Life is an Unfortunate Situation

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The first noble truth is that conditioned existence is an unfortunate situation. 

Life is filled with suffering, pain, and nothing is permanently satisfying. Sickness, aging, death, and endless rebirths can only be labeled misfortune. 

Life is an unfortunate situation because we want, thirst, and crave for things to be permanent, reliable, and satisfying. Guess what? They are not. People die, they are unreliable, unfaithful, and unkind, and that one we love dies and leave us all alone.

If these were the whole story we would be hopeless. But there is a way out of conditioned existence. It is called Nirvana in Buddhism. 

Jay Forrest


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