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Two Asymmetries in the Three Marks of Existence

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Tetsunori Koizumi, Director

Usually translated as “Three Marks of Existence”, the Buddha’s teaching on kilesa appears in a number of suttas. In Samyutta Nikaya, for example, it appears in SN22 and SN 35. In Anguttara Nikaya, we can find the most succinct yet clearest teaching on kilesa summarized in the following words of the Buddha: “Bhikkus, whether Tathagatas arise or not, there persists that law, that stableness of the Dhamma, that fixed course of the Dhamma. (1) Sabbe sankhara anicca (All conditioned things are impermanent). (2) Sabbe sankhara dukkha (All conditioned things are suffering). (3) Sabbe dhamma anatta (All phenomena are non-self).” (Anguttara Nikaya, III.136)

Though the Buddha often discourages this, a critical reader with scholastic bent will easily notice two asymmetries by examining the words used in these three statements. The first asymmetry has to do with what the three marks refer to. While “impermanence” and “non-self” refer to the true nature of reality, or “how things really are”, in the Buddha’s philosophical vision of the universe, “suffering” does not. Doesn’t “suffering” rather refer to the state of mind regarding how we respond to “impermanence” and “non-self”? If that is the case, why does the Buddha include “suffering” as one of the three marks of existence? The second asymmetry has to do with the use of the word “dhamma” in the third statement. Why does the Buddha use “dhamma” here, not “sankhara” as he does in the first two statements?

As for the first asymmetry, Thich Nhat Hanh goes as far as stating that putting “suffering” on the same level as “impermanence” and “non-self” is an error: “To put suffering on the same level as impermanence and non-self is an error. Impermanence and non-self are ‘universal’. They are a ‘mark’ of all things. Suffering is not.” (Thich Nhat Hanh, The Heart of Buddha’s Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, 1998, p.21) What Thich Nhat Hanh means is that “suffering”, as the word referring to the way we respond to “impermanence” and “non-self”, is not a “mark”, or a “characteristic feature”, of all things that exist in the world around us. Indeed, it takes the authority of somebody like Thich Nhat Hanh, widely admired by his disciples and lay followers alike for his accessible expositions of the Buddha’s teachings based on the solid scholarship of the Buddhist canons, to declare that the Buddha’s second statement is an error.

While it may not be a mark of all things, there is no question about the importance of “suffering” in the Buddha’s teachings. We may recall the Buddha’s First Sermon in which he teaches “suffering” as the First Noble Truth and tanha, whose original meaning is “thirst” but is usually translated as “craving”, as the Second Noble Truth. What is “craving”, then? Is it not one of those mental formations we develop in our minds? If so, “craving”, too, is subject to “impermanence”. As a matter of fact, the Buddha talks about the “impermanence” of every one of the Five Aggregates in another sutta: “Bhikkhus, form is impermanent, feeling is impermanent, perception is impermanent, mental formations are impermanent, consciousness is impermanent.” (Samyutta Nikaya 22.12) Later on in the same sutta, the Buddha provides us a hint to remedy the asymmetry: “Bhikkhus, form (feeling, perception, mental formations, consciousness) is impermanent. What is impermanent is suffering.” (Samyutta Nikaya, 22:15) When we connect up these lines, we can see that what the Buddha is telling us is: “All conditioned things are impermanent,” and “What is impermanent is suffering.” It follows, therefore, that “All conditioned things are suffering.”

What about the second asymmetry regarding the use of “dhamma” (dharma in Sanskrit) in the third statement instead of “sankhara” used in the first two statements? Zen Master Sheng Yen provides us this answer: “Dharmas include all phenomena, whether physiological, psychological, social, internal, or external.” (Master Sheng Yen, Zen Wisdom: Conversations on Buddhism, 2001, p.34) While the word sankhara, as the composite of san (derived from sam “together”) and khara (“to make”), refers to all composite entities, or formations, the word dhamma applies to all phenomena, including such a key concept in the Buddha’s teachings about paticca-samuppanna dhamma (dependently arisen phenomena). If so, it is not difficult to see why the Buddha uses the word “dhamma” in the third statement.

