What is Dukkha?

Dukkha
This anthology prepared by jtb for Access to Insight.

No single English word adequately captures the full depth, range, and subtlety of the crucial Pali term dukkha. Over the years, many translations of the word have been used ("stress," "unsatisfactoriness," "suffering," etc.). Each has its own merits in a given context. There is value in not letting oneself get too comfortable with any one particular translation of the word, since the entire thrust of Buddhist practice is the broadening and deepening of one's understanding of dukkha until its roots are finally exposed and eradicated once and for all. One helpful rule of thumb: as soon as you think you've found the single best translation for the word, think again: for no matter how you describe dukkha, it's always deeper, subtler, and more unsatisfactory than that.

The definition
"Birth is dukkha, aging is dukkha, death is dukkha; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, & despair are dukkha; association with the unbeloved is dukkha; separation from the loved is dukkha; not getting what is wanted is dukkha. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are dukkha."

— SN 56.11


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sariputta's elaboration
[Ven. Sariputta:] "Now what, friends, is the noble truth of stress? Birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are stressful; association with the unbeloved is stressful; separation from the loved is stressful; not getting what is wanted is stressful. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are stressful.

"And what is birth? Whatever birth, taking birth, descent, coming-to-be, coming-forth, appearance of aggregates, & acquisition of [sense] spheres of the various beings in this or that group of beings, that is called birth.

"And what is aging? Whatever aging, decrepitude, brokenness, graying, wrinkling, decline of life-force, weakening of the faculties of the various beings in this or that group of beings, that is called aging.

"And what is death? Whatever deceasing, passing away, breaking up, disappearance, dying, death, completion of time, break up of the aggregates, casting off of the body, interruption in the life faculty of the various beings in this or that group of beings, that is called death.

"And what is sorrow? Whatever sorrow, sorrowing, sadness, inward sorrow, inward sadness of anyone suffering from misfortune, touched by a painful thing, that is called sorrow.

"And what is lamentation? Whatever crying, grieving, lamenting, weeping, wailing, lamentation of anyone suffering from misfortune, touched by a painful thing, that is called lamentation.

"And what is pain? Whatever is experienced as bodily pain, bodily discomfort, pain or discomfort born of bodily contact, that is called pain.

"And what is distress? Whatever is experienced as mental pain, mental discomfort, pain or discomfort born of mental contact, that is called distress.

"And what is despair? Whatever despair, despondency, desperation of anyone suffering from misfortune, touched by a painful thing, that is called despair.

"And what is the stress of association with the unbeloved? There is the case where undesirable, unpleasing, unattractive sights, sounds, aromas, flavors, or tactile sensations occur to one; or one has connection, contact, relationship, interaction with those who wish one ill, who wish for one's harm, who wish for one's discomfort, who wish one no security from the yoke. This is called the stress of association with the unbeloved.

"And what is the stress of separation from the loved? There is the case where desirable, pleasing, attractive sights, sounds, aromas, flavors, or tactile sensations do not occur to one; or one has no connection, no contact, no relationship, no interaction with those who wish one well, who wish for one's benefit, who wish for one's comfort, who wish one security from the yoke, nor with one's mother, father, brother, sister, friends, companions, or relatives. This is called the stress of separation from the loved.

"And what is the stress of not getting what is wanted? In beings subject to birth, the wish arises, 'O, may we not be subject to birth, and may birth not come to us.' But this is not to be achieved by wanting. This is the stress of not getting what is wanted. In beings subject to aging... illness... death... sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair, the wish arises, 'O, may we not be subject to aging... illness... death... sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair, and may aging... illness... death... sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair not come to us.' But this is not to be achieved by wanting. This is the stress of not getting what is wanted.

— MN 141


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A contemporary definition:
Dukkha is:

Disturbance, irritation, dejection, worry, despair, fear, dread, anguish, anxiety; vulnerability, injury, inability, inferiority; sickness, aging, decay of body and faculties, senility; pain/pleasure; excitement/boredom; deprivation/excess; desire/frustration, suppression; longing/aimlessness; hope/hopelessness; effort, activity, striving/repression; loss, want, insufficiency/satiety; love/lovelessness, friendlessness; dislike, aversion/attraction; parenthood/childlessness; submission/rebellion; decision/indecisiveness, vacillation, uncertainty.

