The Three Marks of Existence

〔School of Wisdom · Public Foundation Layer〕

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What this lesson leaves you able to do

• State the three marks — impermanence, suffering, not-self — and know that they are not three parallel doctrines but three faces of one contemplation.
• Explain the causal order of the three: impermanent therefore suffering, suffering therefore not-self — this is the order the discourse states, not an arrangement of the editor’s.
• Know that the School of Wisdom enters by way of impermanence and finds its destination in not-self, and that this road is one teaching, in two genres, with the Octalogy’s view “all things are not-self.”

(This is not an exam; it is so you know where the lesson means to take you.)

Place in the arc: this lesson follows PR-101 (What Prajñā Is) — the object of wisdom, at its plainest, is the three marks here. It opens onto PR-120 (Dependent Origination) and PR-130 (The Four Noble Truths), and points all the way to PR-330 (The Direct Realization of Emptiness) and the capstone PR-390 (Practising Deep Prajñā).

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Why begin with the three marks

You already know what wisdom is — seeing as it is, matured through hearing, reflection, and cultivation, taking impermanence as its object (see PR-101). Now we come to the most concrete step: what does wisdom first see?

The answer is the three marks: impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha), not-self (anattā). These three words are the teaching’s most concise mark of “the actual way all conditioned things are” — hence “marks of the Dharma”: like a seal, whatever is the Buddha’s teaching bears these three marks; whatever bears these three marks is true contemplation.

Why does the School of Wisdom begin here? Because if wisdom does not first recognise impermanence, it has nowhere to enter. Almost all our suffering arises from one inversion: taking the impermanent as permanent, the perishable as imperishable, the not-self as a self. The first step of wisdom is to turn this inversion right side up — to see, as it is: whatever arises, passes away. Only from this step can the whole road of the School of Wisdom be walked.

It does not ask you to memorise three terms. It asks you to see, with your own eyes, something you have in fact long known and long refused to face as it is.

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What the Buddha said

1. The three marks are one chain — impermanent is suffering, suffering is not-self (Saṃyukta Āgama, sutta 9)

The three marks are not three doctrines set side by side; they are a single causal line. One passage in the Saṃyukta Āgama puts it most clearly:

"Form is impermanent; the impermanent is suffering; suffering is not-self; what is not-self is also not mine. One who contemplates thus is said to have true and right contemplation. So too feeling, perception, formations, consciousness are impermanent; the impermanent is suffering; suffering is not-self; what is not-self is also not mine. One who contemplates thus has true contemplation. Noble disciple! One who contemplates thus grows weary of form, weary of feeling, perception, formations, consciousness; through weariness comes dispassion; through dispassion comes liberation." (雜阿含 T0099 fasc. 1, sutta 9)

In reading this, see how the three marks link one into the next:

• Form (and the five aggregates — feeling, perception, formations, consciousness) is impermanent — your body, your feelings, thoughts, volitions, awareness: none abides; each changes moment by moment.
• The impermanent is suffering — whatever will perish and cannot be held long, if you rest on it for security, must finally be lost; hence suffering. This does not mean all is painful sensation; it means: to rest the heart on the impermanent is, in the end, unreliable, never at ease.
• Suffering is not-self — being a suffering that cannot be controlled and must finally be lost, it cannot be said to “be a self, to be in my command.” A true “self” would, by rights, be self-governing and abiding; but the aggregates, being impermanent and suffering, show themselves to be not-self, and not mine.
• What is not-self is also not mine — being not a self, it is not “mine” either.

Followed in this single line, it is called “true and right contemplation.” Walking in accord with it: weariness, dispassion, liberation. The three marks are three faces of one contemplation, not three items to be memorised separately.

〔Teacher’s note〕 “Suffering” here does not ask you to see life as a heap of misery. It is a precise observation: whatever is impermanent cannot bear the weight of being a refuge — the harder you try to grip it, the more it slips between your fingers, and that falling-through is the suffering. To see this clearly is not pessimism; it is ceasing to misplace the heart on what cannot hold it.

