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**sportbos** · 04-02-2012, 12:01 PM

So what did the Buddha mean by the cessation of suffering, if not an ultimate end to suffering? Would such a state of mind even be worth it? Suffering seems human to me, and to not ever suffer seems unnatural. To attempt to achieve non-suffering seems to me like trying to swim against the current. Why not just float downstream?

To me, cessation of suffering means that you know which actions and choices will cause suffering, so you try to make choices that will not cause unnecessary suffering. It does not mean that you cannot suffer.

Cessation of suffering actually makes you free. Using your analogy, if you just float downstream, you will have no choice over your life. Once you are enlightened, you will be able to hover on top of the stream, and go anywhere you wish, up the stream, down the stream or leave the stream and go to the forest instead.

04-02-2012, 12:01 PM	#5
sportbos Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 471 Senior Member	So what did the Buddha mean by the cessation of suffering, if not an ultimate end to suffering? Would such a state of mind even be worth it? Suffering seems human to me, and to not ever suffer seems unnatural. To attempt to achieve non-suffering seems to me like trying to swim against the current. Why not just float downstream? To me, cessation of suffering means that you know which actions and choices will cause suffering, so you try to make choices that will not cause unnecessary suffering. It does not mean that you cannot suffer. Cessation of suffering actually makes you free. Using your analogy, if you just float downstream, you will have no choice over your life. Once you are enlightened, you will be able to hover on top of the stream, and go anywhere you wish, up the stream, down the stream or leave the stream and go to the forest instead.
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