Three Lakshanas Flashcards
what are the 3 marks of existence
1) Dukkha
2) Anatta
3) Anicca
what is dukkha
translated as “existence is suffering”
everything is impermanent and causes suffering
Dukkha Dukkha
ordinary human suffering
“birth is suffering, sickness is suffering, ageing is suffering, death is suffering”
Viparinama Dukkha
the suffering of change (impermanence)
we suffer when things change beyond our control
even when we are happy we know it will end e.g a holiday ending
“that which is impermanent is suffering”
Sankhara Dukkha
the suffering of conditional existence
the general dissatisfaction we have with life, we suffer due to our own limitations and powerlessness over our own lives.
eventually everything is pointless as everyone we love dies.
known as the “human condition”
anatta
the concept of no self (no soul)
no self of inanimate objects
objects don’t have an essence which makes them an object, there are just a sum of their parts
no self of living beings
the belief we don’t have a soul and there is nothing in us that is our “self’’ but rather a continuation of the skandas our names just refer to the sum of these parts
the five skandas
1) Form-our body
2) Feeling-our reactions to the environment including senses, emotion, pleasure
3) perception-when our feelings are given personal meaning with label such as “red” or “ugly”
4) mental formations-this determines how someone reacts to an experience
5) consciousness-this is the awareness of all our experiences and the world around us
sunyata
the emptiness of independent entities
the belief that nothing exists independently or in of itself
the belief that all things are interconnected which is linked to the idea of Dependant origination, which States things only exist on the causes of its parts
Anicca
nothing will last forever, everything changes, everything ends.
the gross level of change
the change we experience in our everyday lives. e.g seasons change, people grow old, things decay or brake
momentary change
more subtle change. The perpetual process of flux from each moment to the next
things change even though we don’t notice it. e.g a chais atoms are constantly changing, cells re constantly being replaced
analogy of the chariot
Nagasina asks the king “what is a chariot?”
is it the wheels, the axles or the reigns, or the frame, or the seat.
the kings answered no to each question and Nagasina said “then there is no chariot, it is just an empty sound”
it is just a sum of its parts
what is the buddhas first sermon
the Dhammacakkappavattana sutta, which is knownas setting in motion the wheel of the Dharma