2. Wisdom enters by contemplating impermanence, reaching through to the four marks (Saṃyukta Āgama, sutta 1)

The very first discourse of the Saṃyukta Āgama places the entry-point of wisdom at “contemplating impermanence”:

"Contemplate form as impermanent. One who contemplates thus has right contemplation. With right contemplation comes weariness; with weariness, delight and greed are exhausted; with delight and greed exhausted, the mind is said to be liberated. … Thus, monks! One whose mind is liberated, if he wishes to verify it himself, can verify it: 'Birth is exhausted, the holy life has been lived, what was to be done is done, I know there is no more coming to any state of being.' As with impermanence, so too with suffering, emptiness, and not-self." (雜阿含 T0099 fasc. 1, sutta 1)

The opening move of wisdom is precisely “contemplate form as impermanent” — and from this right contemplation: weariness, the exhaustion of delight-and-greed, liberation of the mind. The closing line reaches the contemplation through to the four marks: “As with impermanence, so too with suffering, emptiness, and not-self.” The teaching of the three marks (with “emptiness” added) takes its opening, in every case, at this one place — impermanence.

3. The perception of impermanence establishes the perception of not-self, inclining to Nibbāna (Saṃyukta Āgama, sutta 270) — this lesson’s definitive-meaning anchor

If the School of Wisdom enters by impermanence, where is its destination? The discourse says plainly: in not-self.

"The perception of impermanence, developed and cultivated, can cut off all sensual craving, craving for form, craving for the formless, restlessness, conceit, and ignorance. … How does the perception of impermanence, developed and cultivated, cut off all sensual craving, craving for form, craving for the formless, restlessness, conceit, and ignorance? If a monk, in an open place or among the trees of a forest, rightly contemplates well, observing form as impermanent, feeling, perception, formations, consciousness as impermanent — contemplating thus, he cuts off all sensual craving, craving for form, craving for the formless, restlessness, conceit, and ignorance. Why is this? The perception of impermanence establishes the perception of not-self; the noble disciple, abiding in the perception of not-self, the mind departs from the conceit 'I am,' and inclines toward Nibbāna." (雜阿含 T0099 fasc. 10, sutta 270)

This sentence is the lesson’s definitive-meaning anchor, and the ground of the whole School of Wisdom. It states the inner order of the three marks in a single line:

the perception of impermanence → establishes the perception of not-self → abiding in the perception of not-self → the mind departs from the conceit "I am" → inclines toward Nibbāna.

The School of Wisdom enters by impermanence and finds its destination in not-self — set firm in this one line. The Buddha also lists eight similes in the discourse for the merit of the perception of impermanence (the farmer’s deep ploughing that uproots the weeds; the mowed grass shaken out; the mango struck from the branch by the wind; the rafters meeting at the roof-peak; the elephant’s footprint, largest of tracks; all rivers flowing to the sea; the sun dispelling darkness; the wheel-turning monarch, foremost among kings — all illustrating how the perception of impermanence gathers, cuts off, surpasses), but the spine throughout is that final causal line: by contemplating impermanence, the perception of not-self is established, the conceit “I am” departs, and one inclines toward Nibbāna.

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Exposition — the three marks and “all things are not-self”

Taking the three discourses together, the full picture of the three marks comes clear:

• Impermanence is the entry — what wisdom first sees is the momentary arising-and-passing of all conditioned things.
• Suffering is the direct consequence of impermanence — resting on the impermanent for security, one must finally be lost; hence suffering.
• Not-self is the destination — being impermanent, being suffering, being beyond control, it shows itself as not-self, not-mine; and by contemplating impermanence the perception of not-self is established. This is the aim of the School of Wisdom.

The three marks in a single line: impermanent therefore suffering, suffering therefore not-self. This is the causal chain the discourse states (sutta 9, in so many words), not the editor’s placing three terms together.

Here we join the Octalogy (relying on the definitive, not the provisional). The Octalogy expounds “all things are not-self” — that is the view the School of Wisdom is finally to see; whereas this lesson, PR-110, expounds how, by contemplating impermanence, one reaches through to not-self and inclines to Nibbāna — the entry and the road of realization. The same “not-self”: the Octalogy asks “what is not-self,” PR-110 asks “how does one walk to not-self.” One is the truth seen, the other the road that sees; one teaching, two genres. That line of sutta 270 — “the perception of impermanence establishes the perception of not-self … inclines toward Nibbāna” — is precisely the scriptural ground of this road, and the point at which the Octalogy’s view lands as realization within the School of Wisdom.

