Talk:Duḥkha

Switched?

From the article:

• Dukkha-dukkha (all pervading pain) is the obvious sufferings of physical pain, illness, old age, death, the loss of a loved one.
• Sankhara-dukkha (pain of pain) is a subtle form of suffering inherent in the nature of conditioned things, including the skandhas, the factors constituting the human mind.

Looks like these translations are switched, right? - Nat Krause 09:22, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Expansion

I propose expanding the latter and clarifying the definition of sankhara-dukkha. To a non-Buddhist this probably makes little or no sense, so I think it needs to be explained a bit better. I'll toy around with it a bit, but if someone can rewrite it better, go for it.- Theli 93 13:53, 16 Aug 2005

Remove Chakras and dukkha section

This section is maybe an idea or opinion of one teacher but it is definitely not common buddhist theory. I propose to remove it. Wintermute314 15:41, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

Definitely. Arrow740 03:35, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

Proposed External Link: dukkha Yahoo Group

dukkha Yahoo Group with researched posts Dhammapal 12:33, 7 August 2007 (UTC)

Spelling

Is "dukkha" the Pali version of Saksrit "duhkha"? Must be.

Yes; I've added the Sanskrit. However, I think the entry should remain primarily under "dukkha", as that is the more familiar term in Western Buddhism, used often informally by Mahayana practitioners as well. (Where, for instance, the Sanskrit "karma" is more commonly familiar than the Pali "kamma", so that entry is under the former.) Homohabilis (talk) 14:37, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

Kanji

Interesting to note that the kanji for suffering 苦　has a cross in the middle of it...Andycjp 07:24, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

Chinese ideographs were composed more than a millennia before Christ. Also, China, being a completely different culture (if you can imagine that) has an altogether different viewpoint on what a cross-like symbols represent. The radical 十 can just mean the number ten. Nothing to do with Christian mythology. Please don't promote your own biased perspectives. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.9.146.243 (talk) 08:05, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

WikiProject class rating

This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 16:22, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

Remove external link to "Panetics"

While this project may be laudable, and apparently uses the word "dukkha" in its literature, its aim "to reduce human suffering inflicted by individuals acting through governments, institutions, professions, and social groups" really has nothing to do with the Buddha's teaching about dukkha, its cause and its cure. If someone wishes to inform Wikipedia readers about the Panetics project, an entry under that heading would be more appropriate. Homohabilis (talk) 14:50, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

"Inherent"

"suffering inherent in the nature of conditioned things" If it were inherent, it would be inescapable. This one sentence negates all of Buddhism! Mitsube (talk) 17:54, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Along these lines, does someone have a good source explicitly saying that the whole key is that dukkha is itself empty and not truly existent, thus negatable? Mitsube (talk) 01:45, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

In Theravada, dukkha IS inescapable as long as a refuge is sought among causes and conditions. Only unconditioned phenomena (nirvana) are entirely free from suffering. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.93.241.228 (talk) 02:33, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Yes. What I am saying is this. Is there suffering inherent in eating? If yes, then when the Buddha ate he suffered. But he did not. So suffering is not inherent. Mitsube (talk) 04:22, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Only in Theravada, yes. Eating, like all other conditioned experiences is deemed "unsatisfactory in and of itself", not necessarily "suffering" as it's used in English. So "eating" is not worth grasping at (as self or grouped self) being impermanent, not self, and empty. Before the Buddha attained paranirvana, he still experienced dukkha (conditioned consequences that are unsatisfactory in and of themselves; "suffering" or otherwise) from the unwholesome actions of his previous lives including dualistic existence, the need to eat, sickness, etc. He even suffered from dysentery once. But since he had become an Arahant, physical suffering did not give rise to any suffering or aversion in his mind and he reacted to all experiences with understanding, equanimity and compassion. So even when his body was suffering from dysentery, his mind never once wavered from it's attentiveness and tranquility. The Mahayana formula is slightly different though, reflecting the tighter coupling of the body and the mind suggested by Mahayana scholars. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.93.193.47 (talk) 02:35, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Of course, if a dhamma is "unsatisfactory in and of itself", that doesn't mean it can't be satisfactory in the right context. This is slightly closer to the Mahayana formula. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.93.254.77 (talk) 01:41, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Wikilink for "suffering"

I am going to remove the wikilink for the word "suffering" in the lead paragraph. It's confusing to have that wikilink in the lead, since we are trying to provide translations for the term "dukkha", and the wikilink for suffering seems to imply that "suffering" and "dukkha" are synonomous (and they are not). So instead of the link in the lead paragraph, I have added a link to suffering in the section, "see also". - Dorje108 (talk) 23:58, 28 January 2012 (UTC)

Recent updates

I've made a lot of updates and added a lot of citations and references. If you have comments, please leave them here. Dorje108 (talk) 01:35, 8 April 2012 (UTC)

The Six Great Sufferings

Aung San Suu Kyi listed the Six Great Sufferings of Dukkha at her Nobel Lecture, delivered on 16 June, 2012.

