Seven Causes of Human Suffering

Dear Dr. Buddhiman Sohail Sahib -- in every article you spread so much obvious sweetness with which it is impossible to disgree that one day we may all suffer from type II diabetes.

Thanks for condensing to 7 days of human suffering. Indeed a powerful article.

Arrey Khalid Sohail Bhai ... human suffering is relative to the human condition. Get your answers from Aristotle Onassis who had everything but could have given it all away just to be able to keep his eyes open without his eyelids being scotch-taped to his eyebrows, while others willingly sell their kidneys for a fraction of what he spent in perhaps less than a minute.

Zindigani ki haqeeqat koh kun kay dil say pooch
Joo-e-sheer-o- teesha-o-sang-e-giran hai zindagi

16 Posted by khurram on July 24, 2007 12:18:47 pm
drsohail,

You live in Canada. For each of the 7 issues you have highlighted, the Canadian society is moving in the direction you would approve of.
So, is human sufferring about to be eliminated from Canada?

LoL !

Khalid,

Let me start at the very begining. Since you are talking about suffering and its causes

(a) Since the discovery of the atomic bomb, human beings are for the first time in history able to commit collective suicide. I hope that rather than following the path of self -destruction, human beings choose to progress to the next stage of evolution and learn ways to live in peace and harmony with themselves and others
This is a defeatist point of view. Human beings are resourceful and the vast majority are rational. If they can discover the A-Bomb, they can also discover the means to avoid destruction. But at a different level, what is interesting is that life will not be destroyed it will continue - maybe not as we know it (to borrow a Trekky dialogue) but nevertheless will continue, for eternity and there is no god in this universe who can put a full stop to it.
Having posed this heavy and mind blowing question, you state
(b)When I review the contemporary dynamics of social, economic and political factors, I can easily recognize the following seven main causes of human suffering
Oaky. Good. here we go. However, what followed were 7 issues, which at various levels could be subsumed into another (as I said elesewhere), and indeed you also seem to recognise it when you say "For example a black working class lesbian woman might struggle on four fronts and suffer multiple disadvantages with overlapping impacts." towards the end of the article.
Lets take the issues you raised one by one
(c) 1. ISSUE OF CLASS
We donot have go go back millenia here. But starting from Adam Smith (who wrote the wealth of nations whilst as a clerk to the EIC in India), to Marx, have argued about this. And indeed Marx has used the same argument as you when he called for the great prol. revol. Having raised this big, very big issue, youlet it all down with your example. I mean how much more of navel gazing can there be.
The issue of class will always be there. You cannot avoid it and indeed you can never ever over come it. That is the very basic instinct in human beings and every living creature. What can be done, however, is to soften this with words like "equitable" as opposed to "equal", or to go back use phrases like "because of their fathers' " (check Leviticus,) or Isaiah which is more graphic "Prepare a place to slaughter his sons for the sins of their forefathers; they are not to rise to inherit the land and cover the earth with their cities".
Those who call for a soft socialist model (like you did below), are essentially hoodwinking people into thinking this problem will be solved. Too clever by half, and eventually these caller for soft socialism will be top dogs. (is it any different from the muscular socialism of Russia or China). To be more crude to use a popular Pakistani Phrase " muh mein ram ram, bagal mein churri".
(d)2. ISSUE OF RACE No argument there. This issue is one of dominance - the spoils of war. the defeated are always made inferior. May be. BUt it eventually, in the long run, boils down to class. Your issue number 1.
(e)3. ISSUE OF GENDER Now, here is a point which could have been expanded more. But you end up using ole grand-mothers tales to bolster your issue, rather than bring home the real issue. I mean what else can be said, when it is written "The expressions mother tongue and motherland remind us of those times".
In old days, earth, the ground we live on, was mother earth (or earth mother) starting from the greek Demeter (which was a feminine word) (In Greek mythology Demeter was the goddess of agriculture, the daughter of Cronus, the sister of Zeus, and the mother of Persephone) similarly Gaia. In India as well this was the case.It is not because of a matriarchal society which existsed. That is pure nonsense. Dig a bit deeper, for the meaning behind the usuage and you will be surprised.
The issue of Gender, is more fundemental than this. As a human being, and as a rational animal, who believs is equality of all humans, we must allow for equality amongst genders and not use one gender as personal baby generators and bag carriers. This requires, that we all understand that all human beings on earth have a right to live their lives as they desire (ofcourse within reason), and have control on themselves, their space, mind, and body. It is not a question of whether they can and should lead prayers or be prophets - who cares about it. I mean if they cannot lead a life what difference does it make if we allow them to lead prayers.

(f)4. ISSUE OF RELIGION I will not delve on this. Since this is a topic which gets discussed on chowk forever.
(g)5. ISSUE OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION Is this a fundemental cause for human suffering? Again, the use of words like moral, immoral, amoral etc takes it towards "religion". This is different from the issues of gender, class etc, but one more derived from religion, and I again will sidestep it - since this is also an issue which is discussed at lenght on Chowk. And there are more and better people than to put forward arguments here.
(h)6. ISSUE OF PHYSICAL AND MENTAL DISABILITIES again, a primary cause of human suffering. All of us suffer from this at one time or other - in one way or the other. There is no human being on earth how can say, hand on heart, that he has never suffered mental anguish (some more than the others, some more permanent than the others). Once more, having raised a very pertinent and weighty issue, you let it all down, with saying "The creation of special parking places for people with disabilities in parking areas across Canada is a welcome development". Come on for crying out loud, parking spaces - so what. They should be there for all, just because they have now been provided for the physically disabled, its no great shakes. It does not eliviate their Suffering in any measure whatsoever. You got to be kidding right. So folks, lets campaign all over the world for providing extra car apces, and not only that for having extra large parking bays and all this suffering will disappear.

