Where shall one begin in his endeavour to grasp the essential
teachings of Buddhism? No one can fully understand Buddhism without
studying Hinduism as a background and starting point. The student can
go far, however, by starting from the fact of universal human
suffering, and its relief. "One thing only do I teach," said Buddha,
"sorrow and the uprooting of sorrow." He was never weary of bringing
home to his disciples the horror of the world's pain, in order that he
might lead them on to what he believed to be the only way of
salvation. "What think ye, O monks, which is vaster, the flood of
tears that, weeping and lamenting, ye in your past lives have shed, or
the waters of the four great oceans? Long time, O monks, have ye
suffered the death of father, mother, brothers, and sisters. Long time
have ye undergone the loss of your goods; long time have ye been
afflicted with sickness, old age, and death." "Where is the joy, where
is the laughter, when all is in flames about us?" Buddhism is often
labelled pessimistic, because its writings are full of attempts, such
as these, to make men realise the suffering and the worthlessness of
the life to which they cling. The critics, however, do not realise the
hopes which it holds out to a suffering world, which are just as
characteristic of Buddhistic teaching. The Buddhist replies, "If
medical science is pessimistic then Buddhism is also pessimistic." It
diagnoses the disease in order to cure it.
Like other religions it is a "Way out." It first states the problem:
then offers a solution.