Everyone suffers. This simple fact of life has plagued humans for centuries, perplexing the wisest thinkers down to the most common among us. It demands an explanation, and history has granted us many - often in the form of religion. Buddhism revolves around the concept of suffering, attempting to explain its origin and how to break free of it. It teaches that no matter how righteous a person acts, they will always suffer until they fully achieve enlightenment.
The idea is central to the Buddhist religion: there are plenty of good people in the world, but this does not exempt them from pain. A person can be good, but if their goodness has not fully developed into perfection, evil still imprisons them. This is clearly explained in Dhammapada:
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"Follow it, and that will be Mara 's bewilderment. Follow it, you put an end to suffering and stress." 3 Each part of this path is important and necessary, but the very first thing mentioned by the Buddha is right view, which he goes on to explain as "Knowledge of suffering, knowledge of the origin of suffering, knowledge of the cessation of suffering, knowledge of the way leading to the cessation of suffering..." 4 Here, Buddha emphasizes the importance of wisdom about human suffering. Essentially, the path to no more suffering is understanding of suffering, which may only be achieved through extensive meditation and learning over the course of many lives. With full knowledge of suffering comes a disappearance of the need to avoid it, and this lack of avoidance causes it to disappear entirely. This is the very realization that set Buddha out on his journey to enlightenment. "...it would not be proper for me to seek to avoid sickness, old age, and death as ordinary persons do. '5 After this realization, he decides to spend his life trying to achieve this