These truths form the foundational concepts behind the Four Noble Truths. In pali,
the terms are anicca, dukkha and anatta – translated usually as impermanent,
suffering and not-self. These truths are called the Three Characteristics of
Existence, common qualities that are shared by all phenomena.
The most radical aspect of the Buddha's teaching is that it is experience based.
The 'world' is not said to be the external world 'out there' but rather our
experience of it as it arises at our sense bases and in our mind. When one asks
about the existence of things, the Buddha does not invite us to turn to our memory
of it or to concepts of it, but rather to our experience of it. It is not that
nothing outside the realm of our experience exists, but rather that which is
outside the realm of our experience is not relevant to the spiritual search,
and as such does not need to be considered here.
It is when we look at life from the vantage point of experience; it becomes
evident that everything about us is in a constant state of flux. Whatever we
see, hear or sense, think or feel, all of it is under a state of transformation
and dissolution. The immediate relevance is not obvious except perhaps in regard
to our life. Here impermanence manifests as death and illness. The fact of death
is itself enough to warrant a deeper search in life for something that is beyond
death, something that does not age or sicken.
On more subtle levels, impermanence can be seen in the mere possibility of things
changing. We take the permanence of the things around us so much for granted,
that we often fail to consider the implications of the mere potential for things
to change. Such things as our present economic situation, our career, our role
in society, the stability of our country, our relationships with family or
friends – all these are subject to change and dissolution. To the extent that
we rely on these external objects as sources of security and comfort, which is
usually far more than we realize till we lose them, we are vulnerable. Even in
those truly rare instances where all the external conditions are ideal – one has
a perfect partner with well balanced children, with a secure and meaningful career,
the envy of the community – even still, that situation is impermanent for that
family. Either through alteration of the circumstances or through the passing
on through death, that situation is something that one must say farewell to,
totally and with a harsh finality.
Nothing in this universe, be it a physical object, emotional state or relationship
of any kind, nothing is permanent. According to the Buddha's teaching, this has
always been the case and always will be. Proof of this is not through objective
analysis of phenomena, as in scientific analysis, but through the study and
investigation of one's own experience.
Owing to the impermanence of all conditioned things, it can be seen that nothing
can satisfactorily fill the heart. No object, no experience, no emotion, no
relationship, nothing that arises can be the ultimate spiritual solution, as
it must necessarily pass away, leaving the experiencer with the remaining hole
in its place. This is the meaning of the truth of suffering, or unsatisfactoriness.
It is not that there are not pleasant and blissful experiences in this world.
It is not to deny the legitimate joys that come from caring for one's family,
serving society or admiring refined beauty. But even the most refined joys are
impermanent, and will one day be a distant memory, and then not even that. Dukkha,
then, refers fundamentally to the inability of any object or experience to provide
spiritual fulfillment.
The third characteristic is the difficult one to explain, and the characteristic
that is unique to Buddhism. It is called anatta, non-self, and it too is a fact
that is to be discerned from experience. It refers to the fact that there is no
part of our experience that can be taken to be a self. In truth, anatta is simply
a perspective on impermanence. Owing to the impermanence of all things, where can
there be said to be a self, or something that belongs to a self? It is owing to
the delusion of self, of 'me' and of 'mine' that beings behave in ways based on
craving that lead to suffering (see the
Four Noble Truths).
Anatta can be discerned on one level fairly easily. If we take any object, say a
house, we can notice that it is composed of a variety of building materials. Wood,
nails, insulation, support beams and so on. The house itself cannot be said to be
present as an objective reality anywhere. 'House' is actually a concept in the
mind of humans. What actually is there is merely an assortment of building materials
(to which the same analysis could be applied). In no material or object can the
actual 'house' be found.
If we bring that same analysis to our being, we find something similar. There is
an assortment of organs, there are mental processes that we experience, there are
emotions that arise and pass away, but there is nothing, either in the physical
or experiential realms that could be said to constitute a permanent being.
By itself, that sounds a bit heady, and many may be scratching their heads thinking
'so what?' The profundity of non-self becomes apparent when the realization of it
is applied to a sense of self that we have always taken for granted. This requires
considerable investigation and self-scrutiny. The purpose of this teaching is not
so that we can argue the meaning and relevance of anatta but rather so that we can
penetrate a sense of self that we believed was solid, and from which we created
suffering.
Anicca, dukkha and anatta are truths that can all too easily be intellectualized
and their points be missed altogether. They are truths that can be seen in every
day life, in every circumstance, at any time. Bringing attention to them,
investigating them, seeing how they play a role in our lives is an important part
of the development of wisdom. The greater the clarity with which we see these
truths, and the broader we understand their scope, the deeper our insight into
the Buddha's teachings becomes. This is why training the mind in meditation is
an important part of the path, refining the mind so that it can recognize these
truths on very refined levels of experience.