Life is glorious, but life is also wretched.

[sonamdhargey]

So true that gloriousness and wretchedness need each other to maintain the balance in human life in a positive approach.

Life is glorious, but life is also wretched. It is both. Appreciating the gloriousness inspires us, encourages us, cheers us up, gives us a bigger perspective, energizes us. We feel connected. But if that’s all that’s happening, we get arrogant and start to look down on others, and there is a sense of making ourselves a big deal and being really serious about it, wanting it to be like that forever. The gloriousness becomes tinged by craving and addiction. On the other hand, wretchedness–life’s painful aspect–softens us up considerably. Knowing pain is a very important ingredient of being there for another person. When you are feeling a lot of grief, you can look right into somebody’s eyes because you feel you haven’t got anything to lose–you’re just there. The wretchedness humbles us and softens us, but if we were only wretched, we would all just go down the tubes. We’d be so depressed, discouraged, and hopeless that we wouldn’t have enough energy to eat an apple. Gloriousness and wretchedness need each other. One inspires us, the other softens us. They go together.”

Source:http://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/04/pema-chodron-life-is-glorious-and-wretched/

[Barzin]

Yes, this is so true.  We need to experience both to know the beauty of both.  We can neither gone too far with one or another.  Experiencing the feelings and emotions of both world is important in our human life.  That is why so many high lamas choose to reincarnate in difficult situation so that they can experience suffering like you and me so that they can benefit us.  Remember, those high lamas have no karma to suffer.  Even as a dharma practitioner, it is so important to master both end of the world, the glory and the failure.  That will benefit our dharma practice very well and benefit more people.  Because if we haven't experience what they had experience, it won't be as powerful when we give advice or talk because it will be just talk.

[dondrup]

Gloriousness and wretchedness are the two conditions of life in samsara.  If we are overly geared towards each end, we will experience suffering and hence unhappiness.  As humans we are fortunate to experience gloriousness and wretchedness.   Gloriousness will turn into wretchedness and vice-versa.  The conditions do not remain the same all the time. Thus Buddha prescribed to us the practice of Middle Way.  We will accomplish peace of mind by maintaining a mind of equanimity without being attached to the state of gloriousness or averse to the state of wretchedness.

[RedLantern]

Very interesting and often true.Gloriousness can make some people lose touch with or have not compassion for others not walking in the same glorious path.
Wretchedness does often and sensitize us:Some people can be grateful for their happiness and still be kind,depends on the person
Life is about joy and pain,happiness and sorrow,grief and elation.
We have a choice to let life's travails harden us into bitterness or soften us into compassion.

[yontenjamyang]

I was once told, for true renunciation to arise, one way is to have it all. Historically, we can relate this to Buddha Shakyamuni and Atisha, who were born as princes and really had it all. Buddha Shakyamuni then went on to lead a "wretched' life of being an ascetic, living on one grain of rice a day. He truly appreciated the spirit of this topic and that lead him to the "middle way" path and today Buddhism is known as the "middle way".

It may be controversial to say this, but not many people can truly renounce because they crave for the things they never got or will probably never will. So just renounce on that basis, will leave a nagging feeling of "what if I had that?". This is also the reason why Buddhism has a negative perception to non buddhist as a religion for losers. If will be great if the richest billionaires in the world renounce or at least become buddhist to alleviate this image. For being Buddhist does not necessarily means one must give up all worldly things. It only means one must realise that these worldly things are not permanent.  Even the richest people in the world has sufferings. The have a glorious life of material and comfort but  also a wretched life in the suffering of pain, uncertainty, change and death.

By truly leading a life on both the extremes can one truly realise the "middle way" like the example of the Buddha Shakyamuni.

[diamond girl]

I do not mean to be rude but from reading this,  I can only think what is commonly said,  "Life is a bitch." I cannot help but think what is the balance in samsara. Glorious does not last because it is delusional.  And suffering is a form of purification. So as sick as it sounds,  we should enjoy life to suffer so that we purify,  and how to create the causes for attaining emptiness.

Hmmm...

[apprenticehealer]

Gloriousness and wretchedness are of different polarities. The same as being in joy and in despair, poverty and wealth, in good health and in sickness. Yet each compliments the other. Life cannot never be just wretchedness or just gloriousness all the whole time. 
I feel all these arises in our perception of what life has to offer us, it all arises in our minds.
But we need all these different experiences to make us better people. When we are in a state of wretchedness , we strive to come out of it with positive attitudes, with determination, with courage and with tenacity. Nobody wants to feel wretched all their lives.
When life is totally glorious , initially it is all fantastic and wonderful. But if we continue with this self cherishing attitude and enjoy ourselves in the samsaric world, we would spiral ourselves downwards into wretchedness. The the cycle begins again. But this time , we should know better and learn from our mistakes on what we did wrong when life was glorious.
We need both to ground ourselves. And to appreciate the fact that we have the karma to have all these experiences in our lives.

[Dondrup Shugden]

As an unenlightened being, it is about always experiencing the glorious or happy moments and also the painful and wretched ones.

Buddha taught that all phenomena is the result of dependent arising.  All things arises as results of cause and effects.  Knowing this we should have no attachment to both emotions as they are all impermanent. 

The other way to look at this is the rid our minds of duality.  The emotions of opposite inclination. If we can achieve this then we have the Middle way.

Have the glories and wretchedness of life, experience it and let go, so as to move on with the present moment of creating the next moment.

Not a easy process, but at least let us try.

[Kim Hyun Jae]

Life is glorious when we get what we like and enjoy the temporal happiness within the sufferings of the world.

Life is also wretched when we suffer the pain, loss or grievances of death, of change and of impermanence.

We can learn "acceptance" when the wretched life or situation arise and apply the antidotes to rectify and eradicate so it will not occur again in future.

[yontenjamyang]

Life is glorious when we get what we like and enjoy the temporal happiness within the sufferings of the world.

Life is also wretched when we suffer the pain, loss or grievances of death, of change and of impermanence.

We can learn "acceptance" when the wretched life or situation arise and apply the antidotes to rectify and eradicate so it will not occur again in future.

Gloriousness and wretchedness are but emotions that arise from the ignorance of true existence. That things are permanent and inherently exist. These qualities are observed even of the Buddhas and the gods from the observer because the ignorant view of the observer. Hence, due to this ignorance we see the gloriousness of the Buddhas and wish to have the same; which is the skill means of the Buddhas using our desire to hook us into being enlightened. At the same time we see the gloriousness of the gods and the rich and famous and wishes to have the same and this is the negative karma manifesting and the very karma that will bring us more suffering in the future.

Wretchedness is the reverse of gloriousness but have the same mechanism and the above.

[pinecone]

Most people dislike facing the true facts of life and prefer to lull themselves into a false sense of security by sweet dreaming and imagining. We are living a life that does not always proceed as smoothly as we would like it to or in short, life is not a bed of roses. At times, we might  experience joy and happiness but shortly, we might also face problems and difficulties. We should not be afraid of the nature of these problems and difficulties as it  can provide us with a deeper insight into life.