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Suffering
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Suffering | (skt.: dukkha; tib.: dug ngel) Suffering. The root word of dukkha implies the axle of a wheel that is out of place, so that the wheel wobbles and creates inappropriate stresses on the axle. Thus dukkha is the pain and dissatisfaction in life that arises from thoughts, speech, and actions which are out of alignment.
Lord Buddha Shakyamuni in Samyutta Nikaya described dukkha as: Birth is dukkha, aging is dukkha, death is dukkha; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and 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.
There are three types of suffering (dukkha):
- suffering of suffering, which refers to most obvious kinds of suffering, like some kind of physical or mental pain
- suffering of change, which refers to suffering which is brought by change, for example the happiness of enjoying something disappears eventually
- all pervading suffering, which refers to the fact that we are limited and that we always have the potential to suffer
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Words of Wisdom
"Whatever joy there is in this world, all comes from wanting others to be happy. Whatever suffering there is in this world, all comes from wanting oneself to be happy."
- Shantideva