Life is hard ...

Then you die.


One of those times when I can truthfully say that I got the T-shirt (had it, actually).


This had the most impact on me when I read the opening of Scott Peck's The Road Less Travelled. After saying that "life is difficult" he went on to point out that this applies to everybody except those people who accept that life is difficult. For those people, the acceptance of life being difficult makes it easier. The only snag in possessing that knowledge was trying to live that way - at the time pretty much every event in my life seemed to make me angry and discontented.


The statements have their origin in the saying by the Buddha, the first of the four Noble Truths of Buddhism - Life is suffering. In the second Noble Truth, the Buddha also taught the causes of suffering: Greed and desire; ignorance or delusion; and hatred and destructive urges. This gives us behaviour to watch out for as we observe ourselves.


It was in the translation, though, that I learned the most. The Buddha used the word Dukkha, which is translated as suffering. It refers to dislocation and is often exampled as an axle not quite fitting a wheel, being dislocated. I could relate that to my lack of ease and serenity when life seemed to beset me with problems all the time. I began to look at "me" being dislocated from reality and I could see how my thinking got me to the wrong place (a literal reading of dis-location) making me believe that my life would be better if it were different. Of course, railing at the unfairness of life is a sure way to misery; it quickly gives way to one of the causes of suffering listed.


The answer for me then lies in acceptance: Can I accept this place, person or thing being exactly as it should be at this moment? Answering yes leads to serenity, no to suffering.


There is a story of a master walking with his pupils in beautiful countryside where the most striking sight is the most beautiful trees studded across the landscape. One student notices a tree that is twisted and stunted, growing from a crack in the path and comments that it is not as big and beautiful and it is a shame that it grew there. The master replied "No, that tree is growing exactly where it is supposed to be."