Dukkha

Dukkha (Pāli दुक्ख; Sanskrit दुःख duḥkha) is a central concept in Buddhism, which corresponds to a number of terms in English including suffering, pain, sorrow, affliction, anxiety, dissatisfaction, discomfort, anguish, stress, and frustration. The term is probably derived from duḥstha, "standing badly," "unsteady," "uneasy."

Dukkha is one of the Four Noble Truths of the Buddha's teachings, which asserts that samsaric existence is characterized by unsatisfactoriness. Ancient texts such as Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta and Anuradha Sutta, show Siddartha Gautama, the Buddha, as insisting that the truths about dukkha are the only ones he is teaching as far as attaining the ultimate goal of nirvana is concerned.

Dukkha is also listed among the three marks of existence, and the Buddha taught with his first three Noble Truths that it exists, has discernible causes, of which there is an account, and that there is a path for release from it. The final Noble Truth is his path.

In Chinese Buddhism, Dukkha was translated as kǔ (苦 "bitterness; hardship; suffering; pain"), and this loanword is pronounced ku (苦) in Japanese Buddhism and ko (苦) in Korean Buddhism. In Tibetan it is སྡུག་བསྔལ་ sdug bsngal,"

Meaning

Although dukkha is often translated as "suffering", its philosophical meaning is more complex. The concept contains a cluster of interrelated ideas including "imperfection", "unease", "anguish" and "unsatisfactoriness". Therefore, the word "suffering" is too narrow of a translation with "negative emotional connotations", which can give the impression that the Buddhist view is one of pessimism, but Buddhism is neither pessimistic nor optimistic, but realistic. Sometimes English translations of Buddhist literature leave the word dukkha untranslated so as to encompass its full range of meaning. .

In classic Sanskrit, the term duḥkha was often compared to a large potter's wheel that would screech as it was spun around, and did not turn smoothly. The opposite of dukkha was the term sukha, which brought to mind a potter's wheel that turned smoothly and noiselessly.

Types of Dukkha

The Buddha discussed three kinds of dukkha.

• Dukkha-dukkha (pain of pain) is the obvious sufferings of :

1. pain
2. illness
3. old age
4. death
5. bereavement

• Viparinama-dukkha (pain of alteration) is suffering caused by change:

1. violated expectations
2. the failure of happy moments to last

• Sankhara-dukkha (pain of formation) is a subtle form of suffering inherent in the nature of conditioned things, including the

1. skandhas
2. the factors constituting the human mind

It denotes the experience that all formations (sankhara) are impermanent (anicca) - thus it explains the qualities which make the mind as fluctuating and impermanent entities. It is therefore also a gateway to anatta, selflessness (no-self). Insofar as it is dynamic, ever-changing, uncontrollable and not finally satisfactory, experience is itself precisely dukkha. The question which underlay the Buddha's quest was "in what may I place lasting relevance?" He did not deny that there are satisfactions in experience: the exercise of vipassana assumes that the meditator sees instances of happiness clearly. Pain is to be seen as pain, and pleasure as pleasure. It is denied that such happiness will be secure and lasting.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Hanh, Thich Nhat (1999). "The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching". Broadway. ISBN 978-0767903691
• Keown, Damien (2003). "Dictionary of Buddhism". Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860560-9
• Moffitt, Phillip (2008). "Dancing with Life: Buddhist Insights for Finding Meaning and Joy in the Face of Suffering". Rodale Books. ISBN 978-1594863530
• Prebish, Charles (1993). "Historical Dictionary of Buddhism". The Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-2698-4
• Rahula, Walpola (1959). "Chapter 2", What the Buddha Taught". Grove Press. ISBN 0-8021-3031-3
• Siu, Ralph Gun Hoy (1994). "Panetics and Dukkha: Integrated Study of the Infliction of Suffering and the Reduction of Infliction". Intl Society for Panetics. ISBN 978-1884437021

External links

• Dukkha entry, Access to Insight
• On understanding the teaching of Dukkha by the Buddha, Kingsley Heendeniya
• [1] Definitions, Objectives, Premises and Principles of the International Society for Panetics, Ralph Siu. Panetics: The study of the infliction of suffering. J. Humanistic Psychology 28(3), 6-22. 1988, The humane chief of state and the Gross National Dukkhas (GND). Panetics 2(2), 1-5. 1993. Panetics Trilogy. Washington: The International Society for Panetics, 1994. Vol. I, Less Suffering for Everybody. Ibid. Vol. II, Panetics and Dukkhas. Ibid. Vol. III, Seeds of Contemplation. Understanding and Minimizing the Infliction of suffering. Unpublished text. 711 pages. Introduction to panetic system design. Panetics 3(4), 3-12. 1994. Panetic inflation, deflation, and the Humane Index. Panetics 5(2), 52-53. 1966. see also suffering

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