Duḥkha

Duḥkha is a Buddhist term related to suffering.

Translations

(in pā:i: Dukkha) Discontent. Disillusion. Dissatisfaction. Suffering. Inconvenience. Sed. Pain. Intranquility. Imperfection. Weird. Friction. Pesar. Frustration. Irritation, Pressure, Go against current, agony, Void, Tension. Existential Angustia, "the existential burden or weight inherent in the samsaric (human) condition".

Duḥkha is a term that is difficult to translate. There is no exact equivalent term in European languages as Duḥkha has a very broad and open meaning in the original language, encompassing various meanings. An example of Duḥkha given by the Buddha is being with someone you don't like and not-being with someone you like. Historically, the most common translation in the West has been suffering, which has generated a pessimistic view of Buddhism. However, dissatisfaction or dissatisfaction are closer to the meaning of this word in the original texts.

Context

While Insubstantiality is the main teaching of Buddhism, the elimination or extinction of discontent (Duḥkha) is its main and ultimate goal. The search for an unconditioned happiness (Sukha ) was the purpose that pushed Gautama to the great spiritual search for him. In Buddhist doctrine it is essential to accept the existence of this dissatisfaction in life that appears intermittently, and therefore, that suffering is a reality inherent to exist and universal. Although Buddha recognized and encouraged to keep happy states and moments (good economic situation, good health, etc.) he affirmed that these are not permanent and that, in any case, they are crowned by death.

For the Buddhist, Duḥkha is the result of not acting or thinking in a way that is truly consistent with the realities of Anitya and Anātman. It is the result of having an attitude that admits the possibility of lasting satisfaction or the existence of a being, an "I", to protect or benefit. Thus, the consequence of not accepting Anitya, Impermanence, is that we experience moments of insecurity, disappointment, frustration or pain when transience or change manifests itself to us in the course of life. And the consequence of not accepting Anātman, the Insubstantiality, the illusion of the “I”, is that sometimes in life we resist or fight internally against everything we interpret or We believe we see it as a possible attack or an injustice, from life itself on occasions, towards this "I".

Discontent (Duḥkha) is not only a consequence of the law of Anitya, of change and impermanence, but is also subject to it. Thus, the processes of appearance and disappearance of Duḥkha usually alternate throughout life (Samsāra), or they can end up being extinguished permanently (Nirvāņa) once we have seen the origin of Duḥkha clearly through practice and discipline.

Types

One way to appreciate the range of meanings of the word Dukkha is to examine the three different types that the Buddha described:

• duḥkha duḥkhatā: Intrinsic physical or mental pain and suffering in its most ordinary and acute sense.
• viparinama duḥkhatā: It is our reaction to change or loss, whether of things, situations and people outside or of faculties and possibilities in us. If we overly cling to pleasant experiences (Suhkha), take us to duḥkha because they are impermanent.
• samskāra duḥkhatā: It is very subtle and deep. It is the general dissatisfaction that comes with existence in itself. You could get into that question by the meaning of life. It is the suffering of all that is conditioned existence, that is to say the suffering we experience because we have not reached enlightenment.Sangharákshita (1980). "1". Lighting: the ideal of human development. Fundación Tres Joyas. p. 86. Consultation on 13 October 2010.

Ultimately it is due to fabrications, formations or conditioning.

The Three Fires (kleśā)

(in pā:i: Kilesa) The three poisons. The passions (that hurt). The three roots of "bad." The three envilecimientos. The three corruptions. The torments. The afflictions. Also known as: mula priyaya or akuśala-mula.

During Buddhist training the metaphor of "The Three Fires", or "Poisons", is often used. to represent human passions that affect the rigor and force with which Duḥkha manifests itself. These are:

• Ignorance/Ilusion/DeliriumMoha). Ignorance is the delusion of the idea of the existence of a “I”, and is the first link in the dependent or Samsara. It symbolizes with a boar or a pig.
• Anhelo/Aferramiento/la AvariciaLobha). It symbolizes with a rooster.
• Aversion/Ira/Late (signed: dvesa, pāii: Twoa). It is represented with a snake.

These passions are compared to "energy" capable of intensifying conflicts and negative compulsions, indirectly causing the unhappiness and dissatisfaction of the individual from whom they are generated. For this reason, Buddhism also refers to them as afflictions, ailments or torments. According to Buddhism, if we inquire and delve deeper into the first origin of what we interpret as manifestations of "evil" we will always end up reaching these driving forces. Each of these fires supports another and causes a third. From these three primary debasements arise many other secondary ones that could be easier to recognize, such as vanity, jealousy, hostility, laziness, obstinacy, worry, fear, shamelessness... etc.

The moments in which these suffering passions arise are used for Buddhist training and practice, whose objective is the recognition and containment of these emotions, avoiding both their repression and the reaction to them in order to facilitate thus its transformation. The three fires are the motivations or roots (mula/hete) of those voluntary actions (karman) that have pernicious consequences for the individual.