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<h1 id="three-characteristics"><a class="header" href="#three-characteristics">Three Characteristics</a></h1>
<p><em>Tilakkhaṇa</em></p>
<div class="opening-illustration">
<p><a href="https://buddhadhamma.github.io/includes/images/illustrations/ch-3-temple-trade.pdf"><img src="./includes/images/illustrations/ch-3-temple-trade.jpg" alt="image" /></a></p>
<p class="caption">
<a href="https://buddhadhamma.github.io/includes/images/illustrations/ch-3-temple-trade.pdf" target="_blank">
(Open large size)
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</div>
<h2 id="introduction"><a class="header" href="#introduction">Introduction</a></h2>
<p>The primary Buddhist tenet that all things can be separated into
component parts is not intended to suggest a static world of composite
objects. Rather, all things are seen to exist in the form of a stream.
Each constituent element of that stream comes into being in dependence
on other elements in an unbroken flow of appearance and decline. No
single element has an independent fixed identity; they are all
impermanent and unstable. Indeed, the fluid nature of phenomena is
possible owing to the interdependence and insubstantiality of their
components.</p>
<p>This stream of conditioned phenomena is naturally steady (<em>dhātu</em>),
naturally stable and certain (<em>dhammaṭṭhiti</em>), and it is part of a
natural order (<em>dhamma-niyāma</em>).<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn1-1"><a href="#fn-fn1">1</a></sup> It does not rely for its existence
on a god, religion or prophet. {63} In Buddha-Dhamma the role of a
Teacher<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn2-1"><a href="#fn-fn2">2</a></sup> is that of discovering and explaining this truth to others.</p>
<p>The Buddha presented the teaching of the Three Characteristics
(<em>tilakkhaṇa</em>)<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn3-1"><a href="#fn-fn3">3</a></sup> to describe this natural law of flux (See
Note <a href="#note-flux">Dependent Origination as Law of Flux</a>). The teaching is outlined in this way:</p>
<div class="sutta">
<blockquote>
<p>Whether Tathāgatas<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn4-1"><a href="#fn-fn4">4</a></sup> appear or not, this truth (<em>dhātu</em>) exists as
constant and stable … that is:</p>
<p>All conditioned phenomena (<em>saṅkhāra</em>) are impermanent….</p>
<p>All conditioned phenomena are <em>dukkha</em><sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn5-1"><a href="#fn-fn5">5</a></sup>….</p>
<p>All things (<em>dhamma</em>) are nonself….</p>
<p>Having fully awakened to and penetrated to this truth, a Tathāgata
announces, teaches, clarifies, formulates, reveals, and analyzes it:
that all conditioned phenomena are impermanent, all conditioned
phenomena are dukkha, and all things are nonself.</p>
<p><em>A. I. 286.</em></p>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p>Definitions of the three characteristics are as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><strong>Aniccatā</strong>: impermanence, instability, and inconstancy; the
condition of arising, deteriorating, and disintegrating.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Dukkhatā</strong>: state of <em>dukkha</em>; the condition of oppression by
birth and decay; the inherent stress, resistance and conflict within
an object due to alteration of its determinant factors, preventing
it from remaining as it is; the internal imperfection of things,
which prevents true satisfaction for someone whose desires are
influenced by craving (<em>taṇhā</em>), and causes suffering for a person
subject to clinging (<em>upādāna</em>).</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Anattatā</strong>: the condition of <em>anattā</em> – nonself; the condition of
things being void of a real abiding self that owns or controls
phenomena.<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn6-1"><a href="#fn-fn6">6</a></sup></p>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="note">
<p><span class="caption">Dependent Origination as Law of Flux</span><a id="note-flux"></a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Another key teaching by the Buddha is on Dependent Origination
(<em>paṭiccasamuppāda</em>). This teaching describes the law of flux from a
different angle and illustrates the same truth. The Three
Characteristics shows the properties of all things, properties that
correspond with the relationship outlined in Dependent Origination.
Dependent Origination describes the conditioned flow of phenomena,
revealing the three characteristics.</p>
<p>[Trans.: see chapter 4 on Dependent Origination. As a teaching I have
capitalized ’Three Characteristics’, but when referring to these three
signs as attributes of nature, I have not.]</p>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p>The Pali adjectival terms for these characteristics are <em>anicca</em>,
<em>dukkha</em>, and <em>anattā</em>, respectively. The abstract noun forms are
<em>aniccatā</em>, <em>dukkhatā</em>, and <em>anattatā</em>. As characteristics they are
known as <em>anicca-lakkhaṇa</em>, <em>dukkha-lakkhaṇa</em>, and <em>anatta-lakkhaṇa</em>.
