A Study of Suffering (Dukkha) from Vipassanā Perspective

Abstract

This thesis presents a comprehensive a study of the concept of Dukkha (suffering) from the Vipassanā perspective within Theravāda Buddhism. It systematically investigates the existential and phenomenological nature of Dukkha, moving beyond its conventional understanding as mere pain to its existential characteristic as the intrinsic unsatisfactoriness of all conditioned existence. The study elucidates the classical threefold classification such as dukkha-dukkha (ordinary suffering), vipariṇāma-dukkha (suffering due to change), and saṅkhāra-dukkha (suffering inherent in conditioned phenomena) demonstrating how most beings only recognize the first type. Central to the analysis is the doctrinal exposition of the Second Noble Truth, identifying taṇhā (craving), specifically in the form of nandī (delightful clinging), as the root cause (mūla) of all suffering, encapsulated in the pivotal Pali phrase “Nandī dukkhassa mūlaṃ.” Furthermore, the thesis explicates how the vipassanā method, through the sustained practice of mindfulness (sati) and penetrative insight (paññā) into the impermanent, non-self-nature of the five aggregates (khandhas), serves as the deliverance-related path for eradicating craving and realizing the cessation of dukkha. This work synthesizes scriptural exegesis with the practical framework of insight meditation to argue that dukkha is not merely a philosophical tenet but a reality to be comprehended and transcended through direct experiential insight.