How Do Hindus View Suffering? Essay

Hindiism is an ancient morality and is a mixture of several different faiths. The theology includes the beliefs of the early inhabitants together with the beliefs of others from around the at long last trinity thousand years. Due to the diversities in the religion, it whitethorn seem that a issuing of Hindus may appear to be followers of a different religion this is non so. The differing of beliefs croup be seen in the raft of distress. It is unmatchable of the most vital c at unrivalledness timepts in Hindu philosophy. ugly is to undergo or be subjected to pain.1 Pain does non just smashed physiological torture. It could mean anything from struggling to remove ends meet, to be ment al acey unstable. injury may be internal, ilk physical pain, or external, responseing from the environment around. The three major religions that is Christianity, Judaism, Islam (kn proclaim as the religions of the ledger) shake off their own teaching on what it means to suffer. The theme of woe in the Christian customs is particularly conventional. The Old volition book of Job depicts a righteous hu cosmosity who loses anything that he has, and in go has inflicted upon him diseases.The insure of low is comprise in the characters Zophar, Bildad, Eliphaz, who call back that the main reason Job is detriment in such a sickish flair is be pay off of his actions. Job may capture appeargond to be a righteous man on the step to the foreside, nevertheless beneath, Job could boast been a man whose heart was non fully pure, and therefore was costence punished by God. Here the conventional Christian position is that vile is a end of singles own actions. In The New Testament the belief is that detriment may non have been brought upon by the soul nonwithstanding by their p argonnts or others around them. In Hinduism the attitude towards harm is varied. An overall salute corporation be found in the four formal truths. Even though it is from the religion of the Buddhist, I feel that it kindle be applied to any religion that has to hold forth the issue of pathetic. The four noble truths are piteous exists. there is a cause of torment. suffering loafer be stopped. there is a commission, the noble eight-fold path.It is from this argument that I result base this assignment. It does not take much for wizardness to take up what the creation today is full of. few us there is strife, consistent bloodshed, poverty, and millions of passel in prolonged torment. The universe is a chain of killing and being killed, of ruin and of being devoured. The whole ( adult male) is just pabulum and the eater of food.2 When one dinero to reflect on the situation, it is obvious that suffering in the cosmea does exists it is inevitable, the reason being , it is due to man and his greed. low in the Hindu world suffer be seen within the caste system. In the Hindu tradition, its members are divide into for groups or castes. prototypic is the brahmans. They are considered to be the hieratical or intellectual caste. Second are the Kshatriyas. They are referred to as the warrior and ruling caste. Third are the Vaisya. They are fill outn as the commercial message and agricultural caste. Fourth are the Sudras.They are understood to be the caste who labour. pang may not be see by the prototypic three castes, exactly is experienced in the remaining caste. such suffering includes not scarcely physical and mental suffering, but, legal, social, and religious disabilities.3 The Hindus attitude towards the caste system, is that it re passs the conduct a psyche lived in the outgoing tense. This thence(prenominal) leads us to discuss the belief in Karma (this leave behinding be discussed below). So whatever caste a person is born into, whether it be the priestly or tear down the labourers, it is no one elses fault but the case-by-cases. If one chance upons themselves within the lo wer castes they then know that the former intent lived was not worthy, and so now faces the resultants, together with being precondition the chance to change. It emphatically lays down that an singles rise or cash in ones chips is the social scale in the next vivification depends entirely on the equitable or gloomy accomplishments which he performs in the inclose look.4 On this point the majority of all Hindus combine that suffering is inescapable in this world. When considering the first noble truth it is here that we find differing theories. One work out is suffering evict be seen as an illusion. Like all empirical phenomena, like empirical being it self, suffering is an illusion, a mirage.5 such a belief is accepted by the Upanishads. pang depicted in the parole is not a real experience, it is null. It is unreal in the sense that although the physical proboscis is affect the inner self is not. The be may suffer but that the self which pervades it is not aff ected.6 paroxysm is seen then by the scripture as an illusion, it is not an actual experience. Then again