Caturāryasatya – Shishō tai 四聖諦

• Duḥkha/Ku 苦 – “suffering”
• Samudaya/Jū 集 –  “arising”
• Nirodha/Metsu 滅 – “cessation”
• Mārga/Dō 道 – “road/path/way”

For Buddhists, this formula is all too familiar – it is traditionally believed by many to be the Buddha’s first sermon after attaining enlightenment and forms both the reason for his teaching, and the means for attaining enlightenment. It is often likened to a skilled physician who first identifies the ailment – in our case, duḥkha. He then describes the cause of the ailment – samudaya. He then gives the good news, that the ailment can be successfully treated – nirodha. And then he prescribes the medicine that will remove the ailment – mārga. I have heard people criticise this formula, saying it is pessimistic; however, I believe this is not only a serious misunderstanding, but also (wilfully) ignores the third and forth truth which is the “good news” of the Buddha’s message. Yes, we have duḥkha but all is not lost, as it can be overcome. However, we must not overlook or ignore duḥkha, as understanding it and its causes is fundamental in bringing about enlightenment.

Duḥkha/Ku 苦

So fundamental is duḥkha to Buddhism that it is considered one the three marks of conditioned phenomena, aka Three Marks of Existence (trilakṣaṇa). These are duḥkha, anitya (impermance) and anātman (not-self).

The Buddha went into a lot of detail of what duḥkha is. There are countless sūtras that describe duḥkha, but first, let us look at the meaning of the word.

The usual translation of duḥkha is ‘suffering’, and whilst this covers one aspect of duḥkha, it doesn’t quite cover the entirety of its meaning, as there is no single English word that covers the depth and breadth of duḥkha.

There are two traditional possible roots for the word duḥkha;

1. The root word ‘kha’, meaning ‘empty’ or ‘hole’, and the prefix ‘du’ means ‘bad’ or ‘difficult’, suggesting an ill-fitting axle-hole in a wheel. (This is considered “folk etymology” and not derived from linguistic studies.)
2. Derived from the word ‘duḥ-stha’ meaning ‘standing badly/unsteady/unstable’

These two possible roots imply duḥkha to mean something unstable, undesirable, unwanted, unease, unsatisfactory etc. However, we must also consider how this term was used by the time of the Buddha, and how the Buddha himself referred to duḥkha in the sūtras. To do this, I feel it’s helpful to understand what the opposite of duḥkha is, and that is ‘sukha’.

Like duḥkha, sukha can be traced to the root ‘kha’, again meaning ‘hole’, and the prefix ‘su’, meaning ‘good’. Similarly, the implied meaning of sukha is something that fits well, that is stable, at ease, comfort, satisfactory etc. During the time of the Buddha, sukha was used to describe feelings of happiness, ease, bliss. The Buddha himself used the term sukha to refer to bliss produced through deep meditation (jhāna-sukha) and would often refer to Nirvana as the “highest bliss” (Nibbānaṃ paramaṃ sukhaṃ). He also acknowledged that somethings bring us “worldly bliss”, or more correctly understood as temporary bliss brought about through the senses (kāmā-sukha), however, he emphasized that this form of bliss was temporary, and our attachment to this form of sukha causes duḥkha.

So, we can describe sukha as that which brings us happiness, that causes us to feel at ease and satisfied. Opposing this, we have duḥkha which we can describe as that which causes pain, unhappiness, sadness, unease, and unsatisfied. And the Buddha made a distinction between ‘worldly happiness’ and the type of happiness that is brought about through practicing the dharma. So, in focusing on duḥkha he wasn’t ever ignoring sukha.

Now we have established a baseline understanding of duḥkha, we can turn to the sūtras to gain a deeper understanding of duḥkha.

The most quoted reference to duḥkha comes to us from the Pāli Nikāyas, specifically from the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta SN 56.11 (Setting the Wheel of the Dhamma in Motion);

“Now this, monks, 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.”

Note here the translator (Thanissaro Bhikkhu) has chosen the word “stress” as a translation of duḥkha, as these eleven/twelve things causes us ‘distress’. To list them out;

1. Birth
2. Aging
3. Death
4. Sorrow
5. Lamentation
6. Pain
7. Distress
8. Despair
9. Association with the unbeloved
10. Separation from the loved
11. Not getting what is wanted
12. Five clinging aggregates/skandhas (pañc’upādānakkhandhāḥ) – although we should note that the above 11 are all part of the five skandhas and so sometimes we say there are 11, not 12 causes.

Some of these terms themselves are often used to translate duḥkha. These twelve give us more reference to understand what duḥkha is referring to, but to help us even further, later traditions systematised three types of duḥkha;

1. Duḥkha-duḥkha (苦苦)

This form of duḥkha describes what is painful, both physically and mentally. This is easy enough to understand. When we are hurt, we desire to be free from it. Our minds can become preoccupied with the pain and the desire for it to end. We may get distracted and agitated easily. It can be mental as well, such as stress and anxiety, etc.

2. Vipariṇāma-duḥkha (壞苦)

Vipariṇāma means ‘change/alteration/transformation’. This form of duḥkha is more subtle than physical pain, but its effects are just the same. How often do we lament when we lose the things we love, or desire? Or how often do we wish we had something we don’t currently have? Similar to duḥkha-duḥkha, the duḥkha of ‘change’ has the same affects on our minds; stress, anxiety, agitation, anger, a distracted mind etc.

3. Saṃskāra-duḥkha (行苦)

Saṃskāra means ‘formation’ and although has different connotations, in this context it means “conditioned experience” (i.e., cause and effect), and more specifically ‘volitional formations’. Because all phenomena are impermanent, constantly changing, and our expectations of phenomena are rarely met, it can often leave us feeling unsatisfied with the way things are. We may not be in physical pain, or stressed, but at the same time we want something different all the same – we are rarely content, or our contentment rarely lasts long. This change is highlighted by the ‘Four Sufferings’: birth, sickness, old age, and death.

I am sometimes asked to visit schools to talk about Buddhism, and the concept of duḥkha almost always comes up as it is possibly one of the most misunderstood. So, I like to simplify it in a way that the kids can understand;

Most of us like chocolate – it is sweet, pleasant to the taste buds, and leaves us feeling satisfied (sukha). However, this satisfaction is short lived (saṃskāra-duḥkha) – we want some more (vipariṇāma-duḥkha). Because we associate chocolate with pleasure, we may eat far too much, thinking our happiness will increase, or last longer, however this only brings us pain and stomach ache (duḥkha-duḥkha)!

Although this example is rudimentary, I feel it is easy enough to understand and extend to other things in our lives, such as food, drink, TV, mobile phones, clothes, or our relationships with others, and so on. This is why the Buddha said that Nirvana was the highest sukha – as this sukha is unconditioned, not subject to change (beyond arising and ceasing) and frees us from all forms of duḥkha.

Now, a lot of people mistakenly believe that, as lay people, we must give up all these things that bring duḥkha, such as chocolate, or mobile phones, and even feel guilty over desiring for these things, but this is not strictly true. This is because there is nothing inherent in these things that cause duḥkha. We have only defined the meaning of duḥkha, we have yet described its cause.