Recognizing Suffering

In a dhamma talk, a Buddhist monk had stated that life is suffering, prompting a young lady to leave for the latter had believed otherwise. Life is happiness, she had said; her boyfriend who left with her had pointed out that even in his hospital bed, he could be happy when his friends visit. Then, I read about dualism being recognized in Theravada Buddhism; there is good and evil, wisdom and ignorance and definitely there is suffering and happiness. Bhikkhu Bodhi, in an article Dhamma and Non-duality had however stated that the teaching of the Buddha in the Pali canon does not endorse non-dualism just like the Pali Suttas does not propose dualism. In living, people perhaps go through different experiences and while these could be either dualistic or monistic in nature or even, both dualistic or monistic; when the mind hurts and could not compute, one'd perhaps rather stick to recognizing suffering and understanding the  Noble Eightfold Path, lest it could bring about the cessation of suffering.