Dukkha
Dukkha (Pāli; Sanskrit: duḥkha) is a central concept in Buddhism, roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including sorrow, suffering, affliction, pain, anxiety, dissatisfaction, discomfort, anguish, stress, misery and aversion. The term is probably derived from duḥstha, "standing badly," "unsteady," "uneasy." Dukkha is the subject of the first of the Four Noble Truths:
- All of life involves dukkha.
The other three Noble Truths explain the origins of dukkha; the means of eliminating Dukkha, is known as the Noble Eightfold Path. Siddartha Gautama, the Buddha repeatedly stated that the only purpose of Buddhism is to seek the cessation of dukkha.
Dukkha is also listed among the three marks of existence.
