Modified: October 25, 2022
dukkha
This page is from my personal notes, and has not been specifically reviewed for public consumption. It might be incomplete, wrong, outdated, or stupid. Caveat lector.In Pāli, dukkha refers to the unsatisfactory parts of existence.Literally it refers to a wheel in which the axel hole is not centered, leading to a bumpy ride: 'dus-' (bad) 'kha' (hole). Contrast with 'sukha', where 'su' indicates a good axel hole and a comfortable ride. Upali Upsaka suggests a modern interpretation of this is when you get a grocery cart where one wheel doesn't spin correctly. It is sometimes translated as 'suffering', but also as 'unease', 'anxiety', 'frustration', 'distress', etc. Dan Brown translates it as 'reactivity'. Ken McLeod suggests 'struggle'. NameRedacted favors 'stress'.
Leigh Breisington translates it as 'bummer', so that the first of the four noble truths is that 'life is full of bummers' - a bummer can be big ("your friend died, what a bummer") or small ("your favorite ice cream flavor got discontinued, what a bummer").