Three Characteristics

In Buddhism, the three marks of existence are three characteristics (Pali: tilakkhaṇa; Sanskrit: त्रिलक्षण trilakṣaṇa) of all existence and beings, namely '' aniccā'' (impermanence), '' dukkha'' (commonly translated as "suffering", "unsatisfactory," "unease"), and '' anattā'' (without a lasting essence). That humans are subject to delusion about the three marks, that this delusion results in suffering, and that removal of that delusion results in the end of dukkha, is a central theme in the Buddhist Four Noble Truths and Noble Eightfold Path.

Description

The three marks are:
* ''sabbe saṅkhārā aniccā'' — all ''saṅkhāras'' (conditioned things) are impermanent
* ''sabbe saṅkhārā dukkhā'' — all ''saṅkhāras'' are unsatisfactory, imperfect, unstable
* ''sabbe dhammā anattā'' — all ''dharmas'' (conditioned or unconditioned things) have no unchanging self or soul

In the Mahayana '' Yogācārabhūmi-Śāstra'' however, four characteristics are described instead of three:

* impermanence (''anityākāra'')
* suffering (''duḥkhākāra'')
* emptiness (''*śūnyākāra'')
* selflessness (''anātmākāra'')

In the sutra "The Questions of the Nāga King Sāgara" '' Sāgaranāgarājaparipṛcchā'' these four marks are defined as:

* all compounded phenomena are impermanent (anitya)
* all contaminated phenomena are without satisfaction (duḥkha)
* all phenomena are without self (anātman)
* nirvāṇa is peaceful/peace (śānta/śānti)

In the ''Samyukta Agama'' a different formulation is made, in which the Buddha taught impermanence, nonself, and nirvana as the Three Dharma Seals. Here nirvana replaces dukkha as the Third Dharma Seal:

* '' nirvana '' - "The joy of completely extinguishing our ideas and concepts, rather than suffering, is one of the Three Dharma Seals."

Explanation

Anicca

Impermanence (Pali ''anicca'', Sanskrit ''anitya'') means that all things (''saṅkhāra'') are in a constant state of flux. Buddhism states that all physical and mental events come into being and dissolve. Human life embodies this flux in the aging process and the cycle of repeated birth and death ( Samsara); nothing lasts, and everything decays. This is applicable to all beings and their environs, including beings who are reborn in deva (god) and naraka (hell) realms. This is in contrast to nirvana, the reality that is ''nicca'', or knows no change, decay or death.

Dukkha

'' Dukkha'' (Sanskrit ''duhkha'') means "unsatisfactory," commonly translated as "suffering, pain." Mahasi Sayadaw calls it
unmanagable, uncontrollable
'

As the First Noble Truth, dukkha is explicated as the physical and mental dissatisfaction of birth, aging, illness, dying; getting what one wishes to avoid or not getting what one wants; and "in short, the five aggregates of grasping" ( skandha).. This, however, is a different context, not the Three Marks of Existence, and therefore 'suffering' may not be the best word for it.

The relationship between the three characteristics is explained in the Pali Canon as follows: What is ''anicca'' is ''dukkha''. What is ''dukkha'' is ''anatta'' ( Samyutta Nikaya.Vol4.Page1).

* That which is impermanent is dukkha (i.e. it cannot be made to last). That which is dukkha is not permanent."

Anatta

'' Anatta'' (Sanskrit ''anatman'') refers to there is no permanent essence in any thing or phenomena, including living beings.Anatta Buddhism
Encyclopædia Britannica (2013)

While anicca and dukkha apply to "all conditioned phenomena" (saṅkhārā), anattā has a wider scope because it applies to all ''dhammās'' without "conditioned, unconditioned" qualification. Thus, ''nirvana'' too is a state of without Self or anatta. The phrase "s''abbe dhamma anatta''" includes within its scope each skandha (group of aggregates, heaps) that compose any being, and the belief "I am" is a conceit which must be realized to be impermanent and without substance, to end all ''dukkha''.

The ''Anattā'' doctrine of Buddhism denies that there is anything permanent in any person to call one's Self, and that a belief in a Self is a source of Dukkha. Some Buddhist traditions and scholars, however, interpret the anatta doctrine to be strictly in regard to the five aggregates rather than a universal truth, despite the Buddha affirming so in his first sermon."Selves & Not-self: The Buddhist Teaching on Anatta", by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (Legacy Edition), 30 November 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/selvesnotself.html Religious studies scholar Alexander Wynne calls anattā a "not-self" teaching rather than a "no-self" teaching.

Application

In Buddhism, ignorance ( avidyā, or moha; i.e. a failure to grasp directly) of the three marks of existence is regarded as the first link in the overall process of saṃsāra whereby a being is subject to repeated existences in an endless cycle of dukkha. As a consequence, dissolving that ignorance through direct insight into the three marks is said to bring an end to saṃsāra and, as a result, to that dukkha (''dukkha nirodha'' or ''nirodha sacca'', as described in the third of the Four Noble Truths).

Gautama Buddha taught that all beings conditioned by causes (''saṅkhāra'') are impermanent (''anicca'') and suffering (''dukkha''), and that not-self (''anattā'') characterises all dhammas, meaning there is no "I", "me", or "mine" in either the conditioned or the unconditioned (i.e. nibbāna). The teaching of three marks of existence in the Pali Canon is credited to the Buddha.

Correspondence with Pyrrhonism

The Greek philosopher Pyrrho traveled to India with Alexander the Great's army, spending approximately 18 months there learning Indian philosophy from the Indian gymnosophists. Upon returning to Greece Pyrrho founded one of the major schools of Hellenistic philosophy, Pyrrhonism, which he based on what appears to have been his interpretation of the Three marks of existence. Pyrrho summarized his philosophy as follows:

"Whoever wants to live well ( eudaimonia) must consider these three questions: First, how are ''pragmata'' (ethical matters, affairs, topics) by nature? Secondly, what attitude should we adopt towards them? Thirdly, what will be the outcome for those who have this attitude?" Pyrrho's answer is that "As for ''pragmata'' they are all adiaphora (undifferentiated by a logical differentia), ''astathmēta'' (unstable, unbalanced, not measurable), and ''anepikrita'' (unjudged, unfixed, undecidable). Therefore, neither our sense-perceptions nor our ''doxai'' (views, theories, beliefs) tell us the truth or lie; so we certainly should not rely on them. Rather, we should be ''adoxastoi'' (without views), ''aklineis'' (uninclined toward this side or that), and ''akradantoi'' (unwavering in our refusal to choose), saying about every single one that it no more is than it is not or it both is and is not or it neither is nor is not."

Philologist Christopher Beckwith has identified the three terms used here by Pyrrho - adiaphora, astathmēta, and anepikrita - to be nearly direct translations of anatta, dukkha, and anicca into ancient Greek.

See also

* Ātman
* Existentialism
* Four Dharma Seals
* Index of Buddhism-related articles
* Lakshana
* Secular Buddhism

Notes

References

Sources

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Three Marks Of Existence
Buddhist philosophical concepts
Buddhist eschatology
Ontology
Pyrrhonism