• nomy@lemmy.zip
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    12 hours ago

    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
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      12 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.