〔Teacher’s note〕 Keep clear the difference in scope between “the not-self of the Āgamas” and “the not-self of all things of the Octalogy,” but do not, at the public layer, rush to equate or to oppose them. The Āgama here enters by contemplating the five aggregates as impermanent and not-self — something anyone can begin today; the ultimate sense of the Octalogy’s “all things are not-self” (and its relation to emptiness) is the deep country of the School of Wisdom, a matter for the gated layer, PR-330. The public layer first walks this entry-road “impermanence → not-self” steadily; the ultimate of the definitive meaning waits for deeper practice.

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Practice — how to begin 〔Public layer: attitude and a safe start〕

At this layer we speak only of how to begin, and in what spirit — not the practice of contemplation itself (the actual methods of contemplating impermanence and not-self belong to the gated layer, PR-220 onward, undertaken with a teacher).

• First settle the three marks as “understanding,” before speaking of “direct seeing.” Before you formally take up contemplation, let this sink in: impermanence, suffering, not-self are the actual way all conditioned things are. Get the understanding right, and your later contemplation has a true direction.
• Begin by recognising the plainest impermanence in your own life. You need not first attain stillness or take up a method. First recognise the impermanence of one thing near you: the change in a relationship, the arising and passing of a thought, the body growing old. To see, as it is, that it “will change, will pass” — that is the starting point of the contemplation of impermanence.
• See clearly that “suffering” is not asking you to be pessimistic. The suffering of the three marks is the precise observation that “resting on the impermanent, one must finally be lost” — not a call to see life as one black mass. To see impermanence clearly is, on the contrary, the beginning of letting go of misplaced reliance and finding ease. Truer is better than gloomier.

〔Teacher’s note〕 This lesson only establishes the three marks as “understanding”; it does not teach contemplation. The direct seeing born of contemplating impermanence and not-self (and on to the direct realization of emptiness) is the deep country of the School of Wisdom, undertaken on the foundation of concentration and with a teacher (PR-220, PR-330). Text can make the principle of the three marks clear; the step of seeing the three marks directly is best taken with a teacher beside you. Nothing here rushes you. If contemplating impermanence, or reflecting on birth-and-death, stirs unease or fear in you, that is normal — it is exactly the moment to slow down and to speak with a teacher, not to push through alone.

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Common pitfalls

⚠️ Misunderstanding: “The three marks are three doctrines to be memorised separately.” No. The three marks are three faces of one contemplation, strung in a single line: impermanent therefore suffering, suffering therefore not-self. Sutta 9 strings them with the word “is”; memorised apart, the causal line is lost from view.

⚠️ Misunderstanding: “’Suffering’ just means life is miserable, so be pessimistic.” No. Suffering is the precise observation that “resting on the impermanent for security, one must finally be lost.” To see it clearly is not pessimism; it is ceasing to misplace the heart on what cannot hold it.

❌ What this is not: taking not-self as the nihilism of “nothing at all.” Not-self says “the aggregates are not a self, not mine” — beyond control, not to be grasped as a self — not that the aggregates do not exist.

✅ The point: the three marks are the true marks of all conditioned things — impermanent therefore suffering, suffering therefore not-self. The School of Wisdom enters by impermanence and finds its destination in not-self (sutta 270: the perception of impermanence establishes the perception of not-self, inclining to Nibbāna). This is one teaching, in two genres, with the Octalogy’s view “all things are not-self.”

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Transition — where this leads

With the three marks standing, wisdom has its plainest object. From here you can go on:

• To see the inner principle of why things are impermanent, suffering, not-self, see PR-120, Dependent Origination — when this exists, that exists; when this ceases, that ceases; impermanence and not-self follow precisely because all things arise and cease through conditions, with no graspable own-nature.
• To see the framework of wisdom, see PR-130, The Four Noble Truths — suffering, origin, cessation, path; the “suffering” of the three marks opens here as the first of the four.
• For the ultimate of “not-self” (the not-self of all things, the direct realization of emptiness), that is the deep country of the School of Wisdom; first walk this entry-road “impermanence → not-self” steadily, then ascend in turn (PR-330, PR-390).

The three marks do not stay in three terms. They enter by impermanence, reach through to not-self, and incline toward Nibbāna. You have already stepped onto the plainest — and deepest — rung of the School of Wisdom.

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Questions to sit with

(Not to hand in — so that the teaching settles in you.)

