The second of the Three Marks of Existence is dukkha. Dukkha is most commonly translated into English as “suffering,” but “unsatisfactoriness,” “dis-ease,” or “stress” may convey the meaning of dukkha more accurately. Dukkha, in a general sense, is the natural discomfort we all experience in life. It may come in many forms: anxiety, regret, anger, grief, sadness, clinging, and many more. We experience the pain of loss, the pain of craving more, and the simple pain of living. There is a shared experience of dis-ease. Although we just offered several different translations of the Pali word dukkha, it may just be best to abandon any English word. When we translate dukkha, we lose some if its meaning, and it may create confusion about the principle.

As one of the Three Marks of Existence, dukkha is the idea that nothing we experience outside nibbana causes lasting satisfaction. This is easiest to see with the unpleasant experiences we have. When we have pain, hear a sound that we find unpleasant, or find ourselves thinking unpleasant thoughts, we can see that these experiences are not creating happiness. Furthermore, the aversion that arises in response to these stimuli are dukkha. With neutral experiences, it is similarly easy. The neutral sensations don’t create happiness, and the reaction of boredom, confusion, or even aversion certainly aren’t sukkha (the opposite of dukkha).

Where many people run into problems with this idea is with the pleasant experiences. How is joy, love, or sitting with our favorite meditation teacher dukkha? It’s a point of contention amongst many beginners to Buddhist meditation. We must understand that dukkha is NOT suffering in the way that we often use the word suffering in English. Rather, dukkha here is the simple fact that these experiences do not create ultimate freedom. Because everything is impermanent, the joy, love, and meditation with our favorite teacher eventually end. When the joy leaves us, we may actually suffer. We may be able to enjoy experience as it is, and let it go when it leaves. The point is that it is transient. It is not a cause of lasting sukkha. This doesn’t mean we should shun pleasant experiences; it’s perfectly healthy to rejoice in the joy we experience. When we see the nature of experience as just phenomena occurring, we are able to see the dukkha in it. As with impermanence, you may challenge yourself to find something that is not dukkha. Having something in mind, try to see if you can see any dukkha surrounding the phenomenon.