DUKKHA

( (Pali), ) Sanskrit Duhkha (sorrow, suffering, imperfection, or spiritual anguish), in Buddhist thought, the true nature of all existence. The whole of Buddhist doctrine is based on the fact of suffering; its reality, cause, and means of suppression formed the subject of the Buddha's first sermon (see Four Noble Truths). Recognition of the fact of suffering as one of three basic characteristics of existencealong with impermanence (anicca) and the absence of a self (anatta)constitutes the right knowledge that is the first step along the course of spiritual development known as the Eightfold Path that leads ultimately to enlightenment (nirvana). Three types of suffering are distinguished: they result, respectively, from torment, such as old age, sickness, and death; from the absence of pleasure; and from the necessity of giving up what one loves and has become attached to, because of the inescapable transitory quality of all phenomena.