• To be conceived
• To age
• To sicken
• To die
• To be parted from those one loves
• To be forced to live in propinquity with those one does not love

Reference: Nobel Peace Prize transcript

I thought that this would be of note to this article as these seem to differ with the number and specifics of each suffering on the article. This may be her interpretation although I think that translations from different people aren't always absolutely identical, especially on a philosophical or theological topic.

— RW Marloe (talk) 12:47, 13 October 2012 (UTC)

Awesome. :) Thanks very much for the reference. I'll work this into the article. Peace, Dorje108 (talk) 13:30, 13 October 2012 (UTC)

Aung San Suu Kyi's Six must originate from her Theravada branch of Buddhism in Burma. — RW Marloe (talk) 12:16, 20 October 2012 (UTC)

Clean-up

The same problem:

• Overreliance on primary sources from contemporary popular teachers
• Too many quotes
• Too many details

More of the same does not necessarily lead to greater clarity or understanding. Sorry. Joshua Jonathan -Let's talk! 10:23, 4 December 2014 (UTC)

Jonathan, your views are not supported by the Wikipedia guidelines, and so far there is not a consensus on the Wikiproject Buddhism page. The RFC will be listed for one month on the Wikiproject page. Please be respectful of the views of other editors and allow the RFC process to take its course. Dorje108 (talk) 04:41, 6 December 2014 (UTC)

"Too many details". Ah, erm... Isn't this actually a good thing?--AldNon^Ucallin?☎ 14:27, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

Yes. Clean-up is right, but painful. So it is dukkha too:) Nimelik (talk) 15:53, 4.01. 2015 — Preceding undated comment added 13:57, 4 January 2015 (UTC)

Yeah, I agree that the article might need to be cleaned up, but "too many details" seems silly, especially if you look at the amount of detail that goes into the math and science pages. Yadojado (talk) 01:06, 31 January 2015 (UTC)

In my opinion, Yadojado's comment is comparing apples and oranges; this is neither a math nor science page. Keeping the mission of - and audience for - any written project uppermost in mind is basic to the writing's effectiveness. It is therefore key (again, in my opinion), to think about the purpose of this page for most readers: defining dukkha in sufficient detail that those unfamiliar with the term can get a basic understanding of it, which (I believe) this page pretty much accomplishes in its first 'graph. This is not to suggest the myriad translational inferences and points of view which follow that basic definition be excluded, but if our true interest is in "cleaning up" this page, has any consideration yet been given to grouping all qualifications and descriptions subsequent to the basic definition on a separate page (or pages), or at least structuring this page so that elaborations on/further theorizing about the basic definition are clearly labeled as such? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.3.227.105 (talk) 15:03, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

Dukkha translation as "bad hub" contrasts with Sukha "good hub."

Dukkha can be translated from Pali a number of ways, and one is "bad hub."

This practical concrete translation distinguishes Dukkha from Sukha which is the desirable state of relative freedom from Dukkha. Sukha can be translated from Pali as "good hub."

Analogies to ox carts abound in the Pali scriptures in the Pali scriptures. Even the Dhammapada, a widely-studied text of teaching verses from earliest Buddhism, begins with with an analogy based on how predictably the wheel of an ox cart follows the ox.

The difficulties presented by a wheel with its hub off center would have been obvious to those familiar with ox carts. That wheel would resist forward motion half of the time, as the off center hub had to be raised by the effort of the ox, an analogy to the resistance of aversion. The wheel would be pushing the cart forward as the off-center hub descended after reaching the apex, an analogy to the rushing of greed.

By contrast, a wheel with Sukha, its hub precisely centered, would move smoothly, neither pushing or resisting the smooth progress of the ox under the direction of the driver.

The Four Noble Truths presents the eight aspects of the Noble Eightfold Path as the way to the cessation of dukkha. Each of eight aspects must be present to support liberation from dukkha. A common ox cart wheel has eight spokes. These provide an obvious analogy. The analogy of the eight aspects of the path to the eight spokes of a wheel is common sense to one familiar with ox carts. The more that one or more of the spokes is short, the more the hub will be off-center (dukha), and the more the difficulties of moving along will increase. By following the eightfold path the aspirant remedies the too-short spokes, so that a good hub (Sukha) and smooth progress result.