Discourse on anatta

schools of thought on the concept of anatta or non-self.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Buddhism
• anatta
• venomfangx
• mahayana

[sam51092]

Suffering leads to wisdom... yes, but why is wisdom important in the first place? Isn't so we are better able to overcome suffering? A world without suffering wouldn't have need of wisdom.

I say this just in case someone was going to the use the 'suffering gives wisdom' piece as some sort of theodicy. If they did, surely it would be a circular argument.

[QuietZen]

Because there are different types of suffering, some necessary, some natural, some man-made, wisdom becomes a key element in discerning the one from the other. If wisdom be important to better overcome suffering, then a world without need of wisdom would never be without suffering. A world without suffering would be the product of wisdom if this concept were to be taken as true.

[QuietZen]

Some suffering gives us wisdom. Some suffering gives us no knowledge other than that we are suffering. Thank you, dear friend, for having watched and commented.

[sam51092]

I get what you're saying; without wisdom we'd create our own suffering. I may have been simplistic. I was just trying to avoid a theodicy, where people use this sort of thinking to reconcile all suffering with the existence of God. When really I think that if God existed he'd create us already wise, forgoing the need for suffering to create wisdom. I point this out because I don't trust, morally, the idea of justifying all suffering as a good thing, as theists often do with the problem of evil.

[QuietZen]

Not all suffering is a good thing. Very little of it is.  I agree with you on this, my friend.

[moo20727]

@Juanster23

Mind

[honnnesty]

@Juanster23 you see that it is no self when you get enlighten

[Juanster23]

Who is it that knows there is no self?

[Carlsarv]

Great! Thank you.

[bluedeucegooch]

TRON