When we hear the word Dukkha, what comes to mind? Probably not something good or preferable. We can perceive Dukkha as something that we want to get or stay away from. If Sukkha is sweet, then Dukkha definitely must be bitter. Yet, the Buddha said that Dukkha must be known, experienced and understood. Why would we want to experience Dukkha? The answer to that is summed up in this famous quote from the Buddha, “I teach one thing and one thing only, Dukkha and the ending of Dukkha.” We see that the ending of Dukkha, which is the aim of this practice and the inevitable outcome of cultivating the Noble Eightfold Path, is inextricably connected to knowing Dukkha.

In order to know Dukkha, we must be able to understand it. Unreliable, Unsatisfactory, Unstable, Subject to change, Vulnerable, and, yes, Suffering, are all words that round out what this Pali word is pointing to. It’s not saying anything is wrong, or bad. It’s just describing the nature of the realm that we’ve been born into. In this realm everything is constantly changing, and doing so, almost entirely out of our control. Anything can happen at any time.

There is no inherent problem with this. It’s just the way it is. Gravity is part of the nature of the realm we live in. There’s nothing wrong with gravity. As long as we understand it and live our lives in accordance with it, there’s no problem at all. It’s the same with Dukkha. What’s different with Dukkha is that we don’t fully understand it and thereby don’t live our lives in accordance with this truth. This is where the problem lies. Can you imagine if we didn’t live by the laws of gravity? There would be chaos, pain and suffering. This is the inevitable result when we move through life in a way that’s not in accordance with how this world is.

We expect things to always go our way, to only have gain and not loss, to only have pleasure and not pain. Look closely at your heart and mind and see, at least to some degree, if this is so. My wife’s younger sister died suddenly in her sleep last month. The angst, sadness and sorrow of that is a form of Dukkha. Yet, even the fact that this could happen is Dukkha. Remember, things constantly change and anything can happen at any time. To the degree that we really know this, is to the degree that when very challenge things come to pass, we won’t resist them. We do feel their impacts, deeply at times, but there’s no sense that anything is wrong or out of order. Simply the nature of our world manifesting.

We can experience Dukkha on an individual level, and on a collective level as well. For White people, acknowledging, leaning into, and feeling the impacts of structural racism on Black, Indigenous and People of Color, and yes, on White people as well (albeit differently), is necessary in order to heal and move beyond this particular form of suffering. Similarly for climate change. With proper attention, experiencing the suffering can lead to its transformation.