The commentaries occasionally refer to the three characteristics as
’universal characteristics’ (<em>sāmañña-lakkhaṇa</em>).<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn7-1"><a href="#fn-fn7">7</a></sup> {64}</p>
<p>All conditioned things exist in a state of flux, made up of
interdependent conditioning factors, which arise and pass away in
unbroken succession: things are impermanent. Because of their
instability and causal dependence, conditioned things are subject to
stress and friction, revealing an inherent imperfection. And all things,
both conditioned things and the Unconditioned, exist according to their
own nature; they possess no self that acts as owner or governor of
phenomena.</p>
<p>Human beings too are made up of constituent elements. The
’building-blocks’ for human beings are the five aggregates; nothing else
exists besides the five aggregates.<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn8-1"><a href="#fn-fn8">8</a></sup> When we examine the five
aggregates in turn, we see that each one is impermanent. Being
impermanent, they are dukkha; they are distressing for one who grasps
them. Being dukkha, they are selfless. They are selfless because each
aggregate arises from causes and conditions; they are not independent
entities. Furthermore, they are not truly subject to a person’s control
or ownership. If one were to truly own the five aggregates, one would be
able to control them according to one’s will and prohibit them from
change, for example from debility or disease.</p>
<p>A key teaching by the Buddha describing the three characteristics in the
context of the five aggregates is as follows:</p>
<div class="sutta">
<blockquote>
<p>’Bhikkhus, the body is not-self. If the body were self it would not
lead to affliction, and it would be possible to have it of the body:
“May my body be this way; may it not be that way.” But because the
body is not-self, the body leads to affliction, and it is not possible
to have it of the body: “May my body be this way; may it not be that
way.”</p>
<p>’Feeling is not-self…. Perception is not-self…. Volitional
formations are not-self…. Consciousness is not-self. For if
consciousness were self it would not lead to affliction, and it would
be possible to have it of consciousness: “May my consciousness be this
way; may it not be that way.” But because consciousness is not-self,
consciousness leads to affliction, and it is not possible to have it
of consciousness: “May my consciousness be this way; may it not be
that way.”</p>
<p>’What do you think, monks, is the body permanent or impermanent?’</p>
<p>’Impermanent, venerable sir.’</p>
<p>’Is that which is impermanent oppressive or easeful?’<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn9-1"><a href="#fn-fn9">9</a></sup></p>
<p>’Oppressive, venerable sir.’</p>
<p>’Is what is impermanent, oppressive and of the nature to change fit to
be regarded thus: “This is mine, this is I, this is my self?” ’</p>
<p>’No, venerable sir.’</p>
<p>’What do you think, monks, are feelings permanent or impermanent?’….
’Is perception permanent or impermanent?’…. ’Are volitional
formations permanent or impermanent?’…. ’Is consciousness permanent
or impermanent?’….</p>
<p>’Is what is impermanent, oppressive and of the nature to change fit to
be regarded thus: “This is mine, this is I, this is my self?” ’</p>
<p>’No, venerable sir.’</p>
<p>’Therefore, monks, you should see any kind of physical form …
feeling … perception … volitional formation … consciousness
whatsoever, whether past, future, or present, internal or external,
coarse or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near, as it actually is
with proper wisdom thus: “This is not mine, this is not I, this is not
my self.” ’ {65}</p>
<p><em>S. III. 66-8.</em></p>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p>Many scholars have tried to prove that the Buddha acknowledged a self
existing apart from the five aggregates. They claim that he only
repudiated a self within conditioned phenomena and that he affirmed an
Ultimate Self. Moreover, they explain that Nibbāna<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn10-1"><a href="#fn-fn10">10</a></sup> is the same as
<em>ātman/attā</em>: Nibbāna <em>is</em> the Self. I will elaborate on this matter in
Chapter 6, on Nibbāna.</p>
<p>Here, let it simply suffice to say that all things exist according to
their own inherent nature, which conflicts with the concept of a static,
controlling essence or ’self’. Things exist as they do precisely because
they do not possess such a self. (If a self were to exist and to
interfere, things would not be able to exist as they do.)</p>
<p>Most people, especially those who have grown up in a culture espousing a
’self’ or ’soul’, tend to seek out and seize some concept of a fixed
identity. Acting in this way satisfies a hidden, unconscious need. When
their self-identification as one or more of the five aggregates becomes
untenable, they create a new concept of self in which to believe. But
the aim of Buddha-Dhamma is not to release one thing so as to grasp
another, or to be freed from one thing only to then be enslaved by
something else. As mentioned earlier, things exist according to their
own nature. Their nature of existence is determined by the
characteristic of nonself; if things were to possess a self then by
definition they could not exist as they do. {66}</p>
<h2 id="understanding-the-terms-dhamma-and-saṅkhāra"><a class="header" href="#understanding-the-terms-dhamma-and-saṅkhāra">Understanding the Terms Dhamma and Saṅkhāra</a></h2>
<h3 id="all-things-and-all-formations"><a class="header" href="#all-things-and-all-formations">’All Things’ and ’All Formations’</a></h3>
<p>In the first and second statements of the Three Characteristics the
Buddha states that all conditioned phenomena (<em>saṅkhāra</em>)<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn11-1"><a href="#fn-fn11">11</a></sup> are
impermanent and dukkha, respectively, but in the third statement he
says that all things (<em>dhamma</em>)<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn12-1"><a href="#fn-fn12">12</a></sup> are nonself. This indicates a
distinction between the first two characteristics and the third. To understand this distinction one must examine the
words saṅkhāra and dhamma.</p>
<p>The Pali word dhamma has an all-encompassing range of meaning,
covering all things: everything that exists – past, present and future,
both real and imaginary. Material and mental, good and bad, and ordinary
and exceptional things are all included within the meaning of this word.
