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Revised October 24, 2018; re-written August 5, 2019; revised July 28, 2022; March 2, 2023; July 8, 2026
Difference Between Dukkha and Dukkha Sacca
1. Buddha Dhamma describes nature’s laws. Many think that dukkha Sacca (the First Noble Truth, pronounced “dukkha sachcha”) says everything is suffering. That is not true; there is a lot of apparent happiness, which makes people unaware of the hidden suffering until it is too late.
▪The key is to develop paññā or wisdom to see the suffering hidden in sensory pleasures.
▪That is why Noble Persons consider sensory pleasures to be suffering and painful feelings to be acute suffering! I highly recommend reading the “WebLink: suttacentral: Verses of the Elder Sumedhā” utterances by an Arahant bhikkhuni. The following verse is among many insightful verses:
“Sensual pleasures are like the stake of a spear,
a disease, an abscess, a calamity, an affliction;
Like a fire pit,
the root of calamity, fear, and destruction.”
▪One does not necessarily need to feel pain/suffering to understand the dukkha sacca, even though that may motivate one to investigate.
▪The world we perceive (experience) is not the real world that exists out there. For example, even though we perceive an apple as having ‘red color’ and ‘sweet taste,’ that apple is neither red nor sweet; see “Distorted Perception – The World We Experience Doesn’t Exist.”
2. There is a difference between suffering (the feeling or vedanā) and the ability to understand the causes of it (paññā or wisdom.) The latter can lead to future suffering, and that is what the First Noble Truth explains.
▪Pāli word for suffering is dukha. On the other hand, dukkha (with two “k”) is dukha + kha or the “removal of dukha” in the sense that there is dukha in the world, but it can be overcome. Thus, in most places in the Tipiṭaka, dukkha conveys “suffering” but implies that it can be overcome. [khaya or kha means removal]
▪Dukha (suffering) is the opposite of sukha (pleasure). That is in several suttā. For example, in the “WebLink: suttacentral: Bhāra Sutta (SN 22.22)”:
“Bhārā have pañcakkhandhā,
bhārahāro ca puggalo;
Bhārādānaṁ dukhaṁ loke,
bhāranikkhepanaṁ sukhaṁ.”
Translated: “The five aggregates are burdens,
The burden-carrier is the person;
Carrying the burden is suffering in the world,
Laying the burden down is blissful.”
▪Of course, the word dukkha appears in most suttā because that is what Buddha Dhamma is all about, i.e., the removal of suffering.
3. Even though the above verse abbreviates it, what we experience is pañcupādānakkhandha, and not pañcakkhandhā. We do not realize that the pañcupādānakkhandha is a burden. Even though the components of pañcupādānakkhandha are abbreviated as vedanā, saññā, saṅkhāra, and viññāna in the suttās, they are five aggregates that we crave, i.e., rupaupādānakkhandha through viññāṇupādānakkhandha. See “Rūpa, Vedanā, Saññā, Saṅkhāra, Viññāṇa – Mostly Misunderstood.”
▪Again, we crave the mind-made red, tasty apple (see #1 above), which is the rūpaupādānakkhandha. The apple that exists in an apple tree is neither red nor does it have a taste! See “Distorted Perception – The World We Experience Doesn’t Exist.”
▪Thus, there seem to be bouts of happiness everywhere; but that is an illusion created by the mind itself. If everything FELT LIKE suffering, everyone would be seeking Nibbāna. It is hard for people even to see the real suffering out there.
4. Apparent pleasures mask the pain and suffering we experience in the rebirth process. In the HUMAN REALM, suffering and happiness exist; one can experience both.
▪In the realms higher than the human plane, suffering is relatively much less, so it is hard for devā to even think about Nibbāna. However, even those devā and Brahmā end up in the lowest four realms. Of course, each birth in any realm ends with death.
▪Beings in the lowest four realms (apāyās) are the ones who experience a lot of dukha. Of course, they have no idea about the Dukkha Sacca.
▪The key point is that each living being spends a lot of time in the apāyās compared to other realms in the rebirth process; see “How the Buddha Described the Chance of Rebirth in the Human Realm.”
▪That is why the rebirth process is filled with suffering. The good news is that suffering can be stopped.
What is the Noble Truth of Dukkha?
