In one of his first teachings the Buddha offered The Four Noble Truths. The first of these truths states that all of us at some time or other will experience suffering, be it a vague sense of discontent or serious illness. Our world, after all, contains trouble as well as happiness.

Please don't look at this fact from a personal perspective; it is not about your dissatisfaction with work or my aches and pains. Rather it's a fundamental insight into the nature of life.

The First Noble Truth also advises us to deeply understand the nature of suffering. Doing so we realize that at minimum all of us know sadness, fear, and discontent. We also become aware of how these feelings come and go. They are impermanent. Grounded in these insights, the actions we take in response to suffering are likely to arise from wisdom.