Dhamma: The Three Marks of Existence (AQA GCSE Religious Studies A (8062))
Revision Note
Written by: Angela Yates
Reviewed by: Bridgette Barrett
The Three Marks of Existence: Impermanence (Anicca)
What are the Three Marks of Existence?
Buddhism teaches that there are three aspects to everything that exists, whether living or non-living
These are called the three marks of existence, sometimes known as the Three Universal Truths
They are:
Anicca – impermanence
Anatta – no fixed soul or self
Dukkha – suffering or unsatisfactoriness
The Three Marks of Existence
The Three Marks of Existence
What is Anicca?
Anicca means impermanence. It refers to the fact that everything constantly changes
Buddhism teaches that suffering or dukkha arises when humans get too attached to things and resist change
Awareness of anicca results in the letting go of things and therefore lessens suffering
What is affected by Anicca?
Anicca affects the world in three ways:
The Three Effects of Anicca
What is Affected | Example |
|---|---|
Living things | A seed or an acorn becomes a tree, it grows and eventually dies |
Non-living things | An iron nail or bench will go rusty if left out in the rain |
People’s minds | Human thoughts, feelings and behaviour change during our journey from early childhood to adulthood to old age |
The Story of Kisa Gotami
This is a traditional Buddhist story that explains how an awareness of anicca can help people overcome attachment and therefore reduce suffering:
Kisa Gotami was a woman whose child died
She was upset and refused to believe it
The Buddha told her to go to all the houses in the village and ask for a mustard seed from any house in which no one had lost a family member
Every house she went to had lost someone; she could not find a house where no one had died
Eventually, Kisa Gotami realised that she had been so focused on her own grief that she hadn’t noticed the grief of others
She realised that death is inescapable and that she needed to let go of her attachment to her dead child
She buried her child and became a follower of the Buddha
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Learn the story of Kisa Gotami. You can use it in your exam to explain how an awareness of impermanence (anicca) can help to reduce suffering (dukkha)
The Three Marks of Existence: No Fixed Self (Anatta)
What is Anatta?
Anatta is the idea that people do not have a fixed soul or self
This means that nobody has an unchanging personal identity
Instead, a person is made up of five aspects, called the five aggregates or skandhas
The Five Aggregates
Buddhists divide the self into five parts or aggregates to show that there is no unchanging essence to a person
Each part is constantly changing, so the “self” is constantly changing
This teaching is particularly important to the Theravada Buddhism school
The Five Aggregates
Aggregate | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
Form | Our bodies | My leg |
Sensation | Our feelings | My leg is sore |
Perception | Our way of interpreting and understanding how things are | My leg is sore because I bashed it against a desk |
Mental formations | Our thoughts | I want my leg to stop hurting, it is annoying me |
Consciousness | Our awareness of things | Awareness of my leg |
The Story of Nagasena and the Chariot
This is a story illustrating anatta
About 200 years after the Buddha a monk arrived at the court of a Greek king, Milinda
The king asked the monk his name and he said he was called Nagasena
But he added that this was only his name and not any reference to his real self or person
The king was confused and asked who was standing before him
Nagasena used the analogy of the chariot in his reply
A chariot is made up of different parts, like the wheels, the axle or the yoke
The name “chariot” refers to all of these parts grouped together
If you dismantle the parts it is no longer a chariot
It is the same with people: a person exists only because of the parts they are made up from
There is no separate “self” that is independent of these parts
The Analogy of the Chariot
The analogy of the chariot is used to show that the term “chariot” refers to all the parts that make up a chariot, just as a “person” exists only because of the parts they are made up from
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Learn the story of King Milinda and Nagasena. You can use it in your exam to explain the idea of anatta.
The Three Marks of Existence: Suffering (Dukkha)
What is Dukkha?
Dukkha means suffering, dissatisfaction or unsatisfactoriness
Buddhists believe that suffering is inevitable in life
The Three Types of Dukkha
The Buddha taught that there are three types of dukkha:
The three types of dukkha
Type of Dukkha or Suffering | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
Ordinary suffering | Physical, mental and emotional pain | Breaking an arm, missing a loved one |
Suffering because of change | Caused by the change of losing something
| Moving to a new place, getting older, a change in the weather |
Suffering because of attachment | Dissatisfaction as a result of cravings and attachment to things | Losing your phone, feeling unhappy because you want to own something and can’t have it Some people have a constant feeling of being dissatisfied with life, even if they can’t explain what is making them unhappy |
The Buddha also taught that there are seven states of suffering:
The Seven States of Suffering
The Seven States of Suffering
Worked Example
Explain two ways in which the three marks of existence influence Buddhists today
(4 marks)
In this example, you need to give two clear and detailed explanations of how the three marks of existence influence Buddhists today. Both reasons must relate the marks of existence to Buddhist belief and action. You can take each mark separately or write about all three as a whole in your response.
Answer:
Through dukkha, Buddhists understand that suffering is a natural part of life, and it comes in many forms. (1) If they can learn to stop greed and hatred, it will prevent them from suffering from dissatisfaction in their lives. (1)
Through anicca, Buddhists gain an understanding that nothing ever stays the same, (1) and this means that they should learn to let go and be less attached to material possessions, even when loved ones die. If they learn to let go when this happens, it will cause less suffering. (1)
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