5. Let us see how the Buddha described the First Noble Truth on suffering in the Dhamma Cakka Pavattana Sutta:
“Idaṁ kho pana, bhikkhave, dukkhaṁ ariyasaccaṁ—jātipi dukkhā, jarāpi dukkhā, byādhipi dukkho, maraṇampi dukkhaṁ, appiyehi sampayogo dukkho, piyehi vippayogo dukkho, yampicchaṁ na labhati tampi dukkhaṁ—saṁkhittena pañcupādānakkhandhā dukkhā.” [saṅkhittena means through overthrown by defilements, khitta : [pp. of khipati] thrown; overthrown; casted away; upset.]
▪Let us go through this “definition” of dukkha step-by-step.
6. In the first part, it says, “jātipi dukkhā, jarāpi dukkhā, byādhipi dukkho, maraṇampi dukkhaṁ...”
Translated: “birth is suffering (that can be overcome). Getting old is suffering (that can be overcome). Sickness is suffering (that can be overcome). Death is suffering (that can be overcome)...”
▪Other than “birth,” the others (getting old, sickness, and death) are associated with suffering.
▪However, the other three types of inevitable suffering are attached to every birth.
▪Furthermore, the other three types of suffering cannot be eliminated without stopping birth, i.e., the rebirth process.
▪Even though this is easy to see logically, understanding requires much more contemplation.
7. The Buddha clarified dukkha in the next verse, explicitly saying: “appiyehi sampayogo dukkho, piyehi vippayogo dukkho.” That means “it brings sorrow to associate with persons/things one does not like. It also brings sorrow when one dissociates from people/things that one likes.”
▪We all know the truth of this first hand. It is unpleasant to associate with people one does not like and have a job that one does not like, etc.
▪Of course, the reverse is true too: “it brings sorrow when a loved one has to depart, and it also to lose a job or an object that one likes.”
8. Then comes “yampicchaṁ na labhati tampi dukkhaṁ” which is shortened for “yam pi icchaṁ na labhati tampi dukkhaṁ.”
Here we see “iccha” (same as “icca”) which we encountered in anicca, dukkha, and anatta, and also in Paticca Samuppāda (“pati+icca” “sama+uppāda”). And “labhati” means “get”, and “na labhati” means “not get.” Note that “iccha” (in Sinhala ඉච්ඡ) emphasizes the “liking” in “icca” (in Sinhala ඉච්ච).
▪Translated: “If one does not get what one wants or likes, that leads to suffering.”
▪We also note that anicca comes from “na” + “icca” or “not getting what one desires.” Of course, anicca is the first of the three characteristics of Nature (Tilakkhaṇa).
▪The key point is that the colorful, tasty things we crave do not exist in the world, as noted above.
▪Therefore, this statement is about the anicca nature, i.e., it is a natural law that one WILL NOT get what one desire in the long run. That is why it is not possible to eliminate suffering in the long term within the rebirth process.
▪Suffering ends only when the rebirth process ends.
9. That same concept is in the WebLink: suttacentral: Yadanicca Sutta (SN 22.15) as, “yadaniccaṁ taṁ dukkhaṁ, yaṁ dukkhaṁ tadanattā.” That is the abbreviated version of “yad aniccaṁ taṁ dukkhaṁ, yaṁ dukkhaṁ tad anattā.” Translated: “if something is anicca, dukkha arises, and one becomes helpless (anatta).”
▪Of course, the verse, “yampicchaṁ na labhati tampi dukkhaṁ” corresponds to just the first part of that verse: “yad aniccam tam dukkham.”
Sensory Pleasures are the Cause of Future Suffering
10. The Buddha never said there is only suffering in this world. These bouts of “apparent, mind-made happiness” keep the real suffering hidden. We always try to look on the bright side, and our societies also try to “cover up” most of the pain and suffering out there.
▪Both suffering and happiness are out there. The key is to see the pain and suffering masked in apparent (mind-made) joy.
▪The Buddha described an analogy in the “WebLink: suttacentral: Hook/Baḷisa Sutta (SN 17.2).”When a fish bites the bait, it sees only a bit of delicious food and does not see the hook, the string, and the man holding the fishing pole. It cannot understand the “whole picture,” when the suffering is hidden (the hook).
▪In the same way, humans cannot see the pain and suffering hidden in the apparent, mind-made, sensory pleasures until a Buddha comes into the world and reveals it.
▪There is suffering hidden in ALL sensory pleasures, but that can be seen/realized only via stages. At the Sotāpanna stage, one willingly gives up only intense greed and strong hate; ALL cravings are removed only at the Arahant stage.
