What do you think
prevents your lasting
and full happiness?
The 3 Signs of Being
• Buddhism is about
enlightenment – to
understand the truth about
yourself, so you then know
how to free yourself from
everything that prevents your
happiness.
Buddhists identify 3
aspects of life, or
“signs of being”, by
which we are made
unhappy…
To define the key
words
To explain how the
“signs of being” lead
to suffering
To evaluate if the signs
of being contradict or
complement Christian
teaching.
The Three Signs
of Being
Dukkha
Anicca
Anatta
**What is dukkha for you? Sickness,
losing a loved one, a personality issue,
dissatisfaction, poverty, inability to do
something...
Look up what these key words mean from your
Key words list. Explain them to your partner.
Which ones might you agree with?
Disagree with ?
Dukkha – life is full of
disappointment. Things are
never as good as they should
be.
Anicca – nothing lasts. Everything
we know is changing. Good things
and people and times will pass, as
will the bad.
Anatta – there is no soul, or self, so
there is no selfishness or concern for
self. Also, nothing carries on after you
are dead, so you are not afraid of
death itself.
1st sign: Dukkha
Discuss with your partner the one that your
teacher gives you. Explain to the class why it is a
source of suffering.
1.
Write out the headings of sources of suffering in
order of hardest to easiest to bear. Make this clear
on your list.
2.
Explain which one is hardest to bear for your
personally.
Why are these things a source of suffering ? Rank them in order 1-5 of hardest
to bear (hardest =5). Discuss with your partner the one that your teacher gives you. Explain to
the class why it is a source of suffering.
A. Suffering physical pain - from a broken leg, an ongoing chronic illness like
arthritis. We even suffer just from the fear that we might experience such
physical pain – dukkha dukkha.
B. Being emotionally attached to things
1. To love something, means suffering the pain of losing it when it dies.
2. To love something, means always being afraid of losing it in the future.
3. Knowing you have to die, is the worst suffering of all- knowing that one
day you will have to say goodbye to everything you have ever loved.
C. Craving things
1. Getting something you want doesn’t make you happy for long. Soon, you
want something else. You are never satisfied, even when you have got
what you want.
2. most delightful sensations become painful or tedious if they continue for
very long. You can even get fed up of your own daydreams and mental
chatter.
D. Experiencing Change
1. Change means everything good will one day disappear. You can never
hold on to anything good for long.
2. This awareness of change makes the present moment harder to enjoy.
Knowing summer holidays will end soon, changes your feeling of
relaxation. Remembering summer holidays during lessons, makes hot
days at school harder to bear.
Which of the
sources of Dukkha
is hardest to
bear? Explain in
your books.
Compare it to one
other form of
Dukkha: explain why
this other kind of
Dukkha is not so
hard to bear in
comparison to your
chosen one.
**Which of these
sources of Dukkha
could you
eliminate from
your life? How?
Dukkha. Disappointment is everywhere. :
Anicca. Nothing lasts.
Anatta: There is no soul/ self.
3rd Sign of Being - Anatta.
There is no soul/ self. There is no “you”. “you”
are just a collection of thoughts, feelings, ideas, body
parts + karma: the life-force that you make good or
bad through your actions.
Since there is no “self” or soul to
protect or fight for, the “No-self
doctrine” leads to harmlessness
towards others, contentment and
peace.
1. Draw the man/ question mark,
subtitle it “Anatta – Buddhist
teaching that there is no
Soul/self”
2. Add labels to EXPLAIN WHY this
doctrine could be a good thing.
**Do any of the “signs of being”
challenge the teachings of
Christianity? If so, how?
“Since there is no “self” or soul to protect or fight for, the “No-self doctrine”
leads to harmlessness towards others, contentment and peace.”
Add labels to show how the “no self” doctrine is a good thing.
Not ambitious or in
competition with
others
No jealousy or envy
Care more for
others, not your
“self”
Can’t be attached to
things so you don’t
suffer loss
Can’t get annoyed,
angry, insulted as no
“ego” to offend
Don’t fight to protect
yourself, or use any
violence.
Not disappointed by failure
or success
Don’t do others
down to get ahead
yourself
Which of the 3
signs is this
cartoon joking
about ?
Does the
cartoon support
this Buddhist
idea or not ?
Life disappoints.
Nothing lasts.
There is no self.
Is this a depressing
view of life ?
How could you live
with these beliefs ?