• Is there something in your life that you know to be impermanent yet still grip as though it would abide? Seeing its impermanence as it is, how would the heart be different?
• “The impermanent is suffering” — recall a time you relied on something (a person, a circumstance, a thought) and it changed, was lost. Did that suffering come precisely from “resting the heart on the impermanent”?
• “The perception of impermanence establishes the perception of not-self” — does this step, from “it changes” to “it is not-self,” go through in you? Where does it catch?

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Sources

By now you should be able to return to the source texts yourself. Everything this lesson rests on has been checked against the original:

• 雜阿含 (Saṃyukta Āgama) T0099, fascicle 1, sutta 9 · Connected on the Aggregates (true and right contemplation) · trans. Guṇabhadra, Liu-Song dynasty · Taishō vol. 2 · CBETA, public domain. The causal chain of the three marks: form is impermanent → impermanent is suffering → suffering is not-self → not-self is not mine; called true and right contemplation. Sutta 10 (@130-138) is a parallel variant, “is not mine.”
• 雜阿含 T0099, fascicle 1, sutta 1 (the discourse on impermanence) · as above · CBETA, public domain. The very first discourse of the Saṃyukta Āgama: contemplate form as impermanent → right contemplation → weariness → liberation of mind; “as with impermanence, so too with suffering, emptiness, and not-self.”
• 雜阿含 T0099, fascicle 10, sutta 270 (the discourse on the perception of impermanence) · as above · CBETA, public domain. This lesson’s definitive-meaning anchor: “the perception of impermanence establishes the perception of not-self; the noble disciple, abiding in the perception of not-self, the mind departs from the conceit ‘I am,’ and inclines toward Nibbāna”; with eight similes for the merit of the perception of impermanence.

Read it yourself: the discourses of Saṃyukta Āgama fascicle 1 are all short and well worth reading — in the vault at vault-阿含/四阿含_T0099_卷001.md and 卷010.md. Don’t take the editor’s word; read the source and see.

A note on sources (Pāli parallel): the Pāli formulae of the three marks (sabbe saṅkhārā aniccā / dukkhā · sabbe dhammā anattā; SN 22.59 Anattalakkhaṇasutta, Dhp 277–279) are now in the vault (vault-pali/sn_SN22.59.md The Characteristic of Not-Self · kn_Dhp277-279.md the three-marks verses · Mahāsaṅgīti + Sujato · CC0) for parallel reading. This lesson’s main scriptural ground remains the Chinese Saṃyukta Āgama parallels (doctrine fully attested); the Pāli is a supplement, not cited in the body. The Pāli formulae are common ground for the School of Wisdom.

For those who wish to go deeper: the relation of the three marks’ “not-self” to the Octalogy’s “all things are not-self” — the Āgama enters by contemplating the five aggregates as not-self, the Octalogy expands its ultimate sense; the two are one teaching at different scopes. The deep country of the School of Wisdom (PR-330) is where the ultimate, the direct realization of emptiness, is entered; the public layer rests at the entry, “impermanence → not-self.”

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Glossary

Term	Pāli / Skt	Sense
the three marks	tilakkhaṇa	the three marks of all conditioned things: impermanence, suffering, not-self
impermanence	anicca / anitya	momentary arising-and-passing; nothing abides — the entry-object of wisdom
suffering	dukkha	resting on the impermanent, one must finally be lost; hence it cannot bear being a refuge — a precise observation, not pessimism
not-self	anattā / anātman	the aggregates are not a self, not mine; beyond control, not to be grasped as a self. Not “nothing at all”
true and right contemplation	yathābhūta sammādassana	contemplating the three marks as they are; in accord with it, weariness and liberation (sutta 9)
perception of impermanence	aniccasaññā	developed, it establishes the perception of not-self, removes the conceit “I am,” inclines to Nibbāna (sutta 270)
all phenomena are not-self	sarvadharma-anātman	the destination of the School of Wisdom; the ultimate view expounded by the Octalogy (→ PR-330)
the five aggregates	pañcakkhandha	form, feeling, perception, formations, consciousness; the object of the three-mark contemplation
the conceit “I am”	asmimāna / māna	the conceit “I am”; abiding in the perception of not-self, the mind departs from it

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The Three Studies · PR-110 The Three Marks of Existence (English edition) · Public Foundation Layer · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · Shi Huijing