the four kinds of suffering (birth, old age, disease, death)
Buddhist term referring to the four fundamental sufferings inherent in existence: birth, aging, sickness, and death. Often encountered in the phrase 四苦八苦.
In Buddhism, birth, old age, sickness, and death are called the four kinds of suffering.
Though he went through great hardships, he completed the project.
dire distress; great hardship; struggling desperately · the four and eight kinds of suffering (Buddhism)
From the Buddhist concept of the four inevitable sufferings of existence: birth (生), old age (老), sickness (病), and death (死). The term is a direct borrowing from Chinese 四苦 (sìkǔ).