— Francis Story in Suffering, in Vol. II of The Three Basic Facts of Existence (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983)


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Only dukkha
"Both formerly & now, it is only dukkha that I describe, and the cessation of dukkha."

— SN 22.86


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three kinds of dukkha
"There are these three forms of stressfulness, my friend: the stressfulness of pain, the stressfulness of fabrication, the stressfulness of change. These are the three forms of stressfulness."

...

[Jambukhadika the wanderer:] "What is the path, what is the practice for the full comprehension of these forms of stressfulness?"

"Precisely this Noble Eightfold Path, my friend — right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is the path, this is the practice for the full comprehension of these forms of stressfulness."

— SN 38.14

accesstoinsight.org

A. Dukkham as "Enduring Suffering": In the word dukkham, many meanings can be inferred. It is composed of two components: du and kha (or kham). If we take du to mean "difficult: and khama to mean "endure," then dukkham means "difficult to endure." We will see this clearly when we observe that impermanence means birth, old age and death. If there was permanence and no change, then how could there be birth, decrepitude, and death? The dukkha that arises through birth, old age, and death arises directly out of impermanence and change.

Even the miscellaneous, everyday dukkha of householders, such as cold, heat, hunger, thirst; and the need to eat, bathe, and excrete; exists only because the body is a compound of many impermanent and conditioned things (sankharas). We change with every mind movement. We need this, we need that, we need to change in this way and in that way - all the time. This causes all sorts of concerns about the care of the body, which again shows clearly that these difficulties which we must bear are due to the change of the body.

B. Dukkham as "Disgusting to See": If we take du to mean "ugly" or "evil" and kha (from ikkha) to mean "look," then this aspect has the meaning "once seen, it is ugly." When one really sees it, it's abhorrent and repulsive.

The meaning of this aspect of dukkham is that the more we observe it, the uglier it gets; the deeper we see, the more repulsive it becomes. No matter what group of sankharas is observed, it will grow more disgusting as we see more deeply into its impermanence, into the illusion of those sankharas. This feeling of hate or repulsion is one more side of dukkham.

When we say that all compounded things (sankharas) are dukkham, it means that all sankharas, when truly seen for what they are, are repulsive. In what way are they repulsive? They are repulsive in their impermanence, in their violent change with every mind moment, and in their condition which deludes us into mistaking them for permanent substances.

Thus, we should see to what degree all sankharas are repulsive, when we examine them with mindfulness and wisdom, not with the closed eyes and ears of our defilements and desires.

C. Dukkham as "Uglily Void, Wickedly Empty": By separating the components of dukkham and taking du to mean "ugly" and kham to mean "void, empty," we arrive at the meaning "uglily void." The condition we call "wickedly empty" refers to the fact that all sankharas have nothing but impermanence, namely, swiftly flowing, endless spirals of change. We can go so far as to say that in these sankharas there is only impermanence and change, that is, the flow of change is itself these things. Besides this, we can't find any abiding substance within them. Consequently, all sankharas have only this condition of being "uglily empty."

However, such a meaning of dukkham as this broadens to include anatta (not-self). Therefore, we will consider it in detail in connection with the fact that when impermanence is seen, then anatta must be seen. Here, we simply intend to point out that even this third meaning of dukkham is included in the word "impermanence," because impermanence is thoroughly void. There is only this change which stops for nothing.

Element wrote:C. Dukkham as "Uglily Void, Wickedly Empty": By separating the components of dukkham and taking du to mean "ugly" and kham to mean "void, empty," we arrive at the meaning "uglily void." The condition we call "wickedly empty" refers to the fact that all sankharas have nothing but impermanence, namely, swiftly flowing, endless spirals of change. We can go so far as to say that in these sankharas there is only impermanence and change, that is, the flow of change is itself these things. Besides this, we can't find any abiding substance within them. Consequently, all sankharas have only this condition of being "uglily empty."

However, such a meaning of dukkham as this broadens to include anatta (not-self). Therefore, we will consider it in detail in connection with the fact that when impermanence is seen, then anatta must be seen. Here, we simply intend to point out that even this third meaning of dukkham is included in the word "impermanence," because impermanence is thoroughly void. There is only this change which stops for nothing.

this a different take