The eight worldly conditions

The eight worldly conditions (lokadhamma) are four pairs of opposites that every person meets in life. The Buddha said that they turn around the world, and the world turns around them. Understanding them is a simple, practical way to bring the teachings into ordinary life.

The four pairs

• Gain and loss: getting what we want, and losing what we have.
• Fame and disrepute: being well known and respected, or ignored and badly spoken of.
• Praise and blame: being approved of, or criticised.
• Pleasure and pain: pleasant and painful experiences of body and mind.

No one escapes them. A wealthy person meets loss, a respected person meets blame, and everyone meets pain.

What the Buddha taught

In the sutta on the worldly conditions, the Buddha says that both an ordinary person and a well-taught disciple meet these eight conditions. The difference lies in how they respond. The untaught person is carried away. When gain comes they are elated; when loss comes they are dejected. Their mind is consumed by the conditions, and they are not released from suffering.

The well-taught disciple reflects that each condition has arisen, and that it is impermanent, unsatisfying and subject to change. Seeing this, the mind is not consumed by the pleasant ones and does not resist the unpleasant ones. This is how equanimity grows.

Not getting caught

It is natural to prefer gain, praise and pleasure. The teaching does not ask us to pretend otherwise. It points out that if our happiness depends on the pleasant side of each pair, we are always at the mercy of the unpleasant side, which will come in its turn.

The Mangala Sutta, a popular chant, describes as a great blessing a mind that does not waver when touched by the ways of the world.

Working with them

You can use the eight conditions as a daily reflection. When you receive praise, notice the lift in the mind, and remember that blame will come too. When you suffer a loss, remind yourself that this is one of the conditions everyone meets, not a personal failure. Some people find it helpful to name the condition silently: “this is gain”, “this is blame”.

Over time, this reflection takes the sting out of life’s ups and downs. It does not make us cold. Instead it gives us steadiness, so we can respond to others with kindness, whatever is happening to us.