Questions tagged [dukkha]
Dukkha (Pāli; Sanskrit: duḥkha; Tibetan: སྡུག་བསྔལ་ sdug bsngal, pr. "duk-ngel") is a Buddhist term commonly translated as "suffering", "anxiety", "stress", or "unsatisfactoriness". The principle of dukkha is one of the most important concepts in the Buddhist tradition. The Buddha is reputed to have said: "I have taught one thing and one thing only, dukkha and the cessation of dukkha."
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Daily life is dukkha
When I wake in the morning I have noticed that in that first moment when I realise I am conscious I feel this kind of yuckiness or sinking feeling. I'm not sure quite how to describe it. I guess it's ...
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Dukkha and happiness
Was reading the article linked to below about how happiness is merely the absence of dukkha in much the same way that darkness is the absence of light. That happiness is alway there. All we need to ...
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Are 'elements' defined as non-suffering?
I'd like to question something from this answer without disputing it, i.e. there was a phrase it in which I found novel:
You do this by seeing that your suffering is impermanent and empty (...
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How do Buddhists handle mental illness such as depression or bipolar disorder?
How is mental health dealt with by Bhuddists? Is it believed to be a tangible issue e.g. imbalances of chemicals in the brain? Or an issue of the spirit (not sure if spirit is the right word)?
Is ...
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The question of why do we have craving
In Buddhism everything boils down to we as humans and animals crave. Craving is the root cause for suffering and rebirth.
So the question becomes why are we hard coded to crave. Is there any ...
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Does dukkha apply to name-and-form?
That is to say, anicca and anatta obviously apply to all 5 skandhas, but 'stress/suffering' is a psychological phenomenon. Is it the 'name' within name-and-form that links it back to dukkha?
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Is smoking tobacco acceptable in any school of Buddhism?
Is smoking tobacco acceptable in any school of Buddhism?
I think it shouldn't be considered acceptable:
because of the fifth precept
because of the first precept (smoking is physically harmful, so ...
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What enters the mind of an idle Buddha?
What enters the mind of a Buddha when left idle? Suppose a Buddha were confined to a hospital bed or prison cell. One cannot remain within the conditioned states of jhana indefinitely. If one is ...
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'Dukkha': What is the difference between 'suffering' & 'unsatisfactoriness'?
In Buddhism, the English words 'suffering' & 'unsatisfactoriness' are often used as translations of the Pali word 'dukkha'. What is the difference between 'suffering' & 'unsatisfactoriness'?
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Sequence in the noble eightfold path
It's clear right view is the foremost factor as without the right view one would not go for practicing the noble eightfold path at all. But when the rest is considered, is there a real sequence? My ...
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Is dukkha conventional or ultimate? Is it different from the other two marks of existence?
Is the existence of dukkha a conventional or ultimate truth?
I am confused, because on the one hand, it is usually mentioned together with two other marks of existence, which clearly look like the ...
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Two-arrows paradigm (Sallatha Sutta) -- in the Mahayana?
The Sallatha Sutta (SN 36.6) in the Pali Canon is well-known in the Theravada and MBI (mindfulness-based-intervention -- MBSR, MBCT, etc) worlds for the two-arrows paradigm.
The first arrow is a ...
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Translating "dukkha" as "reactivity"
Daniel Brown, on p. 6 of Pointing Out the Great Way, says this (emphasis added)...
The Pali word typically translated as “suffering” is dukkha, which
could also be rendered as “reactivity.” For, ...
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How does the first noble truth associate dukkha with each of the five skandhas?
I'm looking at this definition of dukkha:
Birth is dukkha, aging is dukkha, death is dukkha;
sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, & despair are dukkha;
association with the unbeloved is ...
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Zen & Dukkha -- Is Everything Suffering?
Thich Nhat Hanh seems to deny a major teaching on dukkha/suffering common to both Theravada and Tibetan teachings -- the idea of all-perasive suffering ("the suffering of composite things",...
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Two interpretations of the three levels of suffering, Dukkha Sutta and Tibetan
There's a wrinkle in the teachings about the three levels of suffering. The Pali Canon, in SN 38.14 -- Dukkha Sutta -- has it thus (leaving things uninterpreted for the moment):
the suffering of pain ...
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What is the meaning of *suffering*?
What is the meaning of the word suffering or (pali) dukkha when it is referred to in topics around Dhamma and Vinaya or Buddhism?
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What force keeps you bonded to samsara?
Superficially, people say that there are a lot of people who love them (and vice versa), but if you analyze your life, you will find that there is no such thing as true love. I've realized that what ...
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Am I "fooling" myself?
As I practice more and more on seeing life as Dukkha, something interesting happens. I feel a greater sense of gratitude and contentment.
I am not talking about seeing things as they are directly ...
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Is ignorance/unawareness Dukkha?
It is usually said that the root delusions of attachment, anger and unawareness/ignorance are the causes of Dukkha. Of the three, unawareness/ignorance is the root cause.
I see very how unawareness/...
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Are Buddhists happier people?
The First Noble Truth says that cyclic existence is Dukkha. I'm not in a position to expound on the meaning of the word Dukkha, but I think everyone can agree it does not mean "happines".
Still, I ...
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Do you become unhappy when happiness disappears?
Do you become unhappy when happiness disappears? Or is there some other state of mind between happiness and unhappiness?
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Difference between Samsara and Dukkha
What is the difference between the terms "samsara" and "dukkha"?
What is the relationship between the two?
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Is it necessary for a Buddhist to believe that existence is suffering?
It appears that Buddhism depends on a central premise -- that all worldly existence = suffering / dukkha.
Are there Buddhist teachers or traditions that teach a joyous approach to worldly life?
Are ...
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Doing versus not doing what others tell you to do
Is not doing what others tell you to do a wholesome or unwholesome act?
When someone tells you to do something, and you decline, when it's a wholesome act and when it's an unwholesome act from your ...
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Did the Buddha really say that "life is suffering"?
I often see the first noble truth (duḥkha) stated as "life is suffering". I have yet to come across a passage in a Buddhist text which phrases it like this - mostly they don't talk about "life" in ...
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Are practical solutions to everyday suffering that contradict Buddhism Upaya or avidya?
If we are caught in the great web of desire and aversion, and are roiling in Samsara, helpful or well meaning advise (to let go, to be in the moment, to inspect the emptiness of reality, to not ...
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