ਦੂਖੁ ਅੰਧੇਰਾ (dookh aňdheraa)
Meaning: noun: The darkness of suffering.
Quote:
ਦੂਖੁ ਅੰਧੇਰਾ ਘਰ ਤੇ ਮਿਟਿਓ॥ ਗੁਰਿ ਗਿਆਨੁ ਦ੍ਰਿੜਾਇਓ ਦੀਪ ਬਲਿਓ॥
dookh aňdheraa ghar te mitio. gur giaan driṛaaio deep balio.
The lamp of wisdom is lit and the darkness of suffering departs from the home (mind) where the Guru implants spiritual wisdom. – Guru Arjan Sahib, Guru Granth Sahib, 241
Message: There is not a single person who has not had to endure pain and suffering: some more than others. Why must people suffer so? “Why me, God?’’, we ask.
We are living in the dark. We think the meaning of life is pleasure. “Whatever makes me happy” becomes the pursuit of life. Our ego rules the day. Our attachments blind us. We are so far from Truth. Pain and suffering is part and parcel of life. What makes one happy is often the very thing that brings pain and suffering into life. A simple example, what happens when you love a person too much…?
When we open our hearts to the Guru’s wisdom, there grows an understanding of Truth. In the light of this Truth, the “darkness” that induces our pain and sorrow is removed. We gain an understanding of the part that pain and sorrow play in our lives.
We all have equal access to divine wisdom. Some choose to understand and follow it closely, others loosely. Following this wisdom does not mean the pain goes away, it just dispels the ‘darkness’ and in the light we are able to manage the pain better.
ਚੰਦੋ ਦੀਪਾਇਆ ਦਾਨਿ ਹਰਿ ਕੈ ਦੁਖ ਅੰਧੇਰਾ ਉਠਿ ਗਇਆ॥
The darkness of suffering is taken away, where the moon of wisdom glows through the kindness of the Divine. – Guru Nanak Sahib, Guru Granth Sahib, 765
Etymology: From Sanskrit duhkh (difficulty, pain) → Pali and Prakrit dukkh (misery) → Kashmiri dokh (sorrow, pain), Sindhi ḍukhu, Lahndi dukh/ḍukh, Punjabi
dukkh/dukh and Hindi/Marwari dookh.
