, 1979. 44 A. Butler, J. Chapman, E. Forman, A. Beck, The empirical status of cognitive-behavioural therapy: A review of meta-analyses, Clinical Psychology Review 26 (1), 2006. 45 Stefan G. Hofmann, An Introduction to Modern CBT. Psychological Solutions to Mental Health Problems, Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, 2011.

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Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a form of

psychotherapy that was developed to resolve symptoms resulting from disturbing

traumatic events and unresolved life experiences. 46 It uses a structured approach to

address past, present, and future aspects of disturbing memories. EMDR is based on a

processing model which suggests that symptoms arise when events are inadequately

processed and unprocessed. The theory underlying EMDR treatment is that it works by

helping the client process distressing memories more fully which reduces the distress.

When the memory of the event is re-lived and processed fully, the trauma will subside,

resolve and heal.

Existential Therapy

Existential Therapy is partly based on the existential belief that human beings

often feel alone in the world or that their life is meaningless.47 This feeling of aloneness

leads to feelings of despair, which can be overcome by creating one's own values and

meanings. Existential psychotherapy suggests that in making our own choices we assume

full responsibility for the results in our lives. This therapy helps to take the blame off of

others and helps one feel like less of a victim. Though Existential therapy, the client can

become empowered and learn to create a desired life and a sense of happiness.

Mindfulness Bases Cognitive Therapy

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is another method of

psychotherapy, which blends features of cognitive with mindfulness techniques.

Mindfulness is a mental state characterized by concentrated awareness of one's thoughts,

feelings, actions, or motivations. MBCT involves accepting thoughts and feelings without

judgment rather than trying to push them out of consciousness, with a goal of correcting

cognitive distortions. The aim of MBCT is the freedom from the tendency to get drawn

into automatic reactions to thoughts, feelings, and events48. MBCT can help clients break

46 F, Shapiro, Efficacy of the eye movement desensitization procedure in the treatment of traumatic memories, Journal of Traumatic Stress 2 (2), 1989. 47 Irvin D., Yalom, Existential Psychotherapy, New York: Basic Books, 1980, cf. 48 Z., Segal, J., Teasdale, M., Williams, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression, New York: Guilford Press, 2002, cf.

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habit patterns that have be plaguing them for years. It prioritizes learning how to pay

attention or concentrate with purpose, in each moment and most importantly, without

judgment.

Psycho-dynamic Therapy

Psycho-dynamic therapy is a form of Depth Psychology, which has an intention to

reveal the unconscious content of a client's thoughts, feelings, and life choices as a tool to

relieve distress and dysfunction 49 . This type of therapy relies on the interpersonal

relationship that forms in the therapy sessions. Through verbal processing of past

experiences, history, family patterns, ideas, thoughts, emotions, and present day life, the

client can come to understand in more depth, what is truly, authentically surfacing.

Psychodynamic therapy helps to shed light on a disruptive and unhealthy functioning that

is occurring.

Transpersonal Therapy

Transpersonal Therapy focuses on the Whole or "True" Self and it draws its

methodology from the spiritual traditions of the world, including eastern philosophies

such as Buddhism, the Yogic traditions of India, and Western Contemplative traditions,

and integrates them with Contemporary Psychology.50 This type of therapy focuses on

the Spiritual aspects of the human experience. Transpersonal Psychotherapy is concerned

with a person's highest potential, and with the recognition, understanding, and realization

of the Spiritual, deeper, more meaningful side of an individual.

2.2.5 SUFFERING AS A UNIVERSAL MOTIVATION FACTOR IN WESTERN

PSYCHOLOGY

Suffering is a universal motivating experience and people can relate their

activities to its relief and prevention. Human beings make use of suffering for specific

personal or social purposes in many areas of human life. For instance, in literature, arts or

entertainment, suffering is used for creation, for enjoyment or for performance.

Entertainment usually makes use of suffering in violence in the media, blood sports or

violent video games. A more or less great amount of suffering is involved in body art, the

49 Horacio, Etchegoyen, The Fundamentals of Psychoanalytic Technique, Karnac Books ed., New Ed, 2005. 50 John, Rowan, The Transpersonal: Psychotherapy and Counselling, London: Routledge, 1993.

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most common forms of body art including tattooing, body piercing, human branding, and

scarification. Another form of body art is a sub-category of performance art in which, for

instance, the body is mutilated or pushed to its physical limits.

Furthermore, suffering is used in interpersonal relationships, especially in places

like families, workplaces or schools. It is used for various motives, especially under the

form of punishment and abuse.

In business and organizations, suffering may be used for constraining humans or

animals into required behaviors, while in a criminal context, people may use suffering for

revenge, coercion or pleasure.

Suffering is also used in law. For example, victims refer to what legal texts call

"pain and suffering" to get compensation, lawyers use a victim's suffering as an argument

against the accused, defendant's suffering may be an argument in their favor and

authorities at times use light or heavy torture in order to get information or a confession.

In the news media, suffering is often the raw material.

Another field in which suffering is used is politics. People may use nonphysical

suffering against competitors in nonviolent power struggles, those who argue for a policy

may put forward the need to relieve, prevent or avenge suffering and individuals or

groups may use past suffering as a political lever in their favor. In religion, suffering is

used especially to grow spiritually, to expiate, to inspire compassion and help, to frighten,

to punish, in science, humans and animals are subjected on purpose to unpleasant

experiences for the study of suffering or other phenomena and in sports, suffering may be

used to outperform competitors or oneself.

In certain aspects of collective life, however, suffering is more readily an explicit

concern by itself. Such aspects may include human rights, public health, humanitarian

aid, disaster relief, economic aid, philanthropy, social services, insurance and animal

welfare.

To these can be added the aspects of security and safety, which relate to

precautionary measures taken by individuals or families, to interventions by the police,

the military, the firefighters, and to notions or fields like social security, human security

and environmental security.