{"id":27,"date":"2010-07-21T08:22:31","date_gmt":"2010-07-21T08:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/2010\/07\/dukkha.html"},"modified":"2010-07-21T08:22:31","modified_gmt":"2010-07-21T08:22:31","slug":"dukkha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2010\/07\/dukkha.html","title":{"rendered":"Dukkha: The Buddha’s Metaphor for All That Ails You"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\n<\/p>\n

Dukkha<\/span><\/i> is
\na Pali term central to the Buddha’s teaching. It’s difficult to translate.
\n“Suffering” captures some but not all of its aspects. Dissatisfaction captures
\nanother portion of is variance. Even if were to speak Pali as the Buddha did,
\nthe word wouldn’t be enough. Dukkha<\/i> translates to “bad wheel.”
\nThe Buddha had to turn to metaphorical images to convey the sense of dukkha,
\n<\/i>for instance, an oxcart whose wheel was off its axle, for
\nexample. This conveys the notion of things being “off,” “awry,” or “out of
\nbalance.” The “bad wheel” will exert its effect on everything we do; every
\nexperience, every perception, every everything. <\/span><\/p>\n

While sitting in a large group of meditators at the Green Mountain
\nCoffee Roasters (GMCR) headquarters with Shinzen Young<\/a> recently, I bumped into
\nanother metaphor for dukkha<\/i> — background radiation. As I sat
\nI noticed a pervasive sense of feeling, feeling with an emotional coloring.
\nAlthough subtle, it was clearly perceptible. It seemed to be a tinge of
\nsadness, poignancy, or some such quality as that. It was radiating in the
\nbackground of my awareness. It was neither pleasant nor unpleasant, and I
\nwondered if that was dukkha<\/i>? As long as there is a story of me there
\nwill be this background radiation. When it is no longer present, I suppose I’ll
\nbe enlightened, but I don’t expect this anytime soon!<\/span><\/p>\n

This background radiation can be understood as a pervasive and
\nunconscious feeling tone. Much of mental life (over 99%) occurs outside of
\nconscious awareness, and this is true for feelings and emotions too. It seems
\nas if this background radiation is a repository or a dumping ground for all the
\n“selfing” that goes on throughout the day. All the aspects of what the Buddha
\ncalled, “I, me, mine.” The things I want, the expectations I have that may not
\nbe met or I fear may not be met. It all boils down to desire and what I do with
\nit.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you meditate you will no doubt notice this background radiation
\nwhen you sit. Fitting the definition of dukkha<\/i>
\nit is pervasive, permeating every cell in the body, coloring in some subtle way
\nevery thought, image, and conscious emotion we experience. This is not a bad
\nthing, although I think it behooves us to become familiar with this energy and
\nto see what memories and images it is connected too. It is also the case that
\nmy background radiation likely feels different than yours because I have had a
\ndifferent life history and have different genetics. Let me know what your
\nbackground radiation feels like.<\/span><\/p>\n

To find it, turn your attention to your body and away from stories of
\nthe future and past. Turn your attention from talk to the feeling tone of the breath
\nand body and keep returning your attention whenever it moves away. Tomorrow, I
\nwill present detailed instruction on how to practice mindfulness meditation. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dukkha is a Pali term central to the Buddha’s teaching. It’s difficult to translate. “Suffering” captures some but not all of its aspects. Dissatisfaction captures another portion of is variance. Even if were to speak Pali as the Buddha did, the word wouldn’t be enough. Dukkha translates to “bad wheel.” The Buddha had to turn to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":268,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12,7,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-awake-at-work","category-buddha-101","category-metaphors-for-mindfulness","category-mindfulnesss"],"yoast_head":"\nDukkha: The Buddha's Metaphor for All That Ails You - Mindfulness Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2010\/07\/dukkha.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dukkha: The Buddha's Metaphor for All That Ails You - Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dukkha is a Pali term central to the Buddha’s teaching. It’s difficult to translate. “Suffering” captures some but not all of its aspects. Dissatisfaction captures another portion of is variance. Even if were to speak Pali as the Buddha did, the word wouldn’t be enough. 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Dr. Kozak's ability to translate ancient healing traditions into pragmatic applications suitable for modern lifestyles through the use of metaphors have made him a strong voice in healthcare and business. Beginning with a journey to India in the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where he took the Bodhisattva vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arnie Dr. Kozak began his lifelong practice in mindfulness meditation. Intent on finding a way to bring the practical healing attributes of mindfulness he began incorporating these techniques in his private practice. In 2002 Dr. Kozak created Exquisite Mind in Burlington, Vermont as a vehicle that could expand his wisdom to larger audiences beyond individual psychotherapy to professionals and corporations, health care providers, public groups and, most recently with Exquisite Mind Golf, amateur and professional golfers. His award-winning new book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, 2009) is a thoughtful, funny, and inspiring translation of mindfulness practice through the inventive use of metaphor applicable to our daily lives. In addition to his work with Exquisite Mind, Arnie Kozak, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dDoctorate has been a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Vermont and is a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine. He has studied and practiced clinical psychology, meditation, and yoga for more than 25 years. He has studied with several meditation masters, including S. N. Goenka, Larry Rosenberg, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After receiving his bachelors degree with honors from Tufts University, he was awarded a Presidential Fellowship to get his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Buffalo. He completed his training as a Psychological Fellow at the Harvard Medical School. Prior to founding the Exquisite Mind in 2002, Arnie worked ten years in the private sector for the PKC Corporation consulting on mental health content for this revolutionary software company.","sameAs":["http:\/\/exquisitemind.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/author\/akozak"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}