Did the Buddha Suffer

When I was a young monk, I believed that the Buddha didn’t suffer
once he had become enlightened. Naively I asked myself, “What’s the
use of becoming a Buddha if you continue to suffer?” The Buddha did
suffer, because he had a body, feelings, and perceptions, like all of us.
Sometimes he probably had a headache. Sometimes he suffered from
rheumatism. If he happened to eat something not well cooked, then
he had intestinal problems. So he suffered physically, and he suffered
emotionally as well. When one of his beloved students died, he suffered.
How can you not suffer when a dear friend has just died? The
Buddha wasn’t a stone. He was a human being. But because he had a lot
of insight, wisdom, and compassion, he knew how to suffer and so he
suffered much less.