| Some people say that all the teachings of the Buddha | | | | slips away from you. That feeling of loosing it is a |
| are contained in the seemingly simple claim that All is | | | | painful experience. That's the second kind of suffering. |
| Suffering. When people come to Buddhism for the first | | | | The final form of suffering is a little more difficult to |
| time, this simple claim seems to be a real barrier to | | | | explain. Buddhists sources say that this suffering is as |
| understanding. It seems to me that the Buddha was | | | | difficult to perceive as an eyelash held in the palm of |
| pessimistic about the possibility of pleasure or | | | | your hand, but for sages it is as palpable as the same |
| happiness in human life. The most important intellectual | | | | eyelash stuck in your eye. In Pali (the language of |
| challenge is to understand how this simple statement | | | | Buddhist scriptures) it is called Sankhara-dukkha, which |
| doesn't lead to pessimism but to a sense of liberation | | | | means "suffering due to conditioned states". It seems |
| and peace. | | | | to refer to pleasurable things that can cause pain even |
| The best way to do this is to explore some of the | | | | in the midst of their pleasure, if that pleasure is bases in |
| more sophisticated accounts of suffering in Buddhist | | | | some kind of illusion about the nature of the object or |
| literature. We see that suffering is interpreted not just | | | | about the nature of your own self. |
| in one way, but in three ways. | | | | To understand this concept of suffering we have to |
| The first form of suffering is pretty obvious. It is the | | | | talk about he nature of our own personality. This is the |
| suffering that is physical or emotional pain. This | | | | key issue. The most important concept of Buddhist |
| suffering is undeniable. The second kind of suffering is | | | | approaches to the nature of the self is the concept of |
| the suffering that is due to change. It comes when | | | | no-self. Buddhist insist that there is no permanent |
| even the most pleasurable things cause suffering | | | | identity that endures from one moment to the next. |
| when they pass away. Often they cause suffering in | | | | This is called Anatta. |
| direct relationship with the degree of attachment that | | | | When we are deluded to think that we have a self or |
| you invest in them. If there is something you really like, | | | | permanent identity it causes us suffering. |
| a person or an object, and then all of the sudden it | | | | |