There seems to be some mistaken universal perception that we aren’t supposed to suffer.  At all.  And if we are, then something is wrong.  On a very basic level, all of us think we should be happy.  That it is our birthright.  So when life becomes difficult or painful, we mistakenly believe that things have gone wrong.  And we are pretty much willing to do anything and everything to fix it.  To not feel bad.  To make it right.  But according to the Buddhist teachings, pain and suffering are ineviteable in human life.  For one thing, no one can escape the reality of death.  But there are also the realities of aging, of illness, of not getting what we want and getting what we don’t want, of sorrow at losing what you love or someone that you love.  These are the facts of life and they hurt.  They feel wrong.

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