With our questions about the two asymmetries in the Three Marks of Existence satisfactorily answered, what is left for us to do now is to get down to our business, that is to say, our practice. And The Dhammapada does include the Buddha’s words about the importance of the Three Marks of Existence as “practice”, or “path”: “When through wisdom one perceives, ‘All sankharas are impermanent,’ then one is detached as to misery. This is the path of purity.” “When through wisdom one perceives, ‘All sankharas are suffering,’ then one is detached as to misery. This is the path of purity.” “When through wisdom one perceives, ‘All dhammas are non-self,’ then one is detached as to misery. This is the path of purity.” (The Dhammapada, 277, 278, 279)

What fragrance is blowing in the wind in the world today?

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Tetsunori Koizumi, Director

“Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly/ Before they’re banned forever?” are the lines that appear in Bob Dylan’s song: “Blowin’ in the wind.” It was back in the Sixties when the song became popular as an expression of protest against the war in Southeast Asia. The end of that war did not end the relevance of the message this song conveys, for a violent confrontation is always taking place somewhere in the world between ethnic groups, or nation-states. With cannonballs flying in the plains of Ukraine now, we are once again reminded of the need to raise our voice of protest against the meaningless violence that is shattering the lives of ordinary citizens.

What is the answer that would end the vicious cycle of violence between ethnic groups, or nation-states? The answer, Bob Dylan says, is blowin’ in the wind. As a matter of fact, we all know what the answer is, whether we are Christians, Buddhists, or Atheists. People who have been brought up in the Christian tradition are well aware of Jesus’ message about love: “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” (Matthew 5:43,44) The same message about the importance of love is found in the following words of the Buddha: “Cultivate the boundless loving-kindness towards the whole world—above, below, and all around—unhindered, free from hatred and enmity.” (Sutta Nipata 1:8)

The world around us is, however, full of hatred and enmity. “Why is the world full of hate, people dying everywhere?” asks Freddie Mercury in his song: There must be more to life than this, released in 1985. Why indeed? Why is it that we fail to extend our love even towards our neighbors? It was Bertrand Russell who, in his 1959 talk titled: Message to Future Generations, reminded us of the need to develop the spirit of charity and tolerance towards one another if we are to survive as a species: “Love is wise, hatred is foolish. In this world, which is getting more and more closely interconnected, we have to learn to tolerate each other. … And if we are to live together and not die together, we must learn a kind of charity and a kind of tolerance, which is absolutely vital to the continuation of human life on this planet.”

In the Buddhist tradition, hatred is one of the Three Poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion, as the Buddha reminds us: “Greed, hatred, and delusion of every kind are unwholesome. Whatever action a greedy, hating, and deluded person heaps up—by deeds, words, or thoughts—that too is unwholesome.” (Anguttara Nikaya, 3:69) The most troubling case of the Three Poisons would be a deluded person with power, for the Buddha goes on to say: “When a deluded person, overcome by delusion, with mind obsessed by it, inflicts suffering upon another under a false pretext—by killing, imprisonment, confiscation, censure, or banishment—thinking, ‘I am powerful, I want power,’ that too is unwholesome.” (Anguttara Nikaya, 3:69) The problem is that such a deluded person with power has no ears to listen to the voice of protest against his atrocities that is blowing in the wind.

What is needed to overcome the Three Poisons is to develop what the Buddha calls the “fragrance” that spreads with the wind, against the wind, and both with and against the wind. To be specific, the Buddha talks about the “fragrance” of the Three Jewels of the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha in his reply to Ananda, who wants to know if there is any fragrance that spreads with the wind, against the wind, and both with and against the wind: “Here, Ananda, in whatever village or town a man or a woman has gone for refuge to the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha; he or she is virtuous and of good character, abstaining from the destruction of life, taking what is not given, sexual misconduct, false speech, and liquor, wine, and intoxicants, … delighting in giving and sharing. This, Ananda, is the fragrance that spreads with the wind, against the wind, and both with and against the wind.” (Anguttara Nikaya, 3:79)

While he is referring to village or town of his day, the message the Buddha conveys to Ananda in this statement has relevance to every social group in the global village today. What the Buddha is telling us is that any social group whose leader is enlightened and whose members faithfully follow the rules of ethical conduct as spelled out in its constitution, is a social group in which good fragrance spreads with the wind, against the wind, and both with and against the wind. Sadly, the fragrance that is blowing in the wind today is a far cry from the kind of good fragrance that is desperately needed in today’s divided and turbulent world.