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title=Three_types_of_suffering

Suffering of Suffering
The suffering of suffering or blatant suffering includes all the
miseries of the lower realms , as well as the sufferings of
birth, old age, sickness and death in the higher realms, and
also separation from what we hold dear, having to encounter
what is undesirable, and not achieving what we want even
after pursuing it. All these types of suffering, big or small, are
undesirable from the very first moment they appear, and are
therefore understood to be painful.
A sutra says:
“What is the suffering upon suffering? It is that which is
painful when arising, painful when
remaining, and pleasant when changing.”

There are countless different categories of

suffering, as we can appreciate if we consider
even just the hot and cold hells .
Note: According to the Abhidharma-samuccaya ,
separation from what we hold dear, having to
encounter what is undesirable and not getting
what we want are all included under the ‘suffering
of change.’ There is no contradiction however,
since in that text they are explained as if they had
not yet occurred, but are bound to be experienced
at some time in future; whereas here we are
speaking about what it is like when we actually
experience separation from what we hold dear,
encountering something undesirable and not
getting what we want.

Suffering of Change
The suffering of change means that no matter
where we find ourselves, whether in this world
system or any other, even if we are in the higher
realms, and no matter how seemingly pleasurable
and attractive our dwelling place, physical body or
sensory enjoyments, our situation can not possibly
remain as it is, but is bound to change, because
of not being beyond the laws of impermanence .
When it does change, what was previously a
pleasurable experience becomes a source of
suffering. It is just like the sorrow caused by the
death of a child: it is because we were so happy
when the child was alive that their death is so
painful.
About this a sutra says:
“The suffering of change is that which is pleasant
when arising, pleasant when remaining, but
painful when ceasing.”
All-Pervasive Suffering of Conditioning
The suffering of being conditioned refers to all
experience that is bound up with the ordinary
psycho-physical aggregates, or skandhas . No
matter whether we are experiencing temporary
pleasure or suffering, or even a neutral state, we
are always setting ourselves up for future
suffering. Why? Because our present skandhas
are direct causes for our future skandhas, which
will be the supports for suffering in the future.
That means all our present experiences are in
some way the causes for sufferings that will
come to us later on. It is as if all our meals have
been laced with poison, and as we eat and drink
we are unaware of the suffering and pain that is
to come.
About this, the Buddha said:
“The suffering of being conditioned is not apparent when it
arises, remains or ceases, but it
is still the cause of suffering.”
Every aspect of our conditioned existence brings with it the
potential for future suffering, so it is also known as the ‘all-
pervasive suffering of
conditioned existence.’
This is why we hear statements like: “On the
needlepoint of samsara there is never any
happiness,” or why we say that noble beings
perceive the whole of samsara as something to
be renounced, like “a pit of fire” or “an island of
cannibals”.