Buddhism: The Three Characteristics of Existence Essay -- essays resea

There are three characteristics of existence. This is an important part of the teaching of Buddha. The teaching of the three characteristics is part of what we might call the doctrinal contents of wisdom. In other words, when we talk about the knowledge and the understanding that is implied by wisdom, we have this teaching in mind. The three characteristics of existence that we have in mind are the characteristics of impermanence (Anitya), suffering (Duhkha) and not-self (Anatma). These three characteristics are always present in or are connected with existence, and they tell us about the nature of existence. They help us to know what to do with existence. What we learn to develop as a result of understanding the three characteristics is renunciation. Once we understand that existence is universally characterized by impermanence, suffering and not-self, we eliminate our attachment to existence. Once we eliminate our attachment to existence, we gain the threshold of Nirvana. This is the purpose that understanding the three characteristics serves. It removes attachment by removing delusions, the misunderstanding that existence is permanent, is pleasant and has something to do with the self. This is why understanding the three characteristics is part of the contents of wisdom. The first of the three characteristics of existence is the characteristic of impermanence (Anitya). If we look at our own personality, we will find that our bodies are impermanent. They are subject to constant change. We grow thin. We grow old and grey, our teeth fall out, and our hair falls out. Similarly, our mental states are impermanent. At one moment we are happy, and at another moment we are sad. As infants, we hardly understand anything. As adults, in the prime of life we understand a great deal more. And again in old age we lose the power of our mental faculties and become like infants. Our minds are also characterized by impermanence. This is true also of the things that we see around us. Everything we see around us is impermanent. Not one thing will last forever - not the office blocks, nor the temples, nor the rivers and islands, nor the mountain chains, nor the oceans. We know for a fact that all these natural phenomena, even those that appear to be the most durable, even the solar system itself will one day decline and become extinct. This process of constant change of all ... ...s understood, once interconnectedness becomes part of the way of seeing the world, then suffering arises from the personal concept of an independent self. Anatta is the view that there is no enduring self. All phenomena are conditioned-have a begging and end-so there is nothing to which they can attach. Suffering arises from the illusion that impermanent conditioned states are permanent and can be possessed by a self. Moreover, there is no self or soul, which carries on after death. Instead we are merely a collection of groups of grasping which are in a continual state of flux. Rebirth is possible only because our desires and volition drive us. Every living being, every living thing in this universe is subject to impermanency. The destruction of the whole universe is very certain. The body will be dissolved and no amount of sacrifice will save it. Looking to life we notice how it is changing, continually moving between contrasts. We notice rise and fall, success and failure, loss and gain, we meet honor and contempt, praise and blame, and we feel how our hearts respond to all that, with happiness and sorrow, delight and despair, disappointment and satisfaction, fear and hope.