Now I would like to mention about what Dukkha is. The Buddha said that life is suffering. So, every one who lives in this world must face suffering. No one can protect suffering not to come to us. However, we can cure our suffering with medicine of the Dhamma of the Buddha.
Birth is dukkha, aging is dukkha, death is dukkha; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, & despair are dukkha; association with the unbeloved is dukkha; separation from the loved is dukkha; not getting what is wanted is dukkha. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are dukkha."( SN 56.11 Dhammacakkapavatta Sutta)
Three kinds of dukkha
"There are these three forms of stressfulness,
1) The stressfulness of pain (Dukkha Dukkha-kayika-dukkha, cetasika-dukkha)
2) The stressfulness of fabrication (Sankhara-dukkha)
3) The stressfulness of change (Viparinama-dukkha)
These are the three forms of stressfulness." (SN 38.14. Dukkha sutta)
a) The stressfulness of pain (Dukkha Dukkha-kayika-dukkha, cetasika-dukkha) Ordinary suffering, as defined is one form of dukkha. This includes physical, emotional and mental pain.
b) The stressfulness of fabrication (Sankhara-dukkha) Anything that is not permanent, that is subject to change, is dukkha. Thus, happiness is dukkha, because it is not permanent. Great success, which fades with the passing of time, is dukkha. Even the purest state of bliss experienced in spiritual practice is dukkha.
This doesn't mean that happiness, success and bliss are bad, or that it's wrong to enjoy them. If you feel happy, then enjoy feeling happy. Just don't cling to it.
c) The stressfulness of change (Viparinama-dukkha) To be conditioned is to be dependent on or affected by something else. According to the teaching of dependent origination, all phenomena are conditioned. Everything affects everything else. This is the most difficult part of the teachings on dukkha to understand, but it is critical to understanding Buddhism.
A contemporary definition of Dukkha:
Dukkha is:
Disturbance, irritation, dejection, worry, despair, fear, dread, anguish, anxiety; vulnerability, injury, inability, inferiority; sickness, aging, decay of body and faculties, senility; pain/pleasure; excitement/boredom; deprivation/excess; desire/frustration, suppression; longing/aimlessness; hope/hopelessness; effort, activity, striving/repression; loss, want, insufficiency/satiety; love/lovelessness, friendlessness; dislike, aversion/attraction; parenthood/childlessness; submission/rebellion; decision/indecisiveness, vacillation, uncertainty.
— Francis Story in Suffering, in Vol. II of The Three Basic Facts of Existence (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1983)
As a conclusion, I like to say by Buddha’s word. The Buddha said “Even though we have a body of pain, We must be one trying not to hurt our mind”.
MAY YOU BE ALWAYS HAPPY AND PEACEFUL!
