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Suffering in the present moment?

letitgoletitgo
edited September 2011 in Buddhism Basics
I have been pondering a question and will be asking my dharma teacher. My spouse suggested posting it here. Question: Is suffering always in the realm of delusion? Is it possible some suffering is in the present moment? It would be useful to know if there is a general principle at work here. I cannot come up with an exception in my own experience of where suffering is right NOW other than with high physical pain as I have had with kidney stones and severe migraine.

Comments

  • jlljll Veteran
    There are 2 types of suffering.
    Physical and mental pain.
    Mental pain, we cant avoid. But in deep meditation
    you feel no pain.
    Buddhism is all about eradicating mental pain.
  • daemyodaemyo
    Suffering, delusion, past, prestent, are all intellectual concepts.
    If, at THIS moment, I (accidentally) hit your finger with a hammer, What is that?

    hint: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! OUCH!"

    ;)
  • daemyodaemyo
    *present

    Sorry, fingers slipped thinking about that hammer! LOL!
  • taiyakitaiyaki Veteran
    with the cultivation of mindfulness one can learn to have a healthy relationship with his/her physical/mental pain.

    pain is pain but we make things usually worse than that. for instance i can smack my hand with a hammer. such pain is only instant, but i can whine and bitch about how stupid i am for doing such action. thus i create more and more pain for myself. with mindfulness one can see that pain itself isn't always a constant. it comes and goes. pain itself isn't graspable and pain itself has a cause. so out of wisdom from seeing clearly we realize the nature of pain. we can build a healthy realistic relationship towards it and hopefully bring peace of mind.

    but sure the body will still go through pain. such is the nature of having a body. but like all things they come and go. find refuge in that. and in accepting pain we can learn to live with it.
  • daemyodaemyo
    What taiyaki said.
  • letitgoletitgo
    edited September 2011
    Ok. I tainted my question about suffering by introducing the idea of pain. Let me phrase it again: If you are in the present moment can suffering exist? Or, is it true if you are suffering you are not present in the moment?
  • MindGateMindGate United States Veteran
    edited September 2011
    Ok. I tainted my question about suffering by introducing the idea of pain. Let me phrase it again: If you are in the present moment can suffering exist? Or, is it true if you are suffering you are not present in the moment?
    Define suffering.
  • SimpleWitnessSimpleWitness
    Ok. I tainted my question about suffering by introducing the idea of pain. Let me phrase it again: If you are in the present moment can suffering exist? Or, is it true if you are suffering you are not present in the moment?
    The attachment to wants, needs, fears, disappointments, depression, anger, lusts, desire, love and hate, jealously, and other passions contributes suffering.

    One is able to be attached in the moment.

    In the moment one may also let go of what it is that one clings to.

    It is the being who makes the choice as to what one will experience in the moment.

    We can let go of the clinging cycle by means of awareness. That which dissipates upon awareness was never wholesome.

    That which deepens upon awareness is virtue.
  • ddrishiddrishi
    I would just add my humble view on the subject. There can be 'pain' in the present moment and there is nothing you can do about it expecting curing it. But, whether this pain is leading to 'suffering' too is the question to be answered. No, if you are in the present moment with the pain or anything that is concurrently happening, there can be no 'suffering'.
  • driedleafdriedleaf Veteran
    Suffering is illusive. Unless we have reached enlightenment, we will have to carry our greed, hatred, and delusions(kilesa) with us.
  • Temporary_arisingTemporary_arising
    1. Everything including suffering is in the present moment. It is ALWAYS the present moment so nothing can exist outside of it.
    2. All suffering is caused by desire for things to not be a certain way. By accepting EVERYTHING as it is, suffering cannot arise.
  • letitgoletitgo
    1. Everything including suffering is in the present moment. It is ALWAYS the present moment so nothing can exist outside of it.
    2. All suffering is caused by desire for things to not be a certain way. By accepting EVERYTHING as it is, suffering cannot arise.
    The dharma of physics! How/why is this so often forgotten????
  • Ada_BAda_B
    I think, as others have said, we need to distinguish between suffering and pain. You can be in a great deal of pain, but not suffering, because you are not frightened, or fighting the pain, or worried what it means or what is going to happen.

    Have you heard the stories of dancers or football players who break a bone, but don't notice until after the performance/game? Intense concentration can be like meditation, and in that state, we no longer pay any attention to the pain signals entering our brain.

    With meditation and practice, we can reach a similar state in which we intellectually know we are in pain, but it no longer bothers us, and no longer causes suffering.
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