Why do we suffer?

5 perspectives

1. The Buddha

   Lumbini / Ganges valley

   Suffering arises from craving, and craving can be understood

2. Epictetus

   Hierapolis → Rome → Nicopolis

   Some things are up to us, some are not; peace lies in knowing which

   “It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” — Enchiridion (paraphrase of ch. 5)

3. Rumi

   Balkh → Konya

   Love is the force that dissolves the separate self

   “Beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there.” — Divan-e Shams (as popularly translated; A. Arberry's translations vary)

4. Omar Khayyam

   Nishapur

   The present is the only possession: the rest is memory or guess

   “Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.” — Rubaiyat (FitzGerald translation tradition; attributed in Persian sources)

5. Adi Shankara

   Kerala → Himalaya

   Brahman alone is real; the world of separation is appearance