In Pali, when a restricted or more specific definition is desired, a
modifier may be added to the word dhamma, or the object to be defined
is divided into sub-categories. Alternatively, the word dhamma can be
used unmodified within a specific context. For example, paired with
<em>adhamma</em>, or used to describe moral behaviour, it means merit (<em>puñña</em>)
or goodness. When it is used with <em>attha</em> it means rule, principle, or
cause. When dhamma is used in relation to study it means the
scriptures, the Buddha’s discourses.</p>
<p>In the third statement of the Three Characteristics pertaining to
nonself, the Buddha uses the term dhamma in its broadest sense,
referring to all things, without exception. To understand dhamma in
this context it is helpful to divide things into categories:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Material things (<em>rūpa-dhamma</em>) and immaterial things
(<em>nāma-dhamma</em>).</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Mundane things (<em>lokiya-dhamma</em>) and transcendent things
(<em>lokuttara-dhamma</em>).</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Conditioned things (<em>saṅkhata-dhamma</em>) and the Unconditioned
(<em>asaṅkhata-dhamma</em>).</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Wholesome things (<em>kusala-dhamma</em>), unwholesome things
(<em>akusala-dhamma</em>), and neutral things (<em>abyākata-dhamma</em>).</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Each group above incorporates the entire meaning of dhamma, but the
group that corresponds with the subject to be studied here is that of
conditioned things and the Unconditioned.</p>
<p>All things can be divided into two types:<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn13-1"><a href="#fn-fn13">13</a></sup></p>
<ol>
<li>
<p><em>Saṅkhata-dhamma</em>: constructed things; things that arise from
conditioning factors (<em>paccaya</em>); things formed by the merging of
such factors. These things are also called saṅkhāra, which has the
same root and translation. Both <em>saṅkhata-dhamma</em> and <em>saṅkhāra</em>
refer to every kind of condition, material and mental, mundane and
supramundane, except Nibbāna.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><em>Asaṅkhata-dhamma</em>: that which is not constructed; the state that
does not arise by being fashioned from conditioning factors and is
not subject to them. It is also called <em>visaṅkhāra</em>, meaning the
state free from conditioned phenomena – the Unconditioned – that
is, Nibbāna. {67}</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>Saṅkhāra is therefore just one aspect of the term dhamma. Dhamma
has a range of meaning that embraces both conditioned phenomena and the
Unconditioned: <em>saṅkhata-dhamma</em> and <em>asaṅkhata-dhamma</em>, or <em>saṅkhāra</em>
and Nibbāna. Applying this interpretation to the Three Characteristics, one sees that
the scope of the first two characteristics, <em>aniccatā</em> and <em>dukkhatā</em>,
is narrower than that of the last, <em>anattatā</em>. This distinction is summarized as
follows:</p>
<p>The characteristics of impermanence and dukkha apply only to
conditioned phenomena (<em>saṅkhāra</em>) – and to all conditioned phenomena.
The characteristic of nonself, however, applies to all things, both the
conditioned and the Unconditioned. The Unconditioned – Nibbāna – is thus
devoid of the first two characteristics.</p>
<p>In the Pali Canon the Buddha characterizes the conditioned and the
Unconditioned in this way:<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn14-1"><a href="#fn-fn14">14</a></sup></p>
<p>Signs of the conditioned world (<em>saṅkhata-lakkhaṇa</em>):</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p>Origination is apparent.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Disintegration is apparent.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Alteration is apparent.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>Signs of the Unconditioned (<em>asaṅkhata-lakkhaṇa</em>):</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p>Origination is not apparent.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Disintegration is not apparent.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Alteration is not apparent.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>To sum up, the Unconditioned, or Nibbāna, is beyond impermanence and
dukkha, but is nonself. As for everything else, that is, all
formations, they are impermanent, dukkha, and nonself, as this passage
from the Vinaya Piṭaka confirms:</p>
<div class="sutta">
<blockquote>
<p>All formations are impermanent, subject to stress, and nonself;
Nibbāna and designations are nonself.<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn15-1"><a href="#fn-fn15">15</a></sup> {68}</p>
<p><em>Vin. VI. (Parivāra) 86.</em></p>
</blockquote>
</div>
<h3 id="saṅkhāra-of-the-five-aggregates-and-saṅkhāra-of-the-three-characteristics"><a class="header" href="#saṅkhāra-of-the-five-aggregates-and-saṅkhāra-of-the-three-characteristics">Saṅkhāra of the Five Aggregates and Saṅkhāra of the Three Characteristics</a></h3>
<p>There are many examples in the Thai language of a single word having
several definitions.<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn16-1"><a href="#fn-fn16">16</a></sup> Some definitions vary only slightly while
others vary greatly to the point of appearing unrelated.</p>
<p>Similarly, in Pali there are many individual terms that have a wide
range of different meanings. Those people who have studied Pali are able
to distinguish and understand these different meanings, even in the case
where the word appears several times in a single passage but with
different connotations. Such words include:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><em>Nāga</em>: this term can mean a divine serpent, a battle elephant, or
an excellent person.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><em>Nimitta</em>: in the Vinaya<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn17-1"><a href="#fn-fn17">17</a></sup> this term refers to a boundary marker,
while in relation to meditation it means a mental image.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><em>Nikāya</em>: this term refers to a section of the Suttanta Piṭaka;<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn18-1"><a href="#fn-fn18">18</a></sup>
in other contexts it means a religious faction.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><em>Paccaya</em>: in the Vinaya this term means a basic requisite, for
instance, food, while in Dhamma teachings it refers more generally
to a ’cause’ or ’support’.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Consider the following words as found in different Buddhist texts:</p>
<div class="sutta">
<blockquote>
<p>A person knows the <em>rasa</em> with the tongue; delicious or not, he does
not allow desire or repulsion to overwhelm the mind. Such a person
guards the <em>indriya</em> of the tongue.</p>
<p>The <em>indriya</em> of faith, as <em>rasa</em>, causes all accompanying qualities
to be radiant, like a water-purifying gem.</p>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p>In the first passage <em>rasa</em> means ’a taste’ and <em>indriya</em> refers to the sense base. In the latter passage <em>rasa</em> means a ’function’,
while <em>indriya</em> refers to a spiritual faculty. {69}</p>
<div class="sutta">
<blockquote>
<p>A monk should perform yoga to realize the state that is free from
yoga.</p>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p>The first <em>yoga</em> means ’spiritual effort’: the development of wisdom.
