ABSTRACT
The Truth ofDukkha: We are vulnerable to a multitude of suff ering experiences.
Although "suffering" is the usual translation for Dukkha, the term really has three aspects. First, it characterizes a world in which there is a great deal of unhappiness, ranging from abject pain, loneliness, anxiety, hunger, being with hateful people, and loss ofthose we love, to unpleasant states of feeling such as anger, disgust, tension, and boredom, to mild discomforts both chronic (e.g., "life is meaningless") and occasional (e.g., a headache). We see explosions of Dukkha in the Holocaust, wars, and natural disasters. But, we also see it flare up again and again in the daily commonplace of disappointments, frustrations, insults, and embarrassments.
