The Categorical Value of Suffering

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Originally posted: http://bendench.blogspot.com/2009/07/categorical-value-of-suffering.html

Buddhists think that life is suffering and that this suffering is
meaningless. But there is a categorical value to suffering-that is to
say, we can give suffering a categorical value.

Suffering in
every instance serves the purpose of teaching that suffering is bad and
that power is good and in motivating life in a general movement toward
power and away from suffering.

In the movie Fight Club,
Tyler Durden gave the main character a chemical burn on his hand. The
main character tried to escape the pain through remembering what he
learned in guided meditation, and Tyler replied, "Don't deal with it
the way those dead people do. This is the greatest moment of your life,
and you're off missing it somewhere." Why is this the greatest moment
of his life? Because nothing makes one more aware of the importance of
power than being in terrible pain and not being able to do anything
about it.

Even Buddhists seek out power-the power to snuff out
life. Their conclusion that life should be snuffed out and their
justification for seeking this can only be coherent, they could only
have reached this conclusion in the first place, if the above assertion
(suffering in every instance...) is true.

Their conclusions,
however, rely on the idea that this trend towards power cannot succeed
in overcoming suffering, except through annihilation. This is a
metaphysical assumption I neither see evidence for nor am willing to
accept without evidence. And even if this were the case, what better
way could I live, ceteris paribus, than seeking to affirm my will,
regardless of the result?

In any case, power is required to
achieve this or any goal and is thus the categorical value. Rather than
assume that life is meaningless or futile one should seek out power
that would put one in a position to know what the case is and act
accordingly.

Buddhists say "pain is inevitable, suffering is
optional." I say "suffering is inevitable." We may both be right in our
own ways. They mean that there will always be pain but you can reach a
place in your mind so that you don't suffer from the pain. Rather, you
just experience it. What they neglect, however, is that both trying to
end pain and trying to end suffering are attempts at exerting one's
power, and that both a pain free state and a suffering free state are
based upon conditions that are achieved. You have the ability
to go to a place of bliss in your mind, but this is not unconditional
happiness, in the strictest sense, since it is dependent upon you being
able to go to this place in your mind. Theoretically, someone could do
something to your brain to prevent you from being able to do this. So
it comes back to power. You can either try to move things physically,
in which case you may achieve a state without pain, or you can try to
move things mentally, in which case you may achieve a state without
suffering. But there will always exist beings who have not conditioned
themselves into this mindset of not minding pain just as there will
always exist beings who are in states of pain, and thus suffering will
always exist. On the same line, you as an individual might be able to
overcome suffering, but you might also be able to overcome pain.

If
you desire something and you cannot obtain it, you may experience
suffering. There are two ways to solve this problem. Either obtain the
object of your desire, or stop desiring it. Why would you want the
latter?

If you identify
with the message of this article, please email it to people, tell your
friends, even print out copies to pass around. Together we can raise
awareness. Thank you.

http://bendench.blogspot.com/

Ben Dench graduated valedictorian of his class from The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey in the Spring Semester of 2007 with a B.A. in philosophy (his graduation speech, which received high praise, is available on YouTube). He is currently (more...)

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