Misconceptions of this kind are many. Many believe the Buddha preached that life is suffering, or dukkha, and conclude that his is therefore a dismal outlook of defeatism. What they overlook is that the Buddha spent his life trying to teach people meditation because he saw that humanity can transcend suffering. If he believed that suffering was all, he would have advised us to commit suicide! He saw that bliss—ananda—was a very real possibility. His life mission was to remind us of it.
