Date: 10/05/2024 10/06/2024
Location: Star River Meditation Center
Teacher: Yunquan Huang
Dharma Knowledge
An Overview of the Three Marks of Existence
The Three Marks of Existence are the fundamental principles that define the Buddha’s teaching and serve as the criteria by which authentic Dharma is recognized. They function like a seal: any teaching that truly accords with the Buddha’s awakening must bear these three marks. Far from being abstract doctrines, they describe the essential nature of reality as directly experienced through insight. They permeate Buddhist philosophy, meditation, and liberation alike.
The Three Marks are: impermanence (anicca), non-self (anattā), and nirvana as peace (nibbāna). Together, they form a coherent structure of understanding that moves from observation of phenomena, to insight into identity, and finally to the realization of liberation. They are not separate truths, but interconnected expressions of the same awakened vision.
Impermanence is the first mark. All conditioned phenomena—physical objects, sensations, emotions, thoughts, and even consciousness itself—are subject to change. Nothing remains fixed, stable, or enduring. The Buddha observed that suffering arises not from change itself, but from our resistance to it. We expect permanence where none exists and cling to what is inevitably fleeting. Understanding impermanence softens attachment and allows us to meet change with clarity rather than fear.
The second mark, non-self, penetrates even more deeply. It does not deny the practical experience of individuality, but it refutes the existence of a permanent, independent essence behind that experience. What we call the “self” is a dynamic process—a flow of bodily and mental events arising through conditions. Because we mistake this process for a fixed identity, we become trapped in craving, defensiveness, and fear. Insight into non-self dismantles this illusion and frees the mind from ego-centered grasping.
The third mark, nirvana as peace, points to the ultimate cessation of suffering. Nirvana is not annihilation, nor is it an escape into nothingness. It is the profound peace that arises when ignorance and craving have ceased. When impermanence and non-self are fully understood, clinging naturally falls away, and with it the mental fires of greed, hatred, and delusion. What remains is a state of stillness, clarity, and unconditioned freedom.
These three marks are not merely philosophical concepts; they are realities to be known through direct experience. In mindfulness practice, one observes impermanence as sensations and thoughts arise and pass. Through deep observation, one sees that no enduring self can be found within these processes. And as attachment weakens, moments of peace and freedom naturally appear—echoes of nirvana in the present moment. Thus, the Three Marks are verifiable here and now.
Seen as a whole, the Three Marks describe a clear path of awakening: because things are impermanent, clinging leads to suffering; because there is no fixed self, clinging is unnecessary; when clinging ceases, peace is realized. This elegant clarity is what gives the Buddha’s teaching its enduring relevance across cultures and centuries.
In essence, the Three Marks of Existence form the heart of the Dharma. They are not beliefs to be adopted, but truths to be understood and lived. By repeatedly contemplating impermanence, non-self, and peace, practitioners gradually loosen their grip on illusion and open to a deeper freedom. The Three Marks do not point to a distant ideal—they illuminate the very nature of life as it is, guiding the way from confusion to awakening, from attachment to liberation.
