The post titled Dukkha is Suffering-plus-plus is now up on Buddhism for All. Angela from the Buddhism.net team reflected on it, and invites you to do so too.
🌕 Angela’s Reflections:
What is dukkha? Dukkha is an underlying pervasive always-there dissatisfaction, unsatisfactoriness, and a sense that things are just not right.
What comes to mind is a teaching from Ajahn Chah, a great Buddhist monk and meditation master. He said that when he uses a cup and drinks out of it, he already sees it as broken. That does not make him nihilistic or melancholic. Instead, this view helps him see the truth that everything subject to birth, is subject to change, and subject to eventual death. Thus, this view makes him appreciate the precious cup even more in the present moment. How wonderful!
🌱 Journal Reflection Prompts for You:
- 📝 In which areas of your life do you experience dukkha, or unsatisfactoriness? How do you deal with this sense of unsatisfactoriness when it arises?
- 📝 How might the Buddhist teachings help you deal with dukkha, or feelings of unsatisfactoriness in a new way? How would the Buddhist approach be beneficial?
- 📝 Reflect on an object or relationship you hold dear. How does realizing its impermanence change how you relate to it? What feelings arise as you realize the truth of impermanence?
- 📝How might you cultivate gratitude by embracing the fleeting nature of things?
Featured image, an AI-generated artwork, by Angela Ho.
