Dukkha (
Pāli;
Sanskrit:
duḥkha;
Tibetan: སྡུག་བསྔལ་
sdug bsngal, pr. "duk-ngel") is a
Buddhist term commonly translated as "
suffering", "anxiety", "stress", or "unsatisfactoriness". The principle of dukkha is one of the most important concepts in the Buddhist tradition. The
Buddha is reputed to have said: "I have taught one thing and one thing only,
dukkha and the cessation of
dukkha." The classic formulation of these teachings on
dukkha is the doctrine of the
Four Noble Truths, in which the Truth of Dukkha (Pali:
dukkha saccã; Sanskrit:
duḥkha-satya) is identified as the first.