duḥkha

(Sanskrit; Pāli, dukkha). The first of the Four Noble Truths (ārya-satya) and the cornerstone of the Buddha's teaching. The meaning of duḥkha and of the other Noble Truths is explained in the Buddha's first sermon, and in many other places in the Buddhist scriptures. There is no word in English covering the same ground as duḥkha in the sense it is used in Buddhism. The usual translation of ‘suffering’ is too strong, and gives the impression that life according to Buddhism is nothing but pain. As a consequence, some regard Buddhism as pessimistic. While duḥkha certainly embraces the ordinary meaning of ‘suffering’ it also includes deeper concepts such as impermanence (anitya) and unsatisfactoriness, and may be better left untranslated. The Buddha does not deny happiness in life, although this too is seen as part of duḥkha because of its impermanence.

The concept of duḥkha is explained as having three aspects. Ordinary duḥkha (duḥkha-duḥkha) refers to all kinds of suffering in life, such as illness, death, separation from loved ones, or not getting what one desires. The second aspect of duḥkha, or duḥkha produced by change (vipariṇāma-duḥkha), is the duḥkha resulting from the impermanent nature of all things. The third aspect of duḥkha, or duḥkha as conditioned states (saṃskāra-duḥkha), is the most important philosophical aspect of the First Noble Truth. This teaches that what we call an ‘individual’ is, according to Buddhism, a combination of ever-changing physical and mental forces known as the ‘five aggregates’ (pañca-skandha). This is known as the doctrine of anātman or no-self. Although some believe this means that according to the Buddha one has no identity, more recent scholarship views the doctrine as a description of how a being functions. Because of their ever-changing nature, the five aggregates are themselves identified with duḥkha. More importantly, like everything else the individual ego is dependently originated and conditioned (see pratītya-samutpāda). Holding to the illusion of a independently originated self (ātman), according to the Buddha, makes one crave for the satisfaction of this self. However, since everything is duḥkha, and impermanent, there cannot be enduring satisfaction. Instead, craving (tṛṣṇā) only leads to a vicious circle of unfulfilled desires, and therefore more suffering (duḥkha).