Dukkha – Suffering. Quality of things just not right

(Pronounced doo-kha)

Note: Dukkha is one of the Three Marks of Existence.

To remember the meaning of the Buddhist term Dukkha, use the following mnemonic:

You do carry (dukkha) a heavy burden around with you all the time. You must suffer. The quality of everything is just not right with that burden.

In Buddhism, Dukkha is the first of the four Noble Truths.

It means the ‘suffering’ or ‘unsatisfactory nature’ of life. Although someone might temporarily fulfil their desires, suffering cannot be avoided, whether it is physical, emotional or mental.

According to Buddhists, there are four kinds of suffering:

• Dukkha-dukkha is the suffering of suffering. This refers to the physical and emotional discomfort and pain all humans experience.
• Viparinama-dukkha is suffering that arises from an inability to accept change. People cling to pleasurable experiences and are unable to accept the truth of impermanence.
• Sankhara-dukkha is the suffering of existence, which is perhaps best described as background suffering. It is the unsatisfactory nature of existence, caused simply by existence itself.

NOTE: The Four Nobel Truths are: 1) The noble truth of suffering; 2) The noble truth of the origin of suffering; 3) The noble truth of the cessation of suffering; 4) The noble truth of the way to the cessation of suffering.