en overlooked in the contemplation on human suffering. One of the m ost common things that cause us pain is change.Man above all resists change; so much so that even when people are in a painful or dangerous situation they will continue in this fashion rather than risk the uncertainties of change. Change is traumatic, even when it is a happy one. This is evidenced by the fact that events such as getting married, having a child, and winning the lottery register among the most stress producing events in a persons life (Comer, Abnormal Psych.ch.5) The Buddha knew that not only was Pain an inevitable fact of human life but also change. “Change Dukkha” is caused by any change in ones circumstances that cause us discomfort; all aspects of our lives and ourselves is in constant flux, and as a result we try to “nail” things down. This fixation on fixation is a cause of dukkha . By externally trying to manipulate, control or force our circumstances we set ourselves up for disappointment. Dukkha is funny in that one cause can encompass all forms of dukkha, as is apparent when our disappointment resulting from our reaction to change becomes pain dukkha because of the fruitless outcome. The attempts we unconciously make to keep things as we want are an endless source of dukkha, and most of the time we are completely unaware. Taken to the extreme on one hand and the mundane on the other, most of our personal and social rituals are based in the hope of making things concrete. Opening a bank account, getting married, or joining a fellowship of any kind are all common ways of trying to ensure that things on which we depend (spiritual/mortal crutches) don’t go away or disappear. Societies are full, both in secular and religious practice of rituals that are meant to bind, from having a Delchamps gold card, to baptizing a child, we forever seek to align ourselves with something, depending on the person, in o...
