Life is "Dukka"

I'm covering Buddhism in my World Religions course. Today, we started on the Four Noble Truths, the first of which is "life is dukka." Dukka is a Sanskrit word often translated as "suffering," but also means "out of joint" and "dislocated."

What The Buddha discovered after seeking the truth for six years was this: life doesn't meet our expectations and when it doesn't, pain and disappointment are the results.

Others have discovered this truth for themselves. Henry David Thoreau expressed it by observing that most people lead lives of "quiet desperation." M. Scott Peck wrote in The Road Less Traveled, "Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult-- once we truly understand and accept it-- then life is no longer difficult."

Buddhism and other major religions offer spiritual paths to help us deal with the difficulty, suffering and dislocation of life. Because this is a spiritual problem, it requires a spiritual solution. However, the first step on these spiritual paths is virtually the same: to admit the truth. Once you admit it, then you can begin to deal with it.

The Spiritual Quest

We're now learning about Buddhism in my world religions course. Founded by Siddhartha Gautama in the 6th century BCE, Buddhism was the result of his spiritual quest.

Siddhartha was born into a wealthy high caste Hindu family. His father, who wanted him to follow in his footsteps, protected Siddhartha from the realities of life. But one day, in a state of restless discontentment, he ventured out of the castle and saw four things: a dead person, a diseased person, a decrepit person and a monk with a shaved head.

After seeing these things, Siddhartha embarked on a six year quest to discover the truth about life. First, he launched into a ascetic life, but didn't find what he was looking for. Next, he studied with the great spiritual teachers of Hinduism, but still was unsatisfied. Then, through intense meditation, he looked deep within himself and found enlightenment.

The word "Buddha" means "enlightened one" and Siddhartha's enlightenment resulted in a religion that offers others a path to enlightenment. What is fascinating to me about this story is that he didn't find what he was looking for in the external world, but found it within himself.

There is a lesson here for those of us who are seeking spiritual truth. We need to look both inside and outside ourselves in our quest. I believe this is a "both/and" issue rather than "either/or." As Thomas Merton once said, "God speaks to us in three ways: in the words of scripture, in the voice of the stranger, and in our deepest selves."