hilitehead

“It is the third level of suffering, called ‘the suffering of pervasive conditioning,’ that we are concerned with here. The suffering of conditioning is the origin of the other two types of suffering. It is the nature of our very existence, which comes about as a result of karma, delusions, and afflictive emotions. Our very existences as unenlightened beings is said to be fundamentally unsatisfactory, or dunkha, that is, suffering. Through the practice of compassion and renunciation, we need to develop a genuine desire to gain freedom from this third level of suffering, but this desire can only arise if we understand the nature of suffering and its causes.”