Second Arrow with Noah Levine

August 18, 2025

Tonight, my plan is mostly to do Q&A—to see what’s on your mind, answer any questions you might have about meditation, Buddhism, or any particular teachings, practices, or perspectives that you’re curious about. But before we dive into questions, let’s pause for a moment. I’d like to share some reflections.

Earlier, I was asked to talk about the Buddha’s teaching of the second arrow. This teaching tells us that life often brings its share of pain and difficulty—almost as if we’re shot by an arrow simply by being alive, having a body, a nervous system, and a mind. Painful experiences are inevitable; this is the first arrow, the dukkha, or the first noble truth. It’s unavoidable.

However, much of what the Buddha taught—and the essence of the path toward enlightenment and liberation—is about the second arrow. The second arrow is what we do in response to pain: we add aversion, judgment, fear, or anger. Our reaction to pain becomes another source of suffering, compounding the difficulty of the original experience. The practice, then, is learning not to shoot ourselves with that second arrow.

Why aren’t you completely at peace? Why aren’t you happy all of the time?