The History of Philosophy in 16 Questions - Q8: Why is life so hard?

1 All existence is dukkha. The word dukkha has been variously translated as ‘suffering’, ‘anguish’, ‘pain’, or ‘unsatisfactoriness’. The Buddha’s insight was that our lives are a struggle, and we do not find ultimate happiness or satisfaction in anything we experience. This is the problem of existence.

2. The cause of dukkha is craving. The natural human tendency is to blame our difficulties on things outside ourselves. But the Buddha says that their actual root is to be found in the mind itself. In particular our tendency to grasp at things (or alternatively to push them away) places us fundamentally at odds with the way life really is.

3. The cessation of dukkha comes with the cessation of craving. As we are the ultimate cause of our difficulties, we are also the solution. We cannot change the things that happen to us, but we can change our responses.

4. There is a path that leads from dukkha. Although the Buddha throws responsibility back on to the individual he also taught methods through which we can change ourselves, for example the Noble Eightfold Path.

Right Understanding or Perfect Vision

Right Resolve or Perfect Emotion

Right Speech or Perfect Speech

Right Action or Perfect Action

Right Livelihood or Perfect Livelihood

Right Effort or Perfect Effort

Right Mindfulness or Perfect Awareness

Right Meditation or Perfect Samadhi

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