SUFFERING IN DEPTH

To make it clear that Dukkha means more than ordinary suffering: The Buddha divides Dukkha into three types, depending on the depth:
(a) Dukkha as ordinary suffering. as bodily or mental pain
(b) Dukkha due to change.
This is a step remote from felt suffering. At this level we see that all pleasant experiences are Dukkha because they are subject to change. This does not mean that suffering arises due to the change of pleasure, rather it means that the pleasant experiences themselves and the things that give pleasure are already Dukkha, even while we are enjoying them. Health can be undermined by disease and therefore even when we are healthy, the state of health is dukkha. Youth has to give way to old age. Therefore our youthfulness is still Dukkha, unsatisfactory.
(c) The Dukkha of Conditioned Formations.

This is what Buddha intends when he declares that the five aggregates of clinging are dukkha. Our individuality is simply a combination of conditioned phenomena and all conditioned phenomena are impermanent and undergo constant transformation. As a result we have no mastery over them, we have no control over them, they go their way. For one with wisdom they are experienced as dukkha.

Is Buddha a Pessimist?