pessimism, cynicism, nihilism.

So that's tonight's for me the topic that makes me giddily happy.

To best represent for you pessimism, cynicism, nihilism, I'm going to bring up the heavy hitters in those

disposition, those views, talk a little bit about them and talk then about what the Buddhist response is.

So let's start off with the great pessimist.

Badding number one for the pessimist is in 1818 the great German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer.

If you are not aware of Schopenhauer he wrote a masterpiece called

the world as will and representation and to save you from reading what is one of the longest and most punishing books of its type,

I will summarize it for you.

Essentially Schopenhauer claims in brilliant language that the world is an expression of nothing else other than this brutal overwhelming will to survive and live at all costs.

That all human action boils down to this will, this will to survive, this will to keep on living, survivalism.

And that every action that we take in some way boils down to this cutthroat basic will to keep on

thriving as an ongoing entity.

So from the Schopenhauer perspective,

there is no such thing, and here's where he gets really pessimistic, there's no such thing and here's where he gets really pessimistic there's no such thing

as fulfillment in life because no matter how much you accrue no matter how much money

you make no much how no matter how many likes your posts get on Facebook no matter what

titles you have mass or how many objects you have you're always left wanting more because human beings never really feel that secure

do we no matter how much we gain no matter how many actions we take we are always left feeling still that we could die,

we are subject to abandonment and loss.

To use the great quote of Schopenhauer,

wealth is like sea water, the more we drink,

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