Essay Example on Is Buddhism Pessimistic?

Most of the people who argue that Buddhism is a pessimistic religion base their argument on the Four Noble Truths. However, the teachings only give details on ways to end suffering. According to the Four Noble Truth, suffering is depicted as part and parcel of human life. The teachings elaborate on the truth, origin, and cessation of suffering. It also gives details on the way to the end of suffering. Since the teachings dwell so much on suffering, some people assume that it a pessimistic religion which is not.

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According to the four noble truths, suffering is a part of human life. Reason being that the world is imperfect as well as the human beings in it (Anderson 16). As such, during the life of a human being, one has to undergo various forms of suffering such as sickness, a death of loved ones, old age, fear, disappointments and so forth. However, life is not made up of the sufferings only, it has some good side of it where human beings enjoy happiness, comfort, and ease. However, the four noble truths expound more on the negative side of life. This is because the world subjected to impermanence at all the time. As a result, there is no human being who can forever be in a state of happiness because there is no way to achieve everything that human being strives for or desire. At one point, a person succeeds in his or her endeavors and at the next time, one fails. The Buddhism perspective of life through the lenses of suffering is rather grim and sad.

The fact that Buddhism hovers around the negative side of life about suffering should not make it pessimistic. Rather it prepares the human being on how to combat the negative side of life which matters more than the positive side of it (Dumoulin 45). In life, it doesn't how much you have ever been happy, a single incidence of unhappiness can make an individual hate life leading to stress and depression. It is therefore essential to teach human beings on how to tackle the dark moments of life rather the light moments of because happiness does no harm to people.

By large, Buddhism has an image of inner peace, hope, and serenity (Mitchell 23). The image of Buddha is ever smiling and it is an indication of the Buddhism doctrines. The wide smile indicates the need for human beings to be more happy than sad. The smile also gives hope and ignite joy to the people who are sad and disappointed.

Additionally, Buddha is loving and compassionate. It is therefore surprising to associate Buddha with sadness and frustrations in life. According to the Buddha's teachings, the best way to conquer the hearts of people is to teach them the truth so that they can appreciate Dhamma (Swanson 168). Thus, by learning the truth, an individual conquers him or herself and is able to live happily. Buddha's discussions, dialogues, and sermons reflect His true self.

The Buddha's teachings provide positive attitude towards life. This is essential in facilitating people have healthy relationships with everybody else and be satisfied with the little that is available in life (Weber 41). Happiness becomes sustainable over the life of an individual. Buddhism dissuades people from attaching so much of their emotions on bodily desires and pleasures. Living a puritanical lifestyle is gratifying however not many people can be able to live it.

The idea that Buddhism is a pessimistic religion is a misunderstanding of the religion's concepts. The Four Noble Truth provide a solution to the suffering by proposing on a way to end it (Anderson 62). The solution is given by the suffering cessation also known as Magga. According to the teaching, one should avoid the worldly pleasures to achieve the spiritual freedom and enlightenment. It is possible through self-denial and nonindulgence. Suffering is ended through meditation, conducting oneself in an ethical manner, and gaining wisdom. Nirvana is the ultimate step in ending suffering. At this stage, an individual reaches enlightenment and overcomes hatred, delusion and bad desires such as greed. An enlightened individual is full of compassion for life.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Buddhism is not pessimistic, as much it dwells much on suffering in its teachings, it is only a way of preparing human beings to handle the problems which are many in life. The Buddha did not expect people who follow His teachings to ever live in pain and unhappiness. His teachings were meant to equip people with ways of overcoming the negative side of life which leads to suffering. Only through that way could the people find joy in life. Buddha advocated for enlightenment a virtue that cannot be achieved without joy. The afterlife of an enlightened individual is full of liberation. The Buddha teachings only give in details how it is hard to achieve everything in life, however, despite such failures, people should not fail to be happy. The Buddha teachings give ways of ending suffering in the Fourth Noble Truth, where the path to suffering cessation is given.

Works Cited

Anderson, Carol. Pain and its ending: the four noble truths in the Theravada Buddhist canon. Routledge, 2013.

Dumoulin, Heinrich. Understanding Buddhism: Key Themes. Weatherhill, Incorporated, 1994.

Mitchell, Donald William. The way of Buddhism: Introducing the Buddhist experience. Oxford University Press, 2001.

Swanson, Paul L. "" Zen Is Not Buddhism" Recent Japanese Critiques of Buddha-Nature." Numen 40.2 (1993): 115-149.

Weber, Max. The religion of India: The sociology of Hinduism and Buddhism. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 2000.