The first of Buddha's Noble Truths is that life is suffering. Why is it suffering? Well, the opposite to suffering is contentment, and contentment is impermanent—it never lasts. This does not sound very exhilarating; rather on the contrary.

The notion that life equates to suffering evokes a sense of despair simply by hearing it. Isn't the Buddha believed to have understood the true nature of life? It cannot be as dreadful as that, can it?

But, well, yes—contentment is impermanent, and that is hard to argue against.

Of course, it is not that every moment of life equals suffering; that much we know from our own personal experience. We all experience love, joy, and satisfaction from time to time—at least temporarily.

And that is the factual point here: the relief from pain, -discontent, -dissatisfaction, -thirst, -hunger, -boredom, -sadness, -and loneliness is temporary, and this underpins the statement that life equals suffering.

Every situation of content inevitably ends—always. This is the very first of the Buddha's Four Noble Truths. It is a kind of grim start—we start at the bottom—but it is only upwards from here.