Pre-Lecture Reflection for "Early Buddhism"

Does your sense of causation (cause-and-effect) influence your understanding of how pain and suffering come about in your life? Put another way, does your sense of how events in your life are caused relate to your understanding of how pain and suffering arise in your experiences? How so? Further, does this link between causation of life's events and the experience of pain and suffering provide an understanding of how you might reduce the frequency of pain and suffering in your life? Why or why not? As you articulate your position, clearly explain the reasoning for your position, and if appropriate provide a concrete real-life example that illustrates your position. Write at least 250 words.