The second <em>yoga</em> refers to the defilements that bind beings to suffering in worldly existence.<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn19-1"><a href="#fn-fn19">19</a></sup></p>
<div class="sutta">
<blockquote>
<p>An ordinary person regards the body, feelings, perceptions, volitional
formations (<em>saṅkhāra</em>) and consciousness as self, but these five
aggregates cannot be self, because all conditioned phenomena
(<em>saṅkhāra</em>) are impermanent, subject to pressure, and not-self.</p>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p>The first saṅkhāra refers solely to one of the five aggregates,
whereas the second saṅkhāra covers all conditioned things in keeping
with the Three Characteristics.</p>
<p>The word that needs explaining here is saṅkhāra. The list of aforementioned examples
was given simply to demonstrate the important fact that in Pali there
are many cases of the same word having two or more distinct meanings, of
varying disparity; they can be dissimilar or even contradictory. If one
understands this then one does not consider it strange to find the word
saṅkhāra being used in the texts in many different senses, and one
learns to distinguish the meaning accordingly.</p>
<p>The word saṅkhāra has at least four definitions, but there are two in
particular that need to be understood. These are saṅkhāra as one of
the Five Aggregates and saṅkhāra of the Three Characteristics. Because
these two definitions of saṅkhāra overlap, they can cause confusion.</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p>The Five Aggregates: <em>rūpa</em>, <em>vedanā</em>, <em>saññā</em>, <em>saṅkhāra</em>,
<em>viññāṇa</em>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>The Three Characteristics: all <em>saṅkhāra</em> are impermanent, all
<em>saṅkhāra</em> are dukkha, all dhamma are nonself.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>Saṅkhāra as the fourth component of the five aggregates refers to
mental factors that shape the mind as wholesome, unwholesome, or
neutral. They are the mental qualities led by intention (<em>cetanā</em>) that
mould and influence thoughts and consequent physical action. They are
the agents behind action (<em>kamma</em>), the ’fashioners’ of the mind, for
example: faith (<em>saddhā</em>), mindfulness (<em>sati</em>), moral shame (<em>hiri</em>),
fear of wrongdoing (<em>ottappa</em>), lovingkindness (<em>mettā</em>), compassion
(<em>karuṇā</em>), wisdom (<em>paññā</em>), delusion (<em>moha</em>), greed (<em>lobha</em>) and
hatred (<em>dosa</em>).<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn20-1"><a href="#fn-fn20">20</a></sup> They are mental qualities (<em>nāma-dhamma</em>),
existing in the mind along with feeling (<em>vedanā</em>), perception
(<em>saññā</em>), and consciousness (<em>viññāṇa</em>).</p>
<p>Saṅkhāra of the Three Characteristics refers to constructed things:
everything that arises from causes and conditioning factors –
material or immaterial, physical or mental, live or inanimate,
internal or external. They are also called <em>saṅkhata-dhamma</em>. Saṅkhāra
here includes everything except Nibbāna.</p>
<p>Saṅkhāra of the Five Aggregates has a more limited meaning than
saṅkhāra of the Three Characteristics; it refers to one part of
saṅkhāra of the Three Characteristics. {70} Saṅkhāra of the Five
Aggregates refers to the agents that determine the quality of the mind,
or ’volitional formations’. As for saṅkhāra of the Three
Characteristics, it refers to compounded things: things constructed by
conditioning factors, or simply ’formations’. Because volitional
formations are themselves constructed things, they are not excluded from
the all-inclusive meaning of saṅkhāra of the Three Characteristics.</p>
<p>Using the model of the Five Aggregates, one can divide conditioned
phenomena into mind and matter, and subdivide the mind into four
subgroups – feeling, perception, volitional formations (<em>saṅkhāra</em>),
and consciousness. Here, saṅkhāra is solely a mental component and
just one element of four. Saṅkhāra of the Three Characteristics,
however, covers both mind and matter. Therefore, saṅkhāra (of the five
aggregates) is one kind of saṅkhāra (of the Three Characteristics).</p>
<p>Accordingly, the statements: <em>Physical form is impermanent, feeling is
impermanent, perception is impermanent, volitional formations</em>
(<em>saṅkhāra</em>) <em>are impermanent, and consciousness is impermanent</em>, and:
<em>All conditioned phenomena</em> (<em>saṅkhāra</em>) <em>are impermanent</em> are identical
in meaning.</p>
<p>The texts occasionally use the term <em>saṅkhāra-khandha</em> for saṅkhāra of
the Five Aggregates, and <em>saṅkhata-saṅkhāra</em>, or simply <em>saṅkhāra</em>, for
saṅkhāra of the Three Characteristics. The reason these two teachings
use the same term, saṅkhāra, is that they describe conditions with
similar meanings, having to do with ’formation’.</p>
<h2 id="scriptural-definitions"><a class="header" href="#scriptural-definitions">Scriptural Definitions</a></h2>
<p>The teachings on the five aggregates (<em>pañca-khandha</em>) in chapter 1, and
on the six sense bases (<em>saḷāyatana</em>) in chapter 2, emphasize the
internal life of human beings. The teaching of the Three Characteristics
expands the scope of investigation to cover both the individual person
and external objects. It is a study of human beings and the entire
world. {73}</p>
<p>The meaning of each of the three characteristics has already been
described in a rudimentary way. At this point they will be analyzed in
more detail, based on scriptural teachings.</p>
<h3 id="impermanence"><a class="header" href="#impermanence">Impermanence</a></h3>
<p>The Paṭisambhidāmagga offers a simple definition for <em>aniccatā</em>:
something is considered impermanent ’in the sense that it perishes’
(<em>khaya-aṭṭhena</em>).<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn21-1"><a href="#fn-fn21">21</a></sup> All conditioned things exist only momentarily,
at a specific time and place, then cease there and then. An object in
the past does not exist in the present; an object present now does not
exist in the future. Things do not endure in any fixed, immutable way.</p>
<p>Post-canonical texts expand on this definition and offer a range of
explanations. For example, at first glance, one sees that a person’s
life begins at birth and ends at death. Upon closer inspection, one
notices an accelerating rate of birth and decline, of an age period, a
