The Four Enemies: Understanding Suffering
…ings of birth, aging, sickness and death conspire
to bring misery to our existence.
5. Sorrow [soka dukkha]
The Buddha characterized the suffering of sorrow as affect-
ing one with burning in the heart as i…
This text discusses the metaphor of four enemies that represent the sufferings inherent in human existence: birth, aging, illness, and death. Birth is akin to the first enemy, seducing us into life, w