Question:
When I told an atheist friend of mine that life is a lot about suffering and persevering hopefully..he ....?
hiniikken
2013-06-11 11:45:53 UTC
laughed and said "No, life is about enjoying oneself " ...later I found out he is indeed suffering, terrible suffering, but I refrained to question him further about his premise that life is about 'enjoyment'.
I figured he said that to cover the truth.
What do you think?
Sixteen answers:
Stephen H
2013-06-12 07:10:22 UTC
Life's what you make it. No suffering, no struggling, no persevering for over 40 years continuously. Some suffering after that, but it took one hell of a lot of resources to make that happen, from people who can't be anything other from suffering, because when we don't suffer we don't do what they do anyway.



If you are going to persist that there has to be suffering, then what kind of example does that set and perpetuate? If you want suffering then you can have it if you like, but it doesn't mean anyone else has to have it.



This is how easy it is not to suffer. Once a university I was at accused me of breaking a door in a student house and demanded that I pay for it, so I just told them that it wasn't true and then didn't go to any lectures at all for a year. Easy. No suffering at all. Just made a point and didn't matter whether they got it or not. Just because the guy in a position of authority in relation to the student house was frightened of the lad that actually broke it and lied about it. Did I need a first class honours degree in maths that I had been on track for at the time. The answer is no. And I did enjoy myself that year because I was looking at early chaos theory and some game theory that weren't on the syllabus, and the philosophy of quantum mechanics, making up some of my own maths, writing poetry, spending time with people, going for walks and runs, and basically anything I liked, and still maintaining an ethical position in relation to what had happened. Other people were working like crazy and struggling and came out with second class degrees. But I'd never struggled to begin with, and didn't even need an honours degree anyway, and preferred not to have one if it would mean agreeing that unethical conduct was preferred just because it was university policy.



Don't suffer, don't struggle, don't persevere. Just take it easy and calmly. Just don't budge if someone demands something else from you. Everything useful gets done faster anyway.
2013-06-11 11:49:29 UTC
The meaning he gives to life is that one should try to enjoy it, likely because you only get one and there is no point in making it as miserable as possible. It doesn't matter if he's suffering or not, he can still hope to get as much enjoyment out of it as he can; this doesn't make him wrong and it also doesn't necessarily make him right.



I would agree that a part of life entails some suffering, struggling, and persevering; that doesn't mean this is the meaning of it, though it may be your meaning.
2013-06-11 11:54:06 UTC
Buddha said that suffering is an inevitable part of life.

Suffering means anything from death and dying, to great physical or emotional pain .. down to that constant hum of dissatisfaction that tells us that things could be better. And even if we do manage to get what we want, nothing is permanent .. we will lose what we have at some point.



Buddha also taught that WE cause our suffering, and he went on to recommend actions and practices that change that.



Most of us try to "stuff" our dissatisfaction where we can't see it, and we try to stay busy: career, shopping, music, pleasure, adventure, love, sex .. etc. Pleasure. Enjoyment.

But underneath there is this rumble of dissatisfaction .. just as, even in the middle of the night in the city, you can hear that faint hum of tires on pavement.



Paradoxically, once we stop trying to be happy, we become happier. We become lighter and more joyful.

You don't do that by pursuing pleasure, because you will be hooked and controlled by your need to to try to drown out your dissatisfaction.



As Henry David Thoreau wrote, "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with their song unsung."
Andymarkous
2013-06-11 11:51:20 UTC
Well obviously life is rough...emotionally, finiancially, etc. Life is not what it used to be. We all don't know of that bc we are born in a century where a career is everything. For those who say **** like your friend does, they are usually the ones that are irresponsible and immature and may have some issues of there own...atheist or not. Life is not about suffering or anything...life is life. you either do something with it, or you dont...
Alpha and Omega
2013-06-11 12:10:32 UTC
Life is a lot about suffering and perseverance not least Christians who suffer blindness as did George Matheson who penned one of the most beautiful hymns ever written "O love that will not be let go, I rest my weary soul on thee".



Some people suffer but do not find the peace in which to rest in the state of suffering, and these dwell on self and self pity. Not so George Matheson and another wonderful hymn writer who was converted, Fanny Crosby who left a legacy of beautiful hymns who having been saved by Christ who they leaned upon, gained strength day by day.



Some people hide their suffering and unconverted they can live wretched lives. Others grow while suffering from the saving grace of Jesus Christ their Saviour.
?
2013-06-11 11:59:29 UTC
If you really think all life is about that of suffering and struggling, I feel sorry for you. Just because someone endures some suffering does not define life as such; that is the difference.
Filipe
2013-06-11 11:47:18 UTC
Life is about enjoying yourself, the "you must suffer to learn" reality is outdated and medieval, you are put on this earth to be happy not to suffer for some god. You come alone with nothing and you die alone with nothing, so its your task to be happy in between these events.



Edit:

Why do you think life is about suffering? Instead of allowing others to suffer, you should help them, and that would bring you and them great joy.
2013-06-11 12:00:34 UTC
well I'm an atheist too and I'd say life is about enjoying myself and I'm not suffering, my problems are trivial. Sure life can't always be a bed of roses but to think that life is about suffering and perservering... what country do you live in? Life is awesome where I am.
Mercuri
2013-06-11 11:47:33 UTC
Why would life be about suffering? That's like saying that life is about the shitty parts. Like going to a movie where it's just 3 hours of watching paint dry.
2013-06-11 11:48:02 UTC
There is suffering in life, but life does not have to be all about that.
?
2013-06-11 11:48:34 UTC
...why would life be about suffering? If anything, it's about living to the best of one's abilities. It's about saying "I lived well," not "I suffered."
2013-06-12 19:51:44 UTC
I think God is trying to get through to him. Jesus might be knocking on the door of his heart.



Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in and sup with him and he with me." Rev. 3:20
?
2013-06-11 12:02:04 UTC
Life is "about" anything you choose to make it "about."

He chooses to concentrate on the good things -- you, apparently, on the bad.

That's *your* problem, not his.
2013-06-11 11:47:55 UTC
The God existence - He is a denying of the undeniable



I know this got nothing to do with this question.



You dare me to rate me down? then rate it down as you wish.:)
?
2013-06-11 11:48:22 UTC
You have a friend?
Danny M
2013-06-11 12:18:37 UTC
"what do you think" I think you're full of it.


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