The 3 Signs of Being – sources of suffering.

Which of these is the hardest to bear?

A.  Suffering physical pain - from a broken leg, an ongoing chronic illness like arthritis. We even suffer just from the fear that we might experience such physical pain – dukkha dukkha.

B.  Being emotionally attached to things

  1. To love something, means suffering the pain of losing it when it dies.
  2. To love something, means always being afraid of losing it in the future.
  3. Knowing you have to die, is the worst suffering of all- knowing that one day you will have to say goodbye to everything you have ever loved.

C.  Experiencing Desire

  1. Getting something you want doesn’t make you happy for long. Soon, you want something else. Desire makes you constantly dissatisfied.
  2. Desiring things, means you are never sure you have enough, even when you have got what you want.
  3. The most delightful sensations become painful or tedious if they continue for very long. You can even get fed up of your own daydreams and mental chatter.

D.  Experiencing Change

  1. Change means everything good will one day disappear. You can never hold on to anything good for long.
  2. The memory of pleasant experiences makes the present moment harder to bear. Remembering pleasure means suffering now. Remembering summer holidays makes hot days at school harder to bear.

The 3 Signs of Being – sources of suffering.

Which of these is the hardest to bear?

A.  Suffering physical pain - from a broken leg, an ongoing chronic illness like arthritis. We even suffer just from the fear that we might experience such physical pain – dukkha dukkha.

B.  Being emotionally attached to things

  1. To love something, means suffering the pain of losing it when it dies.
  2. To love something, means always being afraid of losing it in the future.
  3. Knowing you have to die, is the worst suffering of all- knowing that one day you will have to say goodbye to everything you have ever loved.

C.  Experiencing Desire

  1. Getting something you want doesn’t make you happy for long. Soon, you want something else. Desire makes you constantly dissatisfied.
  2. Desiring things, means you are never sure you have enough, even when you have got what you want.
  3. The most delightful sensations become painful or tedious if they continue for very long. You can even get fed up of your own daydreams and mental chatter.

D.  Experiencing Change

  1. Change means everything good will one day disappear. You can never hold on to anything good for long.
  2. The memory of pleasant experiences makes the present moment harder to bear. Remembering pleasure means suffering now. Remembering summer holidays makes hot days at school harder to bear.