What Is Liberation For? Why Does Seeking Liberation Only Bring More Suffering?

Have you ever looked at a mangy stray dog, or an ant carrying its food, and thought: how they suffer, I wish they could be born human? But if you placed yourself in their circumstances, you would surely still feel far more fortunate than they are. So is that good fortune real? In Buddhism, there is a profound lesson: it is precisely when we recognize that we are still in suffering (dukkha) that we can begin to seek liberation. But if we seek liberation only for ourselves, might we fall right back into the trap of that very suffering?

Why did the Buddha say that life is suffering?

Many people wonder: life has suffering, but it also has joy, so why did the Buddha declare that all of life is suffering? Thay Thich Chan Quang explains that when the Buddha spoke of suffering, he was measuring it against the absolute nirvana he had realized. If we only compare moments of pain and pleasure within this life, we cannot understand it. But from a higher vantage point, all worldly happiness appears fleeting and small.

"The moment you deeply understand the meaning of suffering in life is the moment you understand the Buddha's teachings (Dharma). For example, even when you are holding a stack of money in your hand, if you still see that as suffering, then at that moment you understand the Dharma."

When we see ourselves as suffering or happy, it is because we are only comparing ourselves with others within a narrow range. But if we compared ourselves with the celestial beings, with the arahants, with the Buddha, then what we call happiness would be nothing more than a tiny speck of dust.

Selfishness: the root of all suffering

Where does suffering come from? Thay states it clearly: all suffering begins with selfishness. Selfishness leads to two consequences: first, anxiety in the present mind/heart, and second, planting cause and effect (karmic law) that carries into the future.

"All suffering begins with selfishness. As for ignorance, that is too distant, its nature too lofty, so we will not speak of it. What we are saying is that suffering arises from selfishness... selfishness gives birth to suffering."

For example, when we have five sticky rice cakes, we are afraid others will see them, so we must eat them all, quickly, hurriedly. That is anxiety; that is suffering. The selfish person always feels bound, unable to be free no matter what they do.

Altruism: the true path to liberation

In contrast, living altruistically creates blessings from merit, and a person with blessings from merit is free. The more blessings from merit, the more freedom, and freedom itself is liberation.

"One is only free within blessings from merit and bound within wrongdoing. Therefore, the person who truly seeks liberation is the one who must live with utmost altruism, no longer thinking of themselves at all. That is the foundation."

Thay emphasizes that there are two paths leading to liberation: cultivating meditative concentration to break the attachment to self, and living altruistically to create boundless blessings from merit. In truth, the two are one. When one is absolutely altruistic, living only for others, the blessings from merit are boundless and the freedom is limitless. This is called liberation.

Be careful: seeking liberation for yourself alone is also selfishness

Many people give rise to the aspiration to practice, but they practice in order to escape suffering for themselves alone. Thay warns: this is falling back into a vicious cycle.

"We want to escape suffering, yet without realizing it, we plant the seeds of suffering. That is, wanting to escape suffering by practicing for ourselves, we fall right back into the very cause of suffering. This is where we must be careful."

Remember the Buddha. Why did he leave home to practice? Not to escape suffering for himself alone, but out of boundless love for all sentient beings. He saw the small sufferings of the world, but above all he saw the great suffering: samsara (cycle of rebirth). Yet even seeing samsara (cycle of rebirth), he did not want to escape it alone; he wanted to show the way for all sentient beings.

There are philanthropists who see landmines, leprosy, and hunger, but they see only a small corner of it. The Buddha saw the whole of samsara (cycle of rebirth), that wheel of birth, aging, sickness, and death, turning endlessly in weariness.

"The ultimate suffering is in truth samsara (cycle of rebirth). In this human life, whether rich or poor, sick or healthy, fortunate or unfortunate, all must fall ill, must die, must be reborn, turning round and round in exhaustion."

One who sees suffering and wants to save only themselves is small; one who sees suffering and wants to save all beings is a bodhisattva.

Live altruistically to truly be liberated

Do not run from suffering by closing your doors and practicing for yourself alone. Open your heart wide and live for others. Every altruistic act is a seed of blessings from merit. Great blessings from merit bring great freedom, and freedom is liberation. Today, ask yourself: am I living selfishly or altruistically? If selfishly, correct it. If altruistically, nurture it further. For only altruism can carry us to the other shore, where there is no more suffering.