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.

Many Paths to the Summit

The first religion I'm covering in my World Religions course is Hinduism. Hinduism has several unique features. First, it has no single founder. Secondly, it is not an "organized" religion as it has no central organizing authority. Therefore, there are a great varieties of beliefs and practices under the Hinduism umbrella.

What I most appreciate about Hinduism is that it offers a variety of spiritual paths to achieve "moksha," a word meaning "liberation." The goal of Hinduism is the liberation of the soul ("atman") and union with the Universal Spirit (Brahman). Christianity, Buddhism and several other religions are considered valid spiritual paths by Hindus.

One of the the images that comes from Hinduism is that there are many paths that lead to the same summit. Not everyone has to take the same path to reach the goal. Another Hindu image is of many streams flowing into one large river.

I appreciate this gift of celebrating diverse spiritual paths. We do not need to convert others to our own path. We can affirm them in their own choice of a spiritual path. I think the religious world would be a better place if we practiced the "live and let live" spirituality of Hinduism.