year, a season, a month, a day, a few minutes, to the rise and fall of
each moment, which is difficult for most people to discern.</p>
<p>Modern scientific discoveries, not least in physics, have helped to
reveal and demonstrate impermanence. Many scientific theories, say of
the birth and death of stars or of atomic disintegration, illustrate the
law of impermanence.</p>
<p>The commentaries define <em>aniccatā</em> in many different ways. For example,
something is considered impermanent ’because it is uncertain and
unstable’ (<em>aniccantikatāya</em>), and ’because it has a beginning and an
end’ (<em>ādi-antavantatāya</em>).<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn22-1"><a href="#fn-fn22">22</a></sup> A common and frequently used definition
is: something is considered impermanent in the sense that ’it has
existed and then ceases to exist’ (<em>hutvā abhāvaṭṭhena</em>).<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn23-1"><a href="#fn-fn23">23</a></sup>
Additional wording is sometimes added to this phrase, for example:
something is considered impermanent ’because it arises, passes away, and
becomes otherwise’ (<em>uppādavayaññathattabhāvā hutvā abhāvato vā</em>).<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn24-1"><a href="#fn-fn24">24</a></sup></p>
<p>A detailed list of definitions is as follows. There are four reasons why
something is considered impermanent:<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn25-1"><a href="#fn-fn25">25</a></sup> {74}</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p><em>Uppādavayappavattito</em>: because it arises and disintegrates; it
rises and ceases; it exists and then ceases to exist.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><em>Vipariṇāmato</em>: because it is subject to change; it is continually
altered and transformed.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><em>Tāvakālikato</em>: because it is temporary; it exists momentarily.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><em>Niccapaṭikkhepato</em>: because it is inconsistent with permanence; the
changeability of a conditioned object is inherently in conflict with
permanence; when one accurately observes the object no permanence is
found; even if someone tries to regard it as permanent, it refuses
to accommodate that person’s wishes.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<h3 id="dukkha"><a class="header" href="#dukkha">Dukkha</a></h3>
<h4 id="introduction-1"><a class="header" href="#introduction-1">Introduction</a></h4>
<p>The Paṭisambhidāmagga offers a concise definition for <em>dukkhatā</em>:
something is considered dukkha ’in the sense that it is subject to
danger’ (<em>bhaya-aṭṭhena</em>)<em>.</em><sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn26-1"><a href="#fn-fn26">26</a></sup> <em>Bhaya</em> can also mean ’dangerous’ or
’frightening’. All conditioned phenomena invariably disintegrate and
dissolve; they therefore offer no true safety, relief, or assurance. Any
such phenomenon is threatened by destruction and disintegration. The
object thus creates danger – both fear and a peril – for anyone who
attaches to it.</p>
<p>The commentaries elaborate the meaning of <em>dukkhatā</em>, including these
two frequently used definitions: first, something is considered dukkha
’in the sense that it is under perpetual pressure through arising and
disintegration’ (<em>uppādavaya-paṭipīḷanaṭṭhena</em><sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn27-1"><a href="#fn-fn27">27</a></sup> or
<em>uppādavaya-paṭipīḷanatāya</em><sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn28-1"><a href="#fn-fn28">28</a></sup>). There is pressure on everything that
interacts with that object, and the object itself is under stress from
its component elements.<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn29-1"><a href="#fn-fn29">29</a></sup> Second, ’because it is a foundation for
suffering’ (<em>dukkha-vatthutāya</em><sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn30-1"><a href="#fn-fn30">30</a></sup> or <em>dukkha-vatthuto</em><sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn31-1"><a href="#fn-fn31">31</a></sup>). An
object beset by dukkha is a basis for suffering, for example by
causing pain. Simply speaking, dukkha means to cause pain.</p>
<p>The most complete compilation of definitions for dukkha in the
commentaries is as follows. Something is considered to be dukkha for
these four reasons:<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn32-1"><a href="#fn-fn32">32</a></sup></p>
<ol>
<li>
<p><em>Abhiṇha-sampatipīḷanato</em>: because it is continually oppressed; it
is subject to constant pressure due to arising and dissolution;
there is persistent friction amongst component parts or amongst
associated conditions.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><em>Dukkhamato</em>: because it is ’hard to endure’; it is not durable; it
is unable to be sustained in an original state; it is obliged to
change, become otherwise, and lose identity as a consequence of
arising and ceasing.<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn33-1"><a href="#fn-fn33">33</a></sup> {75}</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><em>Dukkha-vatthuto</em>: because it is a foundation for suffering; it is
foundation for a state of pressure and stress. In relation to human
beings, this means that it produces various kinds of affliction,
e.g. pain, discomfort and distress.<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn34-1"><a href="#fn-fn34">34</a></sup></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><em>Sukha-paṭikkhepato</em>: because it opposes pleasure (<em>sukha</em>;
’happiness’). The natural conditions of pressure, friction, and
instability oppose or obstruct ease and comfort. In order to obtain
pleasure, people must strive to regulate certain factors.
Essentially, pleasure exists only as a feeling (<em>vedanā</em>). The basic
condition is that of dukkha – pressure, tension and friction –
which is an attribute of all formations.</p>
<p>In relation to human beings, this natural characteristic of dukkha
produces feelings of oppression and stress, which we call ’pain’
(<em>dukkha-vedanā</em>). The reduction of pressure, or the freedom from
pain, we call ’pleasure’ or ’happiness’. The greater the discomfort
(duress, deprivation, yearning, hunger, etc.), the greater the
happiness when one is released from it. For example, a person who
moves from the hot sun into the shade feels refreshed and cool.
