I was struggling to formulate a criticism of Buddhism yesterday, and ended up botching it a bit. Now I know:
The fundamental truth of suffering is a core tenet, towards which I'm a bit leery. I'm leery not of the idea itself - I agree that it's sound - but of how it's handled.
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The backdrop for my own practice is so eclectic, it hardly bears scrutiny. I've never practiced anything *properly*, preferring instead to steal.
I use Finno-Ugric myth, Hindu philosophy and Buddhist technique for my own purposes, plus whatever else comes along.
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Resultantly, I'm never quite sure how to interface with people. My personal system is such a messy cobweb of associations, it could only work for me.
I'm not planning to be any sort of guru, so at most I will only pass along technique and individual ideas when I want to.
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Anyway, for Buddhism specifically:
I agree that suffering is a fundamental part of experience. Totally. Unequivocally.
I don't agree that it's always a useful lens through which to *interpret* experience.
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There are a lot of tremendously useful Buddhist techniques. Many parts of Buddhism are essentially improvements on (at the time) antiquated Hindu sutras.
But that doesn't mean the metaphysics are very useful to people.
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If we reference Finno-Ugric myth, we do find suffering as an ever-present concept.
What else would you expect? These peopled lived in extremely harsh environs. Maybe 2% of us today would survive in the North of antiquity. It's a harsh place to live even today.
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The entire cosmology, all the myths, all the stories, default to this harsh reality.
When you die, you don't go to heaven. Your bones are ground to dust in the river of death. You may end up tormented there, as a shade, forever. There is no happy ending.
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So what do you do? You don't overcome or surpass suffering. You simply get on with the day.
You persevere, but not out of some mystical attainment - simply because that's the only option in the face of such a hopeless state of affairs.
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And so suffering is a fact of life, yes. It's ugly, yes.
But it's not worth obsessing over. You just do you, and do it as well as you can.
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I know there are Buddhist traditions that diverge from this pattern, of course. I know it's not suffering all the way down.
That's a big part of the reason why I preference, say, Zen over Mahayana.
A cosmology built ENTIRELY around removing suffering? Please. That's ridiculous.
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