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Three marks of existence
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Three marks of existence
In Buddhism, the three marks of existence are three characteristics (Pali: tilakkhaṇa; Sanskrit: त्रिलक्षण trilakṣaṇa) of all existence and beings, namely anicca (impermanence), dukkha (commonly translated as "suffering" or "cause of suffering", "unsatisfactory", "unease"), and anattā (without a lasting essence). The concept of humans being subject to delusion about the three marks, this delusion resulting in suffering, and removal of that delusion resulting in the end of dukkha, is a central theme in the Buddhist Four Noble Truths, the last of which leads to the Noble Eightfold Path.
There are different lists of the "marks of existence" found in the canons of the early Buddhist schools.
In the Pali tradition of the Theravada school, the three marks are:
The northern Buddhist Sarvāstivāda tradition meanwhile has the following in their Samyukta Agama:
In the Ekottarika-āgama and in Mahayana sources like the Yogācārabhūmi-Śāstra and The Questions of the Nāga King Sāgara (Sāgaranāgarājaparipṛcchā) however, four characteristics or “four seals of the Dharma” (Sanskrit: dharmoddāna-catuṣṭayaṃ or catvāri dharmapadāni, Chinese: 四法印) are described instead of three:
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 (Sanskrit: duhkha) means "unsatisfactory", commonly translated as "suffering", or "pain". Mahasi Sayadaw calls it 'unmanagable, uncontrollable'.
As the First Noble Truth, dukkha is explicated as the physical and mental dissatisfaction of changing conditions as in birth, aging, illness, death; getting what one wishes to avoid or not getting what one wants; and "in short, the five aggregates of clinging and 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.
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Three marks of existence
In Buddhism, the three marks of existence are three characteristics (Pali: tilakkhaṇa; Sanskrit: त्रिलक्षण trilakṣaṇa) of all existence and beings, namely anicca (impermanence), dukkha (commonly translated as "suffering" or "cause of suffering", "unsatisfactory", "unease"), and anattā (without a lasting essence). The concept of humans being subject to delusion about the three marks, this delusion resulting in suffering, and removal of that delusion resulting in the end of dukkha, is a central theme in the Buddhist Four Noble Truths, the last of which leads to the Noble Eightfold Path.
There are different lists of the "marks of existence" found in the canons of the early Buddhist schools.
In the Pali tradition of the Theravada school, the three marks are:
The northern Buddhist Sarvāstivāda tradition meanwhile has the following in their Samyukta Agama:
In the Ekottarika-āgama and in Mahayana sources like the Yogācārabhūmi-Śāstra and The Questions of the Nāga King Sāgara (Sāgaranāgarājaparipṛcchā) however, four characteristics or “four seals of the Dharma” (Sanskrit: dharmoddāna-catuṣṭayaṃ or catvāri dharmapadāni, Chinese: 四法印) are described instead of three:
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 (Sanskrit: duhkha) means "unsatisfactory", commonly translated as "suffering", or "pain". Mahasi Sayadaw calls it 'unmanagable, uncontrollable'.
As the First Noble Truth, dukkha is explicated as the physical and mental dissatisfaction of changing conditions as in birth, aging, illness, death; getting what one wishes to avoid or not getting what one wants; and "in short, the five aggregates of clinging and 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.