Likewise, a person experiencing great pleasure (<em>sukha-vedanā</em>) will
experience a similarly strong discomfort (<em>dukkha-vedanā</em>) when the
pleasurable circumstances are disturbed. Even small amounts of
discomfort, which are normally not felt as such, may be a torment. A
person leaving a comfortably warm room into the cold, for example,
may find the temperature extreme, even though those around him are
not bothered.</p>
<p>Happiness, or a pleasurable feeling (<em>sukha-vedanā</em>), is not an end
of dukkha. We call an increase or reduction of pressure
’happiness’ because it creates a feeling of pleasure. But an
alteration of this pleasurable tension results in a condition that
requires endurance or is intolerable, a condition we call
’suffering’, that is, we feel pain (<em>dukkha-vedanā</em>). In truth only
dukkha – pressure and stress – exists, which either increases or
decreases.</p>
<p>A similar subject is that of heat and cold. Cold does not really
exist; there exists only a feeling of cold. The basic condition is
heat, which increases, decreases, or is absent. When one says that
one is pleasantly cool, one is referring only to a feeling;
actually, one is experiencing a degree of heat. If more or less warm
than that degree, then one is not at ease. In this sense, pleasure,
or to speak in full ’a feeling of pleasure’, is one level of
dukkha. Pleasure is dependent on pressure and tension, and
necessarily changes and vanishes. In other words, dukkha, which is
the basic condition, prevents pleasure from being sustainable. {76}</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>As quoted above, the Paṭisambhidāmagga defines dukkha in the context
of the Three Characteristics as ’subject to danger’. In the section
explaining the Four Noble Truths (<em>ariya-sacca</em>), it defines dukkha –
the first of the Noble Truths – in four ways. Something is identified
as dukkha in the sense that it is oppressed (<em>pīḷanaṭṭha</em>),
constructed (<em>saṅkhataṭṭha</em>), burns (<em>santāpaṭṭha</em>), and changes
(<em>vipariṇāmaṭṭha</em>).<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn35-1"><a href="#fn-fn35">35</a></sup> These four definitions of dukkha can also be
used in the context of the Three Characteristics. Definitions one and
four (<em>pīḷanaṭṭha</em> and <em>vipariṇāmaṭṭha</em>) have already been
described;<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn36-1"><a href="#fn-fn36">36</a></sup> here are the other two:</p>
<div class="list-none">
<ul>
<li>
<p><strong>5.</strong> <em>Saṅkhataṭṭha</em>: ’in the sense that it is fashioned (<em>saṅkhata</em>)’; it
is constructed by conditioning factors; it depends on such factors;
it is inconstant.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>6.</strong> <em>Santāpaṭṭha</em>: ’in the sense that it burns’; it burns up, ending in
decay and destruction; moreover, it burns someone with defilements,
who grasps and clings to the object, causing torment and
agitation.<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn37-1"><a href="#fn-fn37">37</a></sup></p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h4 id="dukkha-in-the-three-characteristics-and-dukkha-in-the-four-noble-truths"><a class="header" href="#dukkha-in-the-three-characteristics-and-dukkha-in-the-four-noble-truths">Dukkha in the Three Characteristics and Dukkha in the Four Noble Truths</a></h4>
<p><strong>1. Primary Classifications of Dukkha:</strong> Although this chapter is
dedicated to the subject of the Three Characteristics (<em>anicca</em>,
<em>dukkha</em>, and <em>anattā</em>), the discussion of dukkha in this context is
invariably linked to other teachings pertaining to this term. This is
especially true in relation to dukkha as part of the Four Noble
Truths. Unless this relationship is well understood, it may cause
confusion.</p>
<p>Simply speaking, the dukkha of the Three Characteristics, which is a
condition inherent in nature, in some circumstances becomes the dukkha
of the Four Noble Truths. When people lack an understanding of this
primary, naturally-occurring dukkha and deal with it inappropriately,
it turns into a personal problem.</p>
<p>The very characteristic of dukkha implies that conditioned things are
under stress and are unable to sustain themselves in an original shape.
When people lack discernment of this natural condition and things do not
proceed according to their desires, then dissatisfaction, stress, and
affliction arise in their hearts. This is the genesis of dukkha as
outlined in the Four Noble Truths.</p>
<p>In other words, the dukkha of the Three Characteristics is an aspect
of nature; it is not possible to cancel or abolish it. One should
develop wisdom in order to fully understand it, and in terms of conduct,
one should act according to causes and conditions.</p>
<p>Dukkha of the Four Noble Truths, however, we are able to do away with,
to put an end to. This is possible by applying wisdom and by skilfully
engaging with the dukkha of the Three Characteristics – the dukkha
inherent in conditioned phenomena.</p>
<p>The term dukkha appears in another context, referring to the feeling
of dis-ease or pain (<em>dukkha-vedanā</em>). This term is part of a threefold
division, including <em>sukha-vedanā</em> (the feeling of ease; physical and
mental pleasure) and <em>adukkhamasukha-vedanā</em> (neutral feeling; also
referred to as <em>upekkhā</em>). This form of dukkha is also connected to
the dukkha of the Three Characteristics. Because it pertains to
feeling or sensation, which is experienced by people immediately, it is
easily understood, almost without needing to apply any intelligence.
When a branch falls on one’s head, one encounters a natural form of
dukkha and one experiences pain. Sometimes this pain is almost
unendurable.</p>
<p>This kind of dukkha is often easy to rectify. One seeks out a doctor,
who stitches the wound and applies antiseptic. One then waits until the
wound heals, and the matter is finished. {77}</p>
<p>But if one fails to recognize that the branch fell naturally by its own
accord, one may become suspicious of others, thinking: ’Who is
harbouring thoughts of ill-will, and has intentionally thrown this
branch at me to hurt or kill me?’</p>
<p>This suspicion gives rise to anger, disquietude, and a deep sense of
affliction. These thoughts are accompanied by more sensations of
displeasure (<em>dukkha-vedanā</em>), but the deeper problem rests with the
suffering pertaining to dukkha of the Four Noble Truths. The
issue may then become intensified and protracted. The suffering (of the
Four Noble Truths) deepens and escalates the discomfort (as a
sensation), sometimes without end.</p>
<p>This matter of dukkha in the Four Noble Truths is highly significant.
