Second Hallmark — Introduction To Suffering
Understanding Duḥkha as the Gateway to Transformation
First Floor - Small Vehicle • Module 3
Estimated time to complete: 60 minutes
From Impermanence to Suffering
The First Hallmark showed that all conditioned things are impermanent and dependently arisen. The Second Hallmark explains how we suffer when we ignore the reality and emotionally cling to them as though they were lasting and autonomous entities. But what precisely does “suffering” mean in this context? Is Buddhism trying to make us depressed about our lives, or just being realistic about how badly we need help?
This video explores what the Second Hallmark actually says and why we will use the well-known Buddhist teaching called the Four Noble Truths to explain it further.
What to watch for: The meaning of “negatively influenced.” The three adjectives—lasting, unified, autonomous—and why they matter. The medical analogy: Buddha as doctor, Dharma as medicine, Saṅgha as rehabilitation. How the Four Noble Truths fit within the Second Hallmark.
Video 1: Second Hallmark — Suffering
Duration: 17 minutes
From Hallmark to Noble Truth
The Four Noble Truths are nested within the Second Hallmark—they unpack what suffering is, where it comes from, and how it can be brought to an end. The next video examines the First Noble Truth directly: What kinds of suffering does Buddhist tradition identify? And why are some forms so difficult to recognize?
What to watch for: The three types of suffering—ordinary suffering, suffering of change, and all-pervasive existential suffering. The ice cream cone example. How existential suffering underlies even pleasant and neutral experiences. The image of seeking something solid like a life preserver in an ocean where no solid thing exists.
Video 2: First Noble Truth
Duration: 18 minutes
From Understanding to Investigation
The video distinguished three types of suffering, starting from the more obvious to the more subtle. The guided meditation that follows offers a way to investigate these directly—applying the mindfulness of feeling to your own experience of ordinary pain, the suffering of change, and the existential dis-ease that runs beneath everything.
What to watch for: This meditation applies the mindfulness of feeling from the Four Applications directly to investigating the three types of suffering. Notice how the investigation moves from obvious pain to the subtle suffering of change (longing, fear of loss, regret) to the most subtle existential dis-ease. The meditation ends with a question you can carry into daily life: “Am I content?”
Video 3: Guided Meditation — Mindfulness of Feeling
Duration: 8 minutes
A few Insights:
At first glance, this hallmark can seem like bad news. Anything we cling to is painful? That sounds like a grim philosophy, a recipe for pessimism. But consider why the Buddha started his teachings here. We are, according to the Buddha, like addicts who don’t know we’re addicted. We experience symptoms constantly—the restlessness, the dissatisfaction, the anxiety—but we don’t trace them back to their source. We think that’s just how life is. So we are in denial about our addiction.
Consider how an addict might describe their experience before recognizing the problem. They’re irritable, but they blame their job. They’re anxious, but they blame the economy. They feel a constant low-grade dissatisfaction, but they assume everyone feels that way. The relief they get from their fix is temporary, and then the cycle starts again.
Now consider our own experience. We’re irritable—but we blame the traffic, the weather, the people around us. We’re anxious—but we blame deadlines and uncertainty. We feel that subtle sense that something is missing from us or our life, and we assume that’s just the human condition. The three types of suffering—ordinary pain, the dissatisfaction even in pleasure, the existential unease beneath it all—start to look like symptoms of something we haven’t yet diagnosed because we do not think there is a solution.
The Buddha wants to reframe the way we see our symptoms. He does not want us thinking that life is inherently terrible—but rather that we’re doing something unnecessary that makes life more painful than it needs to be. The next module examines what that something is. But the first step, as with any addiction, is recognizing we have a problem.
Questions for Reflection
These questions are designed as ongoing investigations to inform your meditation practice, not one-time exercises.
1. The Three Phases of Ordinary Suffering Over the next few days, notice when you’re in each phase: longing for something you don’t have, fearing loss of something you do have, or regretting something you’ve lost. How much of your mental life is spent in one of these three states? What happens when you recognize you’re in one of them?
2. Suffering You Don’t Notice The teaching suggests we have dis-ease we’re not conscious of. What might this mean in your experience? Are there background states of longing, dissatisfaction, or subtle anxiety that you usually don’t examine? Do you experience craving, aversion, and confusion as painful mental states? What happens when you look more closely at the experience itself rather than at what is causing it?
3. The Ice Cream Cone Next time you’re enjoying something pleasant, notice what happens. Is the satisfaction completely pure, or is there something else—anticipation of the pleasure ending, a desire for it to continue, a subtle sense of diminishing returns? This isn’t meant to ruin enjoyment; it’s an objective investigation of our subconscious experience.
4. Seeking Solid Ground The existential suffering was described as searching for solid ground in an ocean where nothing solid exists. Where do you seek stability or security? In relationships, accomplishments, identity, possessions, beliefs? What would happen if you noticed this searching without trying to find the answer?
5. Am I Content? Throughout your day, pause and ask: “Am I content just being here, doing whatever I’m doing right now? Or is there somewhere else I am trying to get to in the short or long term?” Not judging the answer, just noticing. What do you find? Is there contentment, or is there a subtle pull toward something else? What happens when you simply notice the discontent, give up trying to get away from it, and relax on the spot?
This module is part of Tarpa's Palace of Learning curriculum, a secular educational program exploring Buddhist philosophy, psychology, and contemplative practice. All content © 2025