Dukkha and Nirvana

Contents

How I Define Dukkha
What Does "The End of Suffering" Mean?
Nirvana
Techniques That Ease Suffering
How to Measure Progress

How I Define Dukkha (Suffering)

I define dukkha (the Buddhist term for suffering) as what I will call cognitive suffering (and is sometimes referred to as "reactive emotions"). This is suffering that arises in the mind in response to thoughts or situations. This excludes physical pain and it excludes mental suffering due to purely biological causes such as some types of anxiety and depression. Biological causes include genetics, poor diet, and developmental processes that while learned or acquired are, for practical purposes, permanent. For example, stress in childhood can result in permanent changes in stress hormone receptor levels that continue throughout adulthood.

Often with biologically caused non-cognitive emotions there are layers of cognitive emotions that occur in reaction to them. Meditation and mindfulness can help eliminate those added layers. In some cases this may make the non-cognitive emotions seem more like physical sensations instead of a cloud over reality, they become much easier to bear. A similar phenomenon can occur with physical pain, when the mental anguish surrounding physical pain is eased, the pain is easier to bear.

In many cases people know when they are suffering, but with wanting or liking (craving) people often overlook the suffering involved in those feelings. Wanting what you don't have, fear of losing something you like, actually losing something you like, and regret when something nice ends, are all unpleasant.

I include in my definition of suffering, (in addition to emotional feelings such as mental anguish, stress, anxiety, worry, hate, anger, jealousy, craving etc.) mental effects such as being excessively focused on thinking about a problem, as well as physiological effects such as muscle tension and other physical sensations such as a lump in the throat, a sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach etc.

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What Does "The End of Suffering" Mean?

Above I have described the limits on the types of suffering Buddhist practice and help with. In addition, the greatest freedom from suffering possible would only be attained at the highest stage of awakening, but there there is no guarantee any particular person can reach that stage in a lifetime. There are very few people alive today who would qualify as having attained the highest stage. And even at the highest stage you are not 100% free from suffering. This is called nirvana with residue and is due to the consequences of being a biological organism. Nirvana without residue, 100% freedom from suffering, can only occur after death.

When awakened masters are questioned about emotional displays, they say things like "it's the aggregates that were crying". Other people have said, "You still have emotions but they don't stick in your mind." Or "You still have emotions but you don't overreact."

The eight-fold path is a path to the end of suffering, anyone can walk on that path, but it doesn't mean everyone can reach the end of the path. There is a trail up Mount Everest, but not everyone can reach the summit.

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Nirvana

Nirvana is the absence of any trace of dukkha. Any meditation and mindfulness practice has to address all aspects of dukkha in order for it to produce nirvana. It is not unusual to experience nirvana temporarily. However, permanent nirvana is difficult, if it is even possible for a living person to achieve. While we have not achieved perfection we can try to be non-attached as best we can. Sometimes this means accepting some or all of these aspects of dukkha without judgement or reacting to them.

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Techniques that Ease Suffering

Techniques that ease suffering:

• Relaxation: After I do a type of relaxing meditation, nothing bothers me. Relaxing is a skill you can cultivate and bring into daily life.

  There are a few items I have included in this list that can have a good effect on easing suffering even though they aren't strictly "techniques":

  • Nutrition - Poor nutrition or the wrong diet can be a cause of unpleasant emotions. In order to get the most out of meditation and mindfulness practices it helps to understand how diet effects your mind and to optimize your diet as much as possible. This may not be the same for everyone but there is a lot of information on the internet on the subject of diet and mood that people can study. Personally, I have found that getting the right balance of carbohydrates and protein is very helpful. And I have found there are effects of diet on clarity of mind (the effect is hard to describe in words this is the best can do) and a tendency to fall into a meditative state naturally which makes practicing in daily life easier (the converse is a tendency to be stuck internally/mentally in thoughts emotions, impulses and ego). And I have found the ability to produce piti (rapture) and sukha (tranquil happiness) are also affected by nutrition.

  • Slow down. Being too busy can create stress. It can undo all the good effects of meditation and mindfuliness.

  • Don't take things so seriously. Sometimes we get caught up in the details of life and forget we don't have to be so intensely immersed in everything (including mindfulness and other practices). Sometimes a reminder to step back, lighten up, let go of the intensity, and relax (relax the body, breathe in a relaxed way, and do things in a relaxed way) can be helpful.

• Quieting the mind with meditation and mindfulness eases suffering by deactivating the default network in the brain. This effect will carry over into daily life after a session of meditation, but practicing mindfulness in daily life is a surer way to keep it going. When you are fully mindful in the present moment, you are not worrying about the future or regretting the past.

• Observing the activity of the mind.
  • Notice when dukkha arises, and stop the sequence of dependent origination by letting go without suppressing anything. 

  • Observing the three characteristics, dukkha, impermanence, and anatta leads to disenchantment which weakens attachments and aversions.

• Digging through layers of emotions.

• Stop trying to have a perfect moment. I've tried to explain this but I don't know if it will mean anything to other people.

• When someone practices meditation and mindfulness over a period of years, they work through the mula kleshas - the three poisons, attachment, aversion, and delusion - and they may find that they are much less disturbed in stressful situations.

• Producing metta or piti or sukha can elevate your mood.

I have experienced various types of feelings/insights where it seems like I don't have a self. I am not sure if these are causes or effects. If you feel like you don't have a self you might think that makes you non-attached to self and would ease all sorts of attachments. However I can't tell if that is true or if is actually the meditation and mindfulness that produces the feelings of not having a self that also produces non-attachment. A feeling or insight is not a technique but I am including it here as a place holder for people to consider. It might be true that the same "amount" meditation will give you the same reduction in suffering (by one or more of the processes described above) whether or not you feel like you don't have a self.

The above techniques can be used individually but produce a stronger effect when used in combination. One can practice relaxing meditation regularly and also use a technique that is relaxing while practicing mindfulness in daily life. When one notices dukkha arising during meditation or during daily life, one can stop the sequence of dependent origination by returning to mindfulness. When one comes up against a particularly resistant attachment or aversion one may find benefit from looking for deeper layers of emotions.

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How to Measure Progress

As you progress along the path of meditation and mindfulness ...

• You experience less suffering. Attachments and aversions are fewer and weaker including attachments to nice feelings produced by meditation and attachment to awakening.

• Behavior is less selfish, less self-centered, more tolerant. You consider the other person's point of view. Behavior is based more on reason and compassionate than selfish egocentric emotions. 

• You are able to be more mindful during daily life. 

• You gain more experience of how the practice leads to progress which leads to greater understanding of how the meditation and mindfulness techniques produce results which leads to more effective use of techniques. 

• You realize that the "situation" is not the source of suffering, the source of suffering is your reaction to the situation. That doesn't mean you ignore problems, it means you can respond to problems with compassion and reason rather than selfish emotions.

• As you notice more and more progress, you realize you would not have learned to let go without triggers that alerted you to attachments and aversions. You understand without life's "difficulties" you would not make progress, and that changes your attitude toward unpleasantness.

• You stop judging your emotions. Thinking our emotions are good or bad, or right or wrong, is the cause of much of our suffering. When you stop judging your emotions you are spared all that suffering. That doesn't mean we ignore or suppress emotions. It means we can feel them, understand what they are telling us, and try to let go of them with compassion for ourselves rather than getting caught up in a story and reacting with selfish emotions.

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