It causes all sorts of problems, up to and including waging warfare. One can
say that this form of dukkha epitomizes the human predicament.</p>
<p>Nature on its own contains only the dukkha of the Three
Characteristics. But when human beings become involved, all three forms
of dukkha – dukkha of the Three Characteristics, dukkha of
sensation, and dukkha of the Four Noble Truths – merge forces.</p>
<p>In sum, dukkha appears in three key teachings:</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p>On feeling/sensation (two versions):</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p>Three <em>vedanā</em>: painful feeling (dukkha), pleasant feeling
(<em>sukha</em>), and neutral feeling (<em>adukkham-asukha</em> or <em>upekkhā</em>).</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Five <em>vedanā</em>: painful physical feeling (dukkha), pleasurable
physical feeling (<em>sukha</em>), painful mental feeling
(<em>domanassa</em>), pleasurable mental feeling (<em>somanassa</em>), and
neutral feeling (<em>upekkhā</em>).</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>Its complete name in this context is <em>dukkha-vedanā</em>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>In the Three Characteristics: <em>anicca</em>, <em>dukkha</em> and <em>anattā</em>. In this
context its complete name is <em>dukkha-lakkhaṇa</em>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>In the Four Noble Truths: dukkha, <em>samudaya</em> (’origin’), <em>nirodha</em>
(’cessation’) and <em>magga</em> (’path’). Its complete name is
<em>dukkha-ariyasacca</em>.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>The definitions of dukkha in these three groups overlap; they are
different aspects of one truth.</p>
<p>The dukkha with the broadest meaning and is all-inclusive is dukkha
of the Three Characteristics, also referred to as <em>dukkha-lakkhaṇa</em> or
<em>dukkhatā</em>. This is the condition of instability, the inability to be
sustained in an original shape, due to the pressure, stress and friction
from rising and disintegration, as explained above. It is a
characteristic of all conditioned phenomena (<em>sabbe saṅkhārā dukkhā</em>),
encompassing the same range as impermanence: whatever is impermanent is
also dukkha (<em>yad’aniccaṁ taṁ dukkhaṁ</em>).</p>
<p>The dukkha with the most restricted meaning, and is simply a
consequence of the dukkha of the Three Characteristics, is dukkha as
feeling, called <em>dukkha-vedanā</em>: a feeling of pain. It is a feeling
occurring when pressure reaches a certain level in relation to a
person’s body and mind.<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn38-1"><a href="#fn-fn38">38</a></sup> This pain is included in the dukkha of
the Three Characteristics, as is all other feeling, both pleasant and
neutral. All kinds of feeling – painful, pleasurable, and neutral –
are dukkha as determined by the Three Characteristics. {78}</p>
<p>Dukkha in the Four Noble Truths (<em>dukkha-ariyasacca</em>) is precisely the
dukkha of the Three Characteristics which becomes the foundation or
source of human difficulties. Yet these difficulties are created by
people themselves.</p>
<p>All formations are under stress, which is the dukkha of the Three
Characteristics. These formations (not all of them and not always) cause
suffering for human beings who lack understanding and relate to things
inappropriately; this suffering is the dukkha of the Four Noble
Truths. (These phenomena are oppressive, however, because they
themselves are subject to stress, and therefore it is impossible for
them to provide true satisfaction to people in any constant or
consistent way.)</p>
<p><em>Dukkha-ariyasacca</em> refers specifically to matters connected to the five
aggregates of clinging (<em>upādāna-khandha</em>).<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn39-1"><a href="#fn-fn39">39</a></sup> Technically, the
dukkha of the Four Noble Truths refers to the suffering
arising on account of the sense bases (<em>indriya-baddha</em>), that is, suffering pertaining to everyday life. It excludes pressure independent of the
sense bases (<em>anindriya-baddha</em>), which is classified as dukkha of the
Three Characteristics but not of the Noble Truths.</p>
<p>(Note that <em>dukkha-ariyasacca</em> is dukkha of the Three Characteristics.
<em>Samudaya</em> – the cause of suffering – and <em>magga</em> – the Eightfold
Path – are as well, as they are naturally occurring conditioned
phenomena, but they are not <em>dukkha-ariyasacca</em>.)</p>
<p>The scope of dukkha in the Four Noble Truths is determined as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Dukkha as the first noble truth is associated with human life and
human problems. It arises as a result of the sense faculties
(<em>indriyabaddha</em>); it does not include dukkha independent of the
sense faculties (<em>anindriyabaddha</em>). It is not the dukkha
mentioned in the passages ’all conditioned phenomena are dukkha’
(<em>sabbe saṅkhārā dukkhā</em>), and ’whatever is impermanent is dukkha’
(<em>yad’aniccaṁ taṁ dukkhaṁ</em>), which refer to the all-inclusive
dukkha of the Three Characteristics.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>It originates from a person’s defiled action (<em>kamma-kilesa</em>). It is
a result of <em>dukkha-samudaya</em>; it is a result of craving – <em>taṇhā</em>.
It refers specifically to matters connected to the five aggregates
of clinging (<em>upādāna-khandha</em>).</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>It is the focus of the duty (<em>kicca</em>) related to the first noble
truth: <em>pariññā-kicca</em>. <em>Pariññā</em> is comprehension or knowledge of
things as they truly are. To acquire knowledge of and to fully
understand personal problems is our responsibility vis-à-vis
dukkha of the Four Noble Truths. Dukkha here is confined to this
subject of understanding human suffering.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>It emphasizes the significance of the basis of suffering
(<em>dukkha-vatthutāya</em>) rather than the pressure, tension and friction
of arising and falling (<em>udayabbaya-paṭipīḷanaṭṭhena</em>), which is the
essential meaning of dukkha in the Three Characteristics.<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn40-1"><a href="#fn-fn40">40</a></sup></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>The subject of dukkha in the Four Noble Truths will be explained at
more length below. Here, let us examine another teaching, on the three
kinds of dukkha (the 3 <em>dukkhatā</em>).<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn41-1"><a href="#fn-fn41">41</a></sup> This is a very important
teaching located in three different suttas; it also occurs frequently in
the Mahāniddesa and the Cūḷaniddesa. On one occasion it was taught by
the Buddha; the remaining passages are by Ven. Sāriputta. In each
passage, however, only the three factors are listed, without any
explanation (most likely this set of three factors was an important
concept during the Buddha’s time). The following description relies on
the explanations provided in the commentaries. (The order of these
factors here also accords with the normal order of the commentaries; the
order in the suttas is: <em>dukkha-dukkhatā</em>, <em>saṅkhāra-dukkhatā</em> and
<em>vipariṇāma-dukkhatā</em>.) {79}</p>
<p>The teaching on the 3 <em>dukkhatā</em> defines dukkha in the context of the
Three Characteristics. It includes dukkha as feeling (<em>vedanā</em>), and
it also links up with dukkha as found in the Four Noble Truths:</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p><em>Dukkha-dukkhatā</em>:<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn42-1"><a href="#fn-fn42">42</a></sup> physical and mental pain, as generally
understood, for example aches, discomfort, and fatigue; in other
words, ’painful feeling’ (<em>dukkha-vedanā</em>).</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><em>Vipariṇāma-dukkhatā</em>: dukkha resulting from or inherent in
change. This refers to pleasurable feeling (<em>sukha-vedanā</em>), which
in truth is a degree of dukkha. Pleasure is equal to concealed
pain, or always has pain furtively in pursuit. Once a feeling of
pleasure changes, it transforms into a feeling of pain. In other
words, the fundamental inconstancy of pleasure produces pain.
