Well, I kind of identify with the soto sect of Zen Buddhism, but I actually reject the standard interpretation of the four noble truths (the first if which, as you've said: life is suffering). Life isn't all suffering. Idealistic thinking of life is a kind of suffering, I suppose, but you're not suffering all the time. When you're eating an awesome meal, having some hot sex, seeing your code pass CI on the first attempt, yada -- this is not life is suffering. So I can't agree with the core buddhist noble truths..

If you're invested in another take on them, I would seek out Gudo Nishijimas dharma airs :}

Ah, well I had no intention of implying that all of life is suffering, but the succinctness of my comment can be read that way, sorry. Your take is quite reasonable, IMHO. The gist of a lot of the quotes that search brings up is more or less the same: without suffering, it may be more difficult to understand how deeply good the pleasant experiences of life are. Which for me, would include looking out the window at the rain. (I live in a desert.) My best friend (lives in Belgium) thinks the opposite.

Oh, your friend in Belgium doesn't appreciate what he has, I come from a small island off the west coast of Scotland, where rain is rather common... You could resent it, or you could install roof windows, a log burner and invest on a decent whisky and have the best possible environment for getting deep into a hardback book that possible exists (possible enhanced by a collie dog laying on your feet).

Life is weird. We're all islands until we realise we are the island. Don't take anything too seriously. :)

Anyone who can find joy in a glass of whiskey and a terrific hardbook is going to be fine, is what I think, no matter what obstacle, unless they go too hard on the books.

I've been thinking about this a bit lately. In a discussion about the precept on buddhists not to be intoxicated I wrote this:

Hmm, my take on this is maybe a little different -- I don't really think alcohol (or other intoxicants) are really 'THE' problem, when we consider them in the context of a problem. These kinds of things are (at least as far as I see it) a kind of self medication; some people drink a lot as their form of escapism, others read 200 books a year or watch endless mindless TV shows, it's all kind of the same thing in different clothes, it's a retreat from having to deal with something. Years of 'AA' and the American 'War on Drugs' seem to have got into our collective mindset that these symptoms are actually the cause, which I disagree with.

So anyway; I always took this precept as guidance against doing any of those kinds of things which only serve to distract you from whatever it is that's making you unhappy, or to numb yourself to avoid having to think about things. Such evasive behaviour is the truly harmful part and should be avoided.

I think if you do any of those things just for pure recreation, then it is ok.

I mean, I don't think having a small glass of Whisky while reading a good book in-front of the fire with the rain battering on the windows could be too much of a problem, and if it is then I guess it's a problem I'll choose to keep :}

Of course, we are all different.

Gassho. Night night :)

I went pretty hard on the books during the late... viral disturbances, and I think it was for the better. But the best hardbook experience I've had in... decades? was to finally restart and finish Ulysses, in a 40 year old copy, that I started when I was twenty and had not suffered enough to appreciate.

Had to keep the Lagavulin ecstasies partitioned off for the duration of the read, necessarily.

Dukkha doesn't translate exactly into "suffering". It can also mean "unsatisfactory" or "unpleasant". I interpret it as life is inherently unfulfilling and you'll never be fully satisfied by it. Even if you win at everything.