Why was Buddha considered pessimistic?

Disclaimer - Some of the spellings used here may be different than what is normally seen, eg. Buddh instead of Buddha, Yog instead of Yoga. This is because the pronunciation in Hindi doesn't contain an 'aa' sound at the end and because of the romanised spelling people tend to mispronounce. It is like calling Adam as Adama or Tom as Toma.

It doesn't seem right to call one of the greatest teachers of his time a pessimist, but that was how a large section of Indian Hindu society viewed him. Let us understand why from the beginning of Buddh's journey-

Before becoming Buddh(Enlightened), he was the Prince of Shakya Kingdom and went by the name - Siddharth Gautam. One day Siddharth was allowed to visit the poor section of his kingdom. Everywhere he placed his eyes, he saw suffering, be it in the form of diseases, death, unhappiness, or old age. He wanted to get rid of this inevitable suffering and left home in the pursuit of the ultimate salvation. Upon achieving salvation, he concluded that life is suffering. People connoted this suffering with the same misery that Prince Siddhartha saw before leaving home. To them, acceptance of suffering meant giving in to sorrow and forgetting the bright side of life. Buddhism meant embracing pessimism and all the thorny aspects of life.

No one can deny the truth of suffering in the inevitable death and decay. But people thought that by making this suffering the whole focus, we miss out on the other pleasant things in life.

By calling life a suffering where all things come to an inevitable end, was Buddh propagating a pessimistic view of life? Let us investigate.

Life is not ideal: it frequently fails to live up to our expectations

Buddh taught that all human beings are subject to desires and cravings, but even when we are able to satisfy these desires, the satisfaction is only temporary. Pleasure does not last, or if it does, it becomes monotonous. Even when we are not suffering from external causes like illness or bereavement, we are unfulfilled, unsatisfied.

"I teach suffering, its origin, cessation and path. That's all I teach", declared the Buddh 2500 years ago.

While meditating under the Bodhi tree, Buddh came to understand four principles popularly known as the Four Arya Truths -

1. The truth of suffering (Dukh)
2. The truth of the origin of suffering (Samudāya)
3. The truth of the end of suffering (Nirodh)
4. The truth of the path to end the suffering (Marg)

Instead of a pessimist, Buddh is more like a doctor. In the first two Arya Truths, he diagnosed the problem (suffering) and identified its cause. The third truth is the realization that there is a cure, and finally, in the fourth, he gave a prescription to end the suffering. Some people who encounter this teaching may find it pessimistic. Buddhists find it neither optimistic nor pessimistic, but realistic.

Fortunately, Buddh's teachings do not end with suffering; rather, they go on to tell us what we can do about it and how to end it. When he said that life is suffering, he saw people trapped in the same cycle of wants and cravings, which brought them a world of pain. He logically explained why desires are the root cause of suffering. More importantly, unlike any pessimist, he had a solution mentality. He showed us the way to rise above these desires and be liberated from the fetters of this world. He taught us to view life dispassionately with a rational mindset.

We are all seeking too much, and as a result, we cannot find - Hermann Hesse.

Buddh, through his teachings, appeals to the seeker within us, in a mad rush to slow down and meditate, reflect and view reality as it's happening without clouding it with our pursuits. And once we view reality as it is, not colored by our desires and judgements, life becomes less of suffering but a journey of self-actualization, instead of a never-ending pursuit to reach someplace, somewhere lured by the promise of happiness, albeit impermanent.

What do you think? Was Buddh a pessimist? Do let us know in the comments below!