(Another explanation is that pleasure <em>is</em> pain, of a particular
degree.)</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><em>Saṅkhāra-dukkhatā</em>:<sup class="footnote-reference" id="fr-fn43-1"><a href="#fn-fn43">43</a></sup> dukkha inherent in conditioned
phenomena, inherent in everything that originates from causes and
conditions. In other words, the five aggregates are dukkha; they
are of the nature to be pressured and coerced by the rising and
decay of opposing factors, preventing them from remaining in a
stable, original state. This third kind of dukkha comprises the
dukkha of the Three Characteristics.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>2. The Three Universal Characteristics Act as a Basis for Dukkha in
the Four Noble Truths:</strong> As described earlier, the dukkha of the Three
Characteristics refers to the conflict and stress inherent in
conditioned phenomena, preventing them from any lasting stability. All
conditioned things – all things that ordinary people know and
experience – are subject to this characteristic. Another way of
phrasing this is that this pressure and stress is a natural
characteristic of the five aggregates (<em>khandha</em>).</p>
<p>Every human being, and everything that ordinary people come into contact
with, is a conditioned phenomenon and is made up of the five
aggregates. If people lack understanding and deal with things
unskilfully, a sense of oppression and affliction arises within
themselves, which we call ’suffering’. This suffering experienced by
people is the dukkha of the Four Noble Truths. Although it is real for
these people, it is not a universal characteristic of all things.</p>
<p>Isolating this dukkha of the Three Characteristics is convenient in
one sense, but it should not be completely removed from the other two
characteristics. That is, one should recognize that all conditioned
things are subject to three universal characteristics: impermanence
(<em>anicca</em>; having arisen, things dissolve and disappear); stress
(<em>dukkha</em>; all conditions or factors that constitute or associate with
an object are under pressure and unable to sustain an original shape);
and nonself (<em>anattā</em>; things exist according to causes and conditions;
things do not possess a ’self’ or a distinct, abiding essence that is
able to own or control things).</p>
<p>In short, all conditioned things are unstable, unreliable, and
unenduring.</p>
<p>The arising of suffering (<em>dukkha</em>) in the Four Noble Truths is not
simply due to the stress (<em>dukkha</em>) outlined in the Three
Characteristics. Indeed, all three characteristics – <em>anicca</em>, <em>dukkha</em>
and <em>anattā</em> – act as a basis for suffering in those individuals who lack
a true understanding of them. {80}</p>
<p>All conditioned things (or the five aggregates), including the entirety
of what makes up human beings – the body and the mind – are
impermanent, subject to stress, and nonself. It is in their nature to be
marked by these three characteristics, without any interference by human
beings. For this reason the Three Characteristics are distinct from the
Four Noble Truths (even though both of these teachings share the factor
of dukkha).</p>
<p>So at what stage do the five aggregates become part of the dukkha
described in the Four Noble Truths? The answer is when they become the
five aggregates of clinging (<em>upādāna-khandha</em>).</p>
<p>The five aggregates of clinging (<em>upādāna-khandha</em>) are precisely these
same five aggregates, but here they are grasped onto by
clinging (<em>upādāna</em>). Technically speaking, they are ’accompanied by
mental taints (<em>āsava</em>) and act as a basis for clinging (<em>upādāna</em>).’
One can define this term <em>upādāna-khandha</em> as the five aggregates born
of clinging, the five aggregates as the point of obsession for clinging,
or the five aggregates as the focus of attention for clinging. They
pertain directly to ignorance (<em>avijjā</em>), craving (<em>taṇhā</em>), and
clinging (<em>upādāna</em>). This dynamic is what is being referred to in the first
noble truth.</p>
<p>In the following teaching, the Buddha distinguishes between the five
aggregates and the five aggregates of clinging:</p>
<div class="sutta">
<blockquote>
<p>Monks, I will teach you the five aggregates and the five aggregates
subject to clinging. Listen attentively.</p>
<p>And what are the five aggregates? Whatever kind of form … feeling
… perception … volitional formations … consciousness there is,
whether past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or
subtle, inferior or superior, far or near…. These are called the
five aggregates.</p>
<p>And what are the five aggregates of clinging? Whatever kind of form
… feeling … perception … volitional formations … consciousness
there is, whether past, future, or present, internal or external,
gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near, that is
accompanied by mental taints (<em>sāsava</em>), that is a foundation for
clinging (<em>upādāniya</em>)…. These are called the five aggregates of
clinging.</p>
<p><em>S. III. 47-8.</em></p>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p>When the Buddha taught the Three Characteristics, he would invariably
state that the five aggregates are impermanent, subject to stress, and
nonself. The true nature of form, feeling, perception, volitional