The Buddha’s teachings on dukkha (suffering) is somewhat more nuanced than we talked about earlier (here). In an important discourse[1], the Buddha clarified that there are three types of dukkha: Dukkha due to physical or emotional pain Dukkha due to...
I tell people that the world isn’t trustworthy, that if you depend on anything external, you will find that it is unreliable and unfulfilling, and if you grasp to it, you will get hurt. I tell people that their inner world isn’t trustworthy either, that whether you...
Imagine living in a weird world where cars come with a self-destruct button that you can order as an add-on. It’s a big red button right beside the cupholders that says, “Self-destruct, DO NOT PRESS”. If you press the button, the car blows up, with you in...
It is common among Buddhists to erroneously claim that the First Noble Truth proclaims, “Life is suffering.” That mistake is understandable, I catch myself doing it frequently too. There are two problems with that claim. First, according to the...
“Which one of us is going to tell him?” The Buddha taught that the five aggregates subject to grasping are suffering. What does that mean? One way to think of it is like trying to grab hold of water with your hands to drink it. No matter...
