The Three Marks Of Existence - Buddhism Flashcards
What is Anicca?
It’s impermanence this means that everything is constantly changing - nothing stays the same (nothing is permanent)
What is Anatta?
No soul this means that it applies to people and once again that nobody is permanent and everyone is always changing. (There is no permanent ‘thing’ so try can be no eternal/lasting soul or ‘self”
What is Dukkha?
Is ‘unsatifactoriness’ usually interpreted as suffering although this can be misleading. This means the dissatisfaction with life - the good and bad, the fact that things change and that things fail to live up to expectations etc.
How are the three marks of existence linked?
Through the Buddha
What are the 5 skandhas? (Link with annata)
1 form : the physical body
2 sensations : the senses through which we experience the outside world
3 perception : the awarness of the information our senses give us
4 mental formation/ impulses : our reactions to the info we take in
5 consciousness : the thoughts and feelings which make us aware we exist
Teaching of Anatta in ‘the questions of king malinda’
In this text the Buddhist monk Nagasena uses a chariot to explain that there is no permanent self. He asks the king what the chariot is - the wheels? The pole? The axle? He concludes it is none of these things but it’s one ‘self’
