Perseverance
Among Asian values especially among the Chinese, perseverance is viewed as an important noble value. For those who subscribe or semi-subscribe to this value, it means one must work hard towards your dreams. If you fail, you try and try and still try until you make it regardless of the pain. Some go further: the more the pain the better because it means you are sincere and serious in achieving the set goals. Have you ever wondered in each of the Golden Horse awards for movies, most if not all winners will finish it with an important phrase "I will work harder!"Alternative view:
Buddha questioned the meaning of life and why beings went through suffering. He renounced from his royal family in search of the truth. He followed many teachers but none gave him the the answers. He finally meditated under the Bodhi tree and eventually gained enlightenment.
For me, the Buddha had a vision. He wanted to know the root cause of suffering and intended to end it. He tried different strategies (different teachers) and each time it did not work, he changed his strategy but kept his vision.
Suggested conclusion:
Perseverance means keep chasing your dream and do not give up. Perseverance does not mean keep to one strategy and keep doing until it works. So, fix your dream but change your strategies.
Impermanence
The moment we ask for examples about impermanence, generally most of us will refer to sickness, death, suffering and other elements that are negative. Some go to the extent to explain why life is full of suffering.Alternative view:
It's only half the truth. Impermanence technically means something will not stay the same forever and will subject to change when the factors change. Hence, it is true that good things may become bad and it also means that bad things may become good. So, change can be two-way. When a person is sick and after that recovers, that's impermanence. When you get an increment in salary, that's a change from lower to higher salary and is also impermanence. When your kid grows taller, that is also a change i.e. impermanence.
Suggested conclusion:
Should we include change, improvement, recovery, growth and wisdom as new meanings of impermanence?
1st Noble Truth: Life is suffering
I have heard this truth many times. When there is 'first', it suggests that there is more than one. So what about the other truths? For those who only stay at the 1st noble truth, they will propagate the situation and in my view, have created more negativity than improving the situation.Alternative view:
There are 4 noble truths:
1. Life is suffering
2. Craving is the root cause of suffering
3. If we can remove craving, we remove suffering
4. There is a way to remove it and it's called the Noble 8-fold path
There are 3 truths that are ignored when anyone mentions the 1st noble truth. 'Life is suffering' is just a way to state the current situation. So, for those who only propagate this truth, you are reporting the truth in a different context. Please remember to complete the other 3 truths for complete 'reporting'.
Suggested conclusion:
Hey! Whatever life situation you are in, don't worry. It happens to everyone from time to time. The good news is there is way out and let me share with you the Noble 8-Fold Path.
