The first characteristic is that all objects of experience are impermanent (anicca). The second is that all experiences can only bring dissatisfaction (duhkha). The third is that they are not the self (anatta). Taken together these three marks form the basic Buddhist analysis of the phenomena of the world.
The Buddhist Doctrine of Impermanence
The first mark is the doctrine of impermanence (anicca). This is the principle that nothing lasts forever. Everything changes; everything is the result of a multitude of causes and leads to further effects. All the world is in flux.
One can take any object as an example and see how it changes over time. The new car you just bought will rack up the miles. Tires will bald, brakes will need replacing, rust will eat away the body. In ten years that car will be less an object of pride than a clunker to get rid of to make way for a new one.
Nowhere is this more true than in relationships and emotions. One person’s feelings for another change with the day. A crush becomes an embarrassing memory. Newlywed bliss gives ground to dull habit or divorce. Or the death of a loved companion becomes a source of sorrow.
Such sentiments are summed up in the Buddhist proverb, “this too will pass.” Whatever happiness one has now will change in the future. But it is also a hopeful statement. Whatever grief one feels now will give way to something better eventually. Grief, too is impermanent.
Duhkha in Buddhism
The First Noble Truth of Buddhism is that all life is duhkha, a term most often translated as “suffering.” It has richer resonances than that, however. Its literal meaning is “unhappiness,” but its meaning runs the gamut from “discomfort” to “misery.” Given that the Second Noble Truth teaches that the cause of suffering (duhkha) is desire, one might best understand duhkha as “dissatisfaction.” Buddhism teaches that all experience is fundamentally dissatisfying.
The above examples give some indication of the dissatisfaction life brings. Cars and bodies age and wear out. Love leads to loss or loathing. Exhilarating experiences exhaust. Happiness just doesn’t last. Because of the desire for continued enjoyment, that which changes leads to dissatisfaction.
The Concept of No-Self in Buddhism
The third of the Three Marks is a statement of the Buddhist doctrine of no-self (anatta). This doctrine is the belief that there is no eternal soul or other kernel of identity t the core of one’s being. For one, the doctrine of impermanence would imply there is no eternal soul. This was in contrast to the Hindu belief in an eternal Self (atman).
If there is no self, then who is it who is reading this article? Buddhism teaches that the sense or belief of a self arises from the conjunction of the five khandhas (“groupings”): form, feeling, perception, mental faculties, and consciousness.
But the doctrine of no-self teaches that none of these things are the self itself. Their conjunction is the reason one thinks one is a permanent or enduring being. It is also the reason the Buddha taught that one can still speak of a person in a conventional sense – as long as one knows that the “self” is a fiction.
The Three Marks in Buddhist Thought
Various philosophical schools had to grapple with these fundamental doctrines in formulating their interpretations of the Buddha’s teachings. For schools such as the Sarvastivada and Sautrantika, the doctrine of impermanence became the foundation for differences in interpretation.
The belief that dissatisfaction is fundamental to all experience is, of course, enshrined in the Buddhist analysis of the human condition. And the belief in no-self fed ideas that there is no inherent nature to any phenomenon, a philosophical turn that led to the development of the Mahayana school of Madhyamaka.
But the point of these Three Marks is to serve as a reminder. The devout Buddhist should develop no new attachments. One should see that all things change; that they can lead only to dissatisfaction; that they cannot fill the self. In Buddhist soteriology, only a recognition of this will put one on the path of the Buddha dharma.
Sources:
- Tribe, Anthony J. Buddhist Thought: a Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition. (Routledge: 2000).
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