11. On television, we see mostly glamorous people. You can see what happens to such beautiful people when they get old: WebLink: RANKER: Celebrities Who Have Aged the Worst.
▪We must realize that we all will undergo such inevitable changes as we age. No matter how hard we try, it is not possible to maintain ANYTHING to our satisfaction in the LONG-TERM.
▪Furthermore, there is suffering and happiness in the broader world of 31 realms. There is much more happiness in the planes above the human plane (but that happiness is temporary). And there is unimaginable suffering in the lower four, especially in the lowest one, the hell (niraya).
The Necessity of the Rebirth Process in Comprehending Anicca
12. The verses discussed in #8 through #10 above describe anicca nature. In the long run, “we cannot maintain things to our satisfaction, and that leads to suffering”; This is “ya da niccaṁ taṁ dukkahaṁ” that was discussed in “Anicca, Dukkha, Anatta – Wrong Interpretations.”
▪Later in the sutta, it says, “……dukkho anariyo anatta samhito.” One becomes anatta or helpless because of that. That is the “taṁ dukkhaṁ tad anatta” part of the verse in #9.
▪These concepts were further detailed in the Anatta Lakkhaṇa Sutta (the second sutta delivered after the Dhamma Cakka Pavattana sutta); see “Anatta – No Refuge in This World.”
▪Anicca, dukkha, and anatta are thus the foundational “vision” that can be achieved only by a Buddha. It is “pubbe ananussutesu dhammesu...” as emphasized at the beginning of the Dhamma Cakka Pavattana sutta.
13. That is why it is imperative to understand the “big picture” of “this world” with 31 realms, the process of rebirth, laws of kamma, and most importantly, Paṭicca Samuppāda. Then we realize that most beings, due to their ignorance, are trapped in the lower four realms.
▪Only about 8 billion people are on Earth, but each carries millions of living beings in their bodies. See, “There are as many creatures on your body as there are people on Earth!”
▪A household may have 4-6 people, but how many living beings are in that house and the yard? Millions, possibly billions. In a single scoop of dirt, there are thousands of tiny creatures.
▪Thus, human birth is a rare occurrence. We must not waste this opportunity to at least attain the Sotāpanna stage of Nibbāna and be free of rebirths in the apāyās.
14. The concept of dukkha (dukha that can be stopped) is seen only in the context of the rebirth process. It is all about removing suffering associated with FUTURE births.
▪One’s current life has already begun (as a result of past kamma) and WILL continue until the kammic energy of the physical body runs out. We can only MANAGE any suffering associated with sicknesses, injuries, etc. Those are associated with a life that has already started.
▪However, those future sufferings can be stopped by stopping the rebirth process. That is the Dukkha Sacca.
Five Aggregates – What We Like to Maintain to Our Satisfaction
15. Finally, the last line of the verse in #5 summarizes it all: “saṁkhittena pañcupādānakkhandhā dukkha.” [saṅkhittena means through overthrown by defilements, khitta : [pp. of khipati] thrown; overthrown; casted away; upset.]
Translated: “The suffering that can be stopped arises because of the craving for the pañcupādānakkhandha.”
▪What we crave in this world can be divided into five groups: rūpa, vedanā, saññā, saṅkhāra, and viññāṇa. We like to enjoy the ‘mind-made rūpa’ even though they do not reflect the ‘external rūpa,’ i.e., those that exist in the world; see “Distorted Perception – The World We Experience Doesn’t Exist” and other related posts in the “Buddha Dhamma – Systematic” section. We want to keep our vedanā, saññā, saṅkhāra, and viññāṇa (our thoughts) to our satisfaction.
▪In other words, what we crave (icca) — and thus have upādāna for — are the pañcupādānakkhandha (pañca + upādāna + khandha).
16. Therefore, dukha (suffering or the vedanā felt) arises BECAUSE we crave things in this world and do “saŋ” to acquire such things.
▪Again, we crave rūpa, vedanā, saññā, saṅkhāra, and viññāṇa, ONLY because we believe those will bring us happiness. But the reality is that those cravings will inevitably bring suffering as the net result. We can stop suffering by stopping those cravings via understanding the real nature of this world, i.e., anicca nature leads to dukkha.
▪This truth (dukkha sacca) is realized by cultivating wisdom (paññā), i.e., by comprehending anicca, dukkha, and anatta. Please re-read this until you get the idea. That is the “pubbe ananussutesu dhammesu…” or the message only a Buddha can discover.
▪Details are in the “Buddha Dhamma – Systematic” section.