Inspired and Blessed by Bob Acebedo
Inspired & Blessed

The Various Meanings Of Suffering

Apr 24, 2021, 5:43 AM
Bob Acebedo

Bob Acebedo

Columnist

Whilst there’s no denying of unimaginable scourge and devastation wrought by the current pandemic, it is worth writing about the various meanings or explanations of the reality of suffering.

In both rational and empirical realms, suffering is real and undeniable. Considered as one of the most disturbing yet profound of human experiences, it can invariably refer to “pain, unpleasantness, misery, affliction, woe, illness, discomfort or displeasure” brought about by, among others, physical and emotional maladies, plagues or natural calamities, loss of loved ones, shattered relationships, failures or flamed out plans, extreme poverty, etc.
 
Worth reviewing are the different explanations for suffering from the various religious, theological, and philosophical perspectives.
 
The ancient religions and cultures view suffering as a punishment exacted by the gods – who are believed to have emotions and desires like human beings.
 
Anaximander, of ancient Greece, believed that suffering is necessary as reparation for the “offense” caused by “change” to the eternal, changeless scheme of justice.
 
Plato, also of ancient Greece, taught that, with our physical existence, we live in a “cave” or shadowy world of change, corruption, fragility, and suffering – and the solution is to get rid of our physical existence and be liberated into the “world of reality”.
 
According to Buddhism, the “first truth” (of the Four Noble Truths) is that all life is suffering, pain and misery and can only be overcome through the Eightfold Path leading to Nirvana.
 
For Hinduism, suffering is a natural part of “samsara” or karmic cycle. Suffering that someone is forced to endure is thought to be the result of bad karma incurred either in this life or in a previous one. A person can also choose to endure suffering to enable a more fortunate incarnation in the next life.
 
In Islam, sufferings of pain, hunger, tragic accidents and the like are due to one’s sins, for Allah wants this suffering to erase such sins.
 
The Stoic philosophy (Seneca, Epictetus) considers suffering as “indifferent”; it is neither good nor bad, and as such it does not deserve any meaning. Hence, a virtuous man is one who has the “will” not to be affected by suffering.
 
Friedrich Nietzsche, German existentialist philosopher, praises suffering as the means whereby a higher form of humanity (Ubermensch or “superman”) could be forged.
 
And lastly, from Christianity, suffering is reparation for sin. So heinous was the original crime of humanity that nothing less than the suffering of God (Christ) was required to achieve reparation for it. Christ’s suffering on the cross is thus a paradigm case of positive suffering, and every Christian is called upon to participate in it by dedicating their own suffering to Christ's salvific task.
 
Now, from the foregoing manifold meanings or explanations of suffering, I am impelled to put forward the following points.
 
One, indeed it cannot be denied that suffering is real, experienced and inevitable – both in the rational and empirical aspects. As such, it can be made meaningful, bearable and acceptable.
 
Two, while by itself suffering is something negative, yet when it is given meaning within a larger context, it becomes something positive. Suffering will be negative in that it hinders the fulfillment of the biological aims of the body; negative in that it involves pain or frustration over unsated desires and needs; negative in that it frustrates our practical projects and our pursuit of everyday goals. But it becomes positive by virtue of the meaning-giving aspect of our existence.
 
Finally, from all these ruminations, I can’t avoid making one last inference: that it is fairly plausible that from every experience of suffering, regardless of form or intensity, there is always a transcendent good, if not a higher mode of existence, that can be derived – depending on one’s faith and meaning-giving orientation. 


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