The Root Cause of Human Suffering

Xuefeng

June 30, 2007

The Buddha Sakyamuni came into the world to address human suffering, and Jesus Christ descended to save people from it. Similarly, Karl Marx's theory of communism aimed to liberate humanity from suffering. However, the practice of communism, along with the history of various utopian societies, has shown that humanity has yet to identify the true root cause of its suffering.

So, where does the root cause of human suffering lie?

Cells and the Body It is an undeniable fact that when a cell within a body carries a virus, the body inevitably becomes diseased.

The family is the basic cell of human society. To determine whether human society is healthy, we need only examine the cells that constitute it—just as we go to the hospital for blood tests to assess our physical health.

Does the family, as the cell of human society, carry a virus?

Let’s trace this issue back to its source. If someone engages in corruption or bribery, we must ask: Why do they do this? There could be many reasons, but the core reason often revolves around their family—providing for their parents, spouse, and children, bringing honor to the family name, and ensuring the overall safety and prestige of the family. People want to stand out in society; no one wants to be looked down upon, especially by those around them or by people they know well. To prevent their parents, spouse, and children from being looked down upon, they feel compelled to ensure their family's standard of living—whether in terms of food, clothing, housing, transportation, or their children’s education—is at least on par with others, if not better. But if their salary is insufficient and they have no other sources of income, what can they do? They might resort to corruption and bribery.

Now, imagine if people had no family—no parents, no spouse, no children—and if having a family, spouse, or children was not allowed. What would the situation be like?

We see people leading busy, hectic lives. What are they so busy with? They are busy chasing fame and fortune. And why do they chase fame and fortune? Ultimately, it’s for their families—for houses, cars, parents, spouses, and children.

If there were no families, would people still be this busy? Certainly not.

But what are the consequences of all this busyness? The destruction of the ecosystem and the depletion of resources are not the main issues. The main issue is that this busyness leads to comparison and competition between people. This comparison and competition bring mental and emotional suffering, leading to a significant amount of crime. And by crime, I’m not just referring to violations of criminal law, but also to the mental torment and emotional abuse that arise when people fail to keep their promises to one another.

Thousands of years of human history have shown that the family is a cell carrying a virus.

The saying goes, "Every family has its own difficult scripture to recite." Why is this scripture so difficult? Because the family carries a virus.

The Origin of the Virus Where did this virus come from?

This virus is a result of a program. The family is a program, and once a person enters this program, even the most outstanding individuals can be infected by its virus. Therefore, the conflicts that arise within a family, and the conflicts that arise in society, are not the fault of any individual—not the parents, not the spouses, nor the children, siblings, relatives, or friends. It is not even society's fault. The problem lies in the program of the family.

As long as families do not disband, humanity's suffering will never end.

The Way Out The vast majority of people are unwilling to see their families disbanded, just as no one wants to share their property with others. In fact, it is extremely difficult for people to disband their families on their own, just as it is difficult for someone to perform surgery on themselves.

It is unimaginable and unrealistic to expect existing families to disband.

There is only one way out: those who are not yet married should not get married, and those who are divorced should not remarry.

This, however, leads to a series of new problems. First is the issue of sexual relations, followed by the questions of whether to have children and how to raise and educate the next generation. Then there is the matter of how to deal with aging, illness, and death, and finally, how to structure and operate society, among other issues.

How to solve these problems requires the ingenuity of civilized people in society. However, Lifechanyuan has already prepared a theoretical system for this. By understanding the values of Lifechanyuan, one will find the answers.