What is Suffering?

Suffering is an illusion. It only resides in human mind. Birds and animals do not suffer. They may go through strife but they do not suffer. Suffering is a mental phenomena which is particular to human beings. Suffering is different from strife. We can get rid of strife because strife is physical. But we cannot get rid of suffering as it is just an illusion. One cannot fight with darkness. In order to remove darkness, we need to bring light. Darkness is the absense of light. Similarly suffering is the absence of true understanding. We suffer because we do not know who we are. We suffer because we do not know how our mind functions. The moment we understand, there is no more suffering. Suffering is there because we have separated ourselves from life. We falsely believe that we are individuals. We are different from others. We have divided orselves into ficticious categories of gender, race, nationality and so on. Suffering happens because we compare ourselves with the others. We have created societies in such a way as they cannot function without comparison. We do not see ourselves through the eyes of existence. We always look at ourselves through the other’s eyes. We do not have fresh and unbiased outlook. We remain always poor, mediocre, less famous or nobody in the presence of the other. The other becomes hell for us. Suffering happens when we do not understand the nature of thoughts and emotions. It occurs when we live a life of ignorance. When we do not like to open our eyes and see the truth, we suffer. We become stubborn and rigid in front of life process. Life is a constant change and when we do not accept it we suffer. We suffer because our loved ones have left us behind. We make ourselves blind to the fact that living beings have to die one day. This is the way life works. When we forget how to die to each moment, we suffer. We do not want to face the unknown. The presence of death creates suffering. We do not want to let go of our petty life and that creates suffering because death is inevitable. We cannot escape death. One day we have to face it. But we suffer because we know that one day we have to die. We want to live contineously. We do not want to get annhilated totally. We want to save oursleves somehow. When we find ourselves helpless that we cannot do so we suffer. I suffer because my neighbour got more money than myself. I suffer because I am less famous than the other. I suffer because my beloved has betrayed me. I suffer because I feel lonely. I suffer because I am an ignorant who have no idea what life is all about. I suffer because I have done some terrible deeds in the past and I suffer because I might meet with some aweful events in my future life. There is not a single aspect of life that I do not suffer. I suffer my company as well as my loneliness. I suffer my knowledge as well as my ignorance. I suffer both my dreams and waking state. Life has become a great suffering where I do not find any respite. I do in vain many things to get rid of it but always remain a failure. I watch movies, go to sight seeing places, indulge in gossips with friends and dear ones, become workahloic but always find at the end that suffering does not go away. It always lurks behind like a shadow. All my activities have the flavour of it in themselves.