it must be impossible to say that something is not there if one can actual feel and respond to it. The Upanishads suck that once a person is born into the world, they are automatically placed in an environment in which evil and suffering exists. then because of all the influences surrounding them, the body provide then gradually take on the forms of the world. Man acquires corrupt as he focuses on looking out for himself. The god Brahman is to be connected with the liking of suffering as an illusion. Everything that happens within this world is said to be the manifestation of Brahman. I am the body, his mental attitude. I am the Brahman.7 Man is not the owner of his body, everything from his outer being to the inner being is that of Brahman. If Brahman is then the controller of a person from the inward out, then whatever problems an individual is faced with should not in reality affect them. This is because it is the owner of the body, not them that has to repugn with the problem, but Brahman. If one looks at the kinship between the Hindu and Brahman, it is possible to escort why suffering should be seen as an illusion, because really the person being affected is Brahman.The individual may feel that it is them that has to evanescele with the misfortunes that come to them. If they accept the fact that it is Brahman who is overseer of the body then there is no need to be aggrieved. On the other hand if they do not recognise that fact then of cause the suffering they are experiencing will be as real as do the objects of the world.8 woe therefore, is only a problem so long as it appears to be a final and inescapable truth. But when it is realised that the self is not bound forever to the transient world of suffering, but rather that it is Brahman, then suffering can no longer occur.9 If one was then to ask a Hindu the question does suffering ex ist? the answer most likely to be heard is no suffering is only a fragment of the imagination.Just as there were varying views on whether suffering exists or not, there is also differing views as to what causes suffering. Like all other religions, some Hindus believe that the cause of suffering is the result of ones actions known as karma. The Hindus attitude towards suffering is to be found in the philosophy of karma. If one can understand this doctrine trenchantly, then so to, the theme of suffering can be clearly understood. The doctrine basically states that every action of an individual will no doubt produce some results whether it be good or bad. The consequences of the actions will happen the liveliness sentence of an individual. For the individual to experience the results of his actions, another(prenominal) disembodied spirit experience is needed because the doctrine of renascence. The two doctrines can not be separated, it is impossible to talk of one without the other. In Christianity this doctrine is known as retribution. The actions committed in the onetime(prenominal) demeanor can be depicted in the life the individual leads in the next.His past acts, for instance, determine the kind of body which he assumes, the family, society, and position in which he may be born.10 For example if the actions of a past life was moral, then the quest life would be a life of satisfaction. If on the other hand the actions were unjust, then, the individual would encounter a unexampled life of hardship. Every action that an individual performs has a direct result or even a consequence. An individuals present position and suffering are a consequence of his own actions.11 The seat for such a view is held in the Hindu belief in reincarnation. by and by death the soul is reborn in another form of life. The aim of reincarnation is to enable the individual to reach flawlessness so that they can be one with God. Such a cycle of birth, life, death and reb irth is known as samsara.If providing the past life of an individual was good then their soul would then automatically be with the manufacturing business. If on the other hand the past life was bad then a chance is given over to the individual to make up for the bad whole shebang with with(p) in their last life. Death then is viewed by the Hindus as something which is to be looked transport to it is a step towards a new life in which one is given the chance to change. If ones present life is full of zip but suffering then in the next, life will be a spacious improvement. Suffering in one life may then lead to an change life. Suffering is then brought upon a person if they have done something in their life that has been corrupt. If one is to go around doing bad deeds, then the bad deeds will eventually take its toll on them, hence the suffering. Another cause for suffering is due to ones deprivation of faith and lack of devotion to the Divine.The cause of the problem of suf fering focuses on three characteristic fallings in the human condition, namely greed (labha), ignorance (avidya), and impassiveness (pramada).12 The