(i) 7. ISSUE OF NATIONALISM????????

I have been long enough on my soap box. But Khalid, I will recommend this, most of us South Asians having received new education have forgotten this - one of the most preeminent gifts to mankind


Buddham Sharanam Gachami,
Dhamam Sharanam Gachami,
Sangham Sharanam Gacham

Re: # 25
dear iron-mask....thank you for your detailed comments. in my mind the first step is awareness and the motivation to decrease human suffering and increase health and happiness. many people i meet who are suffering never gave a serious thought of why they suffer and what they do to change their lives....individually and collectively...they call it...God's will...kismat...fate...and do not take responsibility to be part of maintaining their suffering.
i am not sure of your sense of humour. but for some reason i remember this story that my jewish friend told me. you might enjoy it. she said
the whole evolution of life and our development as a species is because of the insights of five jews
the first one was moses who said...the most important aspect of our lives is our mind...we need to use it wisely
the second jew was christ who said ...the most imporatnt aspect is our heart...we need to be compassionate towards others
the third jew was marx...he said it is not head or heart it is our stomach...we need to pay attention to hunger and poverty and relieve it
the fourth jew was freud....he said the most important part is below the belly...it is sex that causes all problems and we need to satisfy it
the fifth jew was einstein...he listened to all four theories of human suffering and happiness and said...it is all relative
smiles...sohail

Re: # 29 LOL!
Just caught me as I was finishing up for the night here.

Yes, ofcourse it is all relative. My suffering could be your joke, and your suffering to me could a joke.
You see Khalid, you are using sentences and phrases which make sense to me, here is one

in my mind the first step is awareness and the motivation to decrease human suffering and increase health and happiness

I agree with it all. But it is heirarchies Khalid, not a flat list. The heirarchies would also put the back women (your example) into the correct perspective.

Anyway got to go and catch some breakfast....see you later

jang/sohail sahib, desire of what? I think it is desire to live longer..some more. most if not all our desires are tied to our ability to live longer.
food: to live longer
clothes: to keep warmer..live longer. to look good so that eligible to be picked for mating so that can produce offspring..and live longer through them
sex: to reproduce and live longer
sex with younger women/girls: more chances of producing offspring and living longer through them.
get a college degree: so that eat better and live longer....find a better mate reproduce better and live longer
buy TV: watch and learn to hunt better and live longer
computer: learn to hunt better
more money: all of above hence insure longer life

etc etc


although it does not explain: craving nihari and whisky.

KaalChakra, I think we are on the same page some what.

Realities can not be ignored if it's a solution was are in search of. It's kind of like doing something wrong and saying your sorry. It can take a long time for someone to come around and finally realize they are wrong. Like believing in a god and then realizing that the life makes more sense without one. Maybe changing what comes natural to give our race a better chance is the challenge. Going against the grain for a solution.
Mark Henry Robinson

Truemind, (1) there is no group of one; (2) we each want a solution, but we each want a different solution; (3) everybody does what is required, but folks have different ways of determinging what is required, and they don't obviously reach the same conclusions.

Truemind, these are the realities. We can ignore them, and that's perfectly alright because most people will ignore us. But some might listen, which does make the whole effort worth it (just that we shouldn't start believing that reality changes just because we are ignoring it.)

drsohail,

You live in Canada. For each of the 7 issues you have highlighted, the Canadian society is moving in the direction you would approve of.
So, is human sufferring about to be eliminated from Canada?

Re: # 16
dear khurram....no society is perfect but i feel canada as a nation is far more sensitive to the needs of the people who suffer. canadian government has free health care and people generally are far more involved in voluntary work. serving one's community is one of the canadian values.
if international human rights' guide is one yardstick then
canada....newzealnad...norway are some of the communities that has human rights in their 90s ...
it seems as if canada has integrated the best of the capitalistic and socialistic values and traditions...and candians are genrally very peaceful people. if there were more countries in the world like canada we would have less human suffering.
it is unfortunate that in the last few years because of the conservative government in canada and its close association with american government some of the values are being undermined but overall it has maintained its humanistic values and traditions so far. i am glad i chose canada to live, learn and serve....sohail

drsohail,

I liked this line in your piece:

"For example a black working class lesbian woman might struggle on four fronts and suffer multiple disadvantages with overlapping impacts."

I agree with the list of issues you have compiled. Some other problems we face are tradition and growth fetish.

Nice article, even though there's nothing new in it but we need such iterations until sufficient awareness is there.

RE:#9
Dear Jang , if you meet the Buddha on the road kill him.

Dr. Sohail if you take away these causes there will be seven other causes to suffer for.

Re: # 14
dear swarrier....it took me a long time to realize that as human beings we have a choice. to suffer or to enjoy life. since i realized that it is my right to be happy, life started changing. that is what i chare with my friends and my patients and their families. that is a choice we have to make collectively...all the best...sohail

Truemind, people always share, just not with everybody.

So a more basic question is of deciding who is somebody and who is nobody, and how the opportunity space and resource space get divided up because of that kind of thinking.

Again, sharing, at least a little of what one has, is extremely easy. It's much harder addressing the question of who do we share with.

Re: # 13

A majority share because it makes them feel good doing so. Altruism at work but I have always felt helping others is also an indirect way of helping ones self, but in this case it is a good thing. So why is it so hard for our race to do what is required? We make our homes safe for our families, we install smoke detectors and locks on our door but outside of our home we don't seem to care as much. We each want a solution but cannot join hands to do it as a group of one.
Mark Henry Robinson