Born-Again Again (Part 3)

Dukkha and Karuna: Two Buddhist concepts usually translated “suffering” and “compassion”.

First, as a review, here are the 3 Pillars of the Born-Again Again Movement.

• Honoring the Foundation: Validates the initial spiritual awakening or “born-again” experience without judgment, honoring past faith as a necessary step rather than a mistake.
• Continuous Evolution: Rejects spiritual stagnation and demands ongoing growth beyond the boundaries of established dogmas and traditional religious authorities.
• Iterative Rebirth: Views a complete life not as a single trajectory, but as successive, distinct lifetimes built upon — yet separated by — transformative, disruptive events, modeled by the three distinct phases of Moses’ life. (See Part 1.)

Second, I love my inner 4th grader but in Part 3, I’m coming to you as the grown-up version of myself, as Professor Jeff teaching a class in Continuing Adult Education.

In Part 3, I will introduce the Buddhist principles of Dukkha and Karuna, which get to the root of human existence perhaps better than any alternative. But before that, a quick note on process.

During my “phase change” from Phase 2 to Phase 3, I wrote songs to express what I was learning and feeling. Over time, recurring themes emerged, signaling that a new worldview was crystallizing inside me. I wrote those themes down and researched who else was thinking along similar lines. That search led me to Dabrowski’s “Positive Disintegration” (covered in Part 2) and to Dukkha and Karuna. I quickly realized that my Phase 2 crucifixion and subsequent Phase 3 resurrection mirrored experiences documented in the Buddhist tradition for centuries.

So, shifting into my “professor” voice, let’s explore Dukkha and Karuna — and later tie them into the “Born-Again Again” concept.

Dukkha and Karuna

At the heart of Buddhist philosophy lie Dukkha and Karuna — two deeply intertwined concepts that map out both the core problem of human existence and its ultimate emotional remedy. Together, they form a direct bridge from profound psychological insight to active, everyday empathy.

Dukkha is most frequently translated as “suffering,” but that word doesn’t quite capture its full scope. A more accurate translation is unsatisfactoriness or a pervasive sense of friction. The ancient Pali word originally referred to a pottery wheel or an oxcart axle hole that was off-center, causing a bumpy, unstable ride.

In Buddhism, dukkha operates on three distinct layers. First is blatant physical and mental pain (dukkha-dukkha), like illness or grief. Second is the anxiety of change (viparinama-dukkha), which is the distress we feel because even happy moments are temporary. Finally, there is the background hum of conditioned existence (sankhara-dukkha), a subtle, existential insecurity born from the fact that life is inherently unpredictable and uncontrollable. It is the realization that nothing temporary can ever provide permanent satisfaction, largely because we constantly grasp at things that are always slipping away.

If dukkha is the diagnosis of the human condition, Karuna, or compassion, is the natural treatment. Karuna is not passive pity or sentimental warmth. Instead, classic texts describe it as the “quivering of the heart” in the face of suffering, coupled with a fierce, active desire to alleviate that pain. It is one of the four Brahmaviharas (sublime states of mind) that Buddhists actively cultivate. Karuna requires moving past mere sympathy and stepping into a deep, shared resonance with another person’s struggles. True compassion means seeing someone else’s pain as no different from your own.

The profound connection between the two concepts is where Buddhist practice truly comes alive. You cannot genuinely cultivate karuna without first deeply understanding dukkha. When you recognize that your own struggles with impermanence, loss, and anxiety are universally shared by every living being, the artificial boundaries between “self” and “other” begin to dissolve.

Your own experience of dukkha becomes the very fuel for karuna. Instead of closing yourself off in self-pity, looking closely at suffering opens you up to the world, transforming personal pain into a universal wish for all beings to be free from distress. Dukkha grounds the philosophy in the raw reality of life, while karuna ensures it is driven by boundless, active love.

How do these Buddhist concepts tie in with being born-again again? Because Karuna is our collective destination. Karuna was embodied by Jesus Christ. But Karuna takes a lifetime, not one trip down the aisle at a Billy Graham Crusade.

In Part 4 I will begin to tie-in Lawrence Kohlberg, Ken Wilber, Spiral Dynamics, Hanzi Freinacht, and others with BAAM (the Born-Again Again Movement). Thanks. :)