individual loses sight of the kinship held between Brahman, and kinda possesses the desire for the actual things of the world. It is as soon as the individual follows their mind and not their heart, does the experience of suffering take place. Suffering arises only when one attaches himself to limited or transient objects as though they are permanent.13 If one keeps their eyes focused on the Divine then everything will be to a greater extent than satisfactory, but on the other hand if the eyes stray then the consequence will ultimately be suffering. together with Christianity, Hindus view suffering in a positive note, that is, suffering can jock strengthen the individual in their faith. In their time of need one would turn to the divine to find comfort and reassurance that everything will be right in the end.Suffering is then seen as an experience that strengthen ones faith. Another improvement of suffering is that it maybe an indication of kick downstairs things to come in life. An individual can not expect to pass through life without having to come across difficulties, life would be boring so to speak. Suffering in ones life may lead to a erupt life in the next and so suffering should be appreciated. Suffering is an experience, a part of the universe of being. It may be beneficial particularly if it is the foundation of give out things.14 There is a musical mode out of suffering. Suffering is an experience which can easily be removed. The Hindu view is that suffering is inevitable in this world and that the only expressive style to deal with it is in fact to reject the world and try on bring out from it.15 The resultant roles to suffering can be found in the doctrine of moksha. It is the doctrine where on can sample either liberation or release from the world fraught with corruption.The first way in which release can be brought about is by devoting oneself wholly to Brahman. This involves not only prayer but worship. cartridge holder needs to be taken out to focus on the almighty. Another way is through the way of action. This again brings to memorial the doctrine of karma. By doing good deed the self becomes pure. By doing bad deeds then the self becomes corrupt. The final solution is said to be through yoga. It is through this physical exercise does one become united with Brahman. As discussed previously, one of the causes for suffering was due to mans flakiness towards the material substances of the world. So if man disregards his disposition for the world, then suffering itself will not be experienced. Man needs to be completely detached from the substances of the world and instead need to attach himself to the divine in order to prevent the occurrence of suffering. An surplus way to solve the problem is if one is to take suffering as an illusion.The way to alle viate suffering is precisely to realise indeed that it is nothing, at most it is a mere manifestation.16 To conclude suffering in the religion is viewed in umpteen terms. In my personal view suffering is part of life. Life would not be life if there was no such thing as suffering. I am not saying that suffering is nothing of importance, it is, when one is brought into a world ring by suffering, it becomes part of life, one has to hire to cope with it. In order to turn back the concept in detail, one has to have an in-depth understanding of the various doctrines discussed above. It can be argued whether suffering exists or not, but what is clear is whatever the decision there is a way in which to prevent suffering. essentially it is committing the mind body and soul to God. By doing this then the life being lived will no doubt be scanty from distress.Bibliography-Benjamin Walker, Hindu military man, London vol. 2, 1968. -John Brockington, Hinduism and Christianity, Macmillan, 1992 -Arun Shourie, Hinduism mall and implication, Vikas New Delhi, 1970 -A.L Herman, A design excogitation to Hinduism, Oxford 1991 -J Bowker, Problems of Suffering in Religions of the introduction, London, 1975 -Richard Lannoy, The Speaking Tree, Oxford, 1971 -K.W Morgan, The Religions of the Hindu World, New York Press, 1954 -K.N Tiwari, Suffering Indian Perspectives, Motilal Barnarsidass Delhi, 1986 1 Concise Oxford Dictionary 2 Problems of Suffering in Religions of the World varlet two hundred 3 The Religions of the Hindus rogue 145 4 The Religions of the Hindus page 147-148 5 Hinduism heart and soul and solution page 153 6 Problems of Suffering in Religions of the World page 216 7 Hinduism Essence and Consequence page 154 8 Problems of Suffering in Religions of the World page 216 9 Problems of Suffering in Religions of the World page 214 10 The Religions of the Hindus page 128 11 Hinduism and Christianity page 119 12 A Brief Introduction to Hinduism page 31 13 Problem s of Suffering in Religions of the World page 214 14Problems of Suffering in Religions of the World page 207 15 Hinduism and Christianity page 133 16 Hinduism Essence and Consequence page 153