Schools > Students > Ages 15-16 > Beliefs and values > 3 Marks
The Three Marks
The Buddha taught that all existence has three fundamental characteristics or marks. These are known as the Three Lakshanas.
Dukkha - suffering or unsatisfactoriness
- is an inescapable aspect of life - we will all suffer old age, sickness and death
- includes emotional and psychological suffering - frequently one gets what one doesn’t want and doesn’t get what one does want!
Dukkha literally means an ill-fitting chariot wheel - like a ride in a chariotwith an ill-fitting wheel, life is often bumpy and uncomfortable.
Anicca - impermanence
- all things come into existence dependent on conditions
- nothing stands still or lasts forever
- nowhere is there anything fixed, permanent or eternal
Anatta - no self.
Because nothing is permanent there is
- no fixed unchanging essence or soul
- no unchanging creator God
- unlimited potential to change and grow
Buddhists recognise that in order to achieve wisdom they need to develop for themselves a deep understanding of these truths, through meditating and reflecting upon them.