Jessica Schrader - Existence is Suffering

 Perhaps, beneath everything, there is inescapable pain.

My gastritis has got worse over the last year and this is why I have done less politics, but I hoped you enjoyed the various different topics. My GP has increased my medication, so I'm okay for now, but I'm a bit disappointed as I was hoping to recover. 

Existence is suffering" is the common translation of the First Noble Truth of Buddhism. As an avid reader of Zen Buddhism, I’ve often argued that this Noble Truth isn’t true at all, or that it is simply a precursor to the other Noble Truths which teach one how to alleviate suffering. But recently I’ve changed my stance.

As a therapist, I am privy to the pain of many people. Many promising students have told me they won’t become therapists because they don’t feel they can handle listening to others’ pain. No one is in therapy because his life is amazing and he’s pain-free. So it is expected that a therapist hears, and sometimes dwells, in others' suffering.

What may be surprising, however, is how much pain people that aren’t my clients are in. Perhaps because I am a therapist, friends, colleagues, and students share their pain with me. Interestingly, their pain is often no less intense than those seeking relief in my therapy office; they struggle with it just as much. The point is the vast majority of the population is dealing with something painful.

Psychology Today 

Jessica Schrader - Existence is Suffering