this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2025
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Greentext

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[–] moseschrute@lemmy.ml 6 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (1 children)

Not only that, but the upvotes. So at least 4 people agree. Are you all ok?

[–] nomy@lemmy.zip 4 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

It's a Buddhist misquote, it should read "there is suffering in life" but it's often interpreted as "life is suffering."

The intent is to express that our own desires and material wants are often the root causes of our suffering and if we can begin to understand that we can begin to free ourselves from the suffering that occurs in this existence.

But it does sound nihilistic as fuck on its own.

[–] moseschrute@lemmy.ml 4 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

See that makes way more sense, but I’m rereading the original comment and I’m still not getting that. I’m guessing Buddha didn’t say “you only have value insofar as how useful/reliable to others you are”

Edit: I guess this is kinda similar. I don’t think I like the word “useful”. I prefer the below phrasing

The value of life is not based on how long we live, but how much we contribute to others

in our society.