A Comparative Study on the issue of Suffering According to Buddhism and the Shiicte Imams

One of the important teachings of Buddhism is the principle of "suffering". Buddhism considers "suffering" and pain the most important feature of human life and introduces ways of deliverance and emancipation from such. In Islamic teachings and in the school of the infallible Shi’ah imams as well, the existence of disasters, calamities, and catastrophes are considered to be natural events for all human beings, but suffering and feeling pain is seen to depend on how one looks at disasters and calamities. According to the infallible Shiah Imams, suffering is not the same as undergoing disaster. In this survey we study the ideas of both sides comparatively and examine their similarities and dissimilarities.