According to Buddhism, to truly
understand the nature of life, we
need to look at the Four Noble
Truths and The Wheel of Life
together. This will give us ‘the
whole picture’.
This is the doctrine
or teaching on
Impermanence.
This is the doctrine
or teaching on no
permanent self.
Anatta
Anicca
Dukkha
This is the doctrine or
teaching on Suffering or
Unsatisfactoriness
Buddhists say that life is
characterised by Three
Marks of Existence.
Buddhists describe life as
impermanent and full of change.
This is a crucial Buddhist teaching
and one that we must understand. It
has implications for our
understanding of the rest of the
Buddha's teachings.
•‘Anicca’literally means ‘impermanence’
•It is the First Mark of Existence / Universal
Truth
•This means that everything is constantly
changing
•Nothing stays the same (nothing is permanent)
This concept is at the root of all Buddhist
belief – if you accept and understand
anicca, you are on the road to
enlightenment!
“All created things perish”
We can see Anicca in the life
of the Buddha:
1. The Four Sights
2. The Great Renunciation
3. Search for the correct path
4. His travelling and teaching
5. His death.
So is it real?
Buddhists believe life is full of suffering. This suffering is
mainly caused by people’s unrealistic EXPECTATIONS of
things – wanting more money / wanting to be happy
forever / not wanting to get old / etc.
We resist change and are upset by it, we get upset when
we don’t get what we want, etc.
If we understand that everything is impermanent and will
always change, we shouldn’t have these unreasonable
expectations. We will always realise that good things
come to an end, and also that bad things will also pass.
This gives a realistic and truthful outlook on the world,
and allows Buddhists to properly understand other
Buddhist teachings.
This literally means “no soul”
This is Anicca applied to people.
All Life is Suffering
By looking at the centre of the Wheel of Life we can understand
more about what causes us to suffer and what we can then do to
stop it.
The Wheel of life is a symbol
of what life is really like.
Just like a real wheel that
turns, our life continually turns
round and round until it is
stopped.
Just like a real wheel
the Wheel of life turn at
its centre or the axis.
As human beings, it is how we are at
the very centre of our being, that
determines how our life will turn.
Remember
the
analogy of
the Doctor
and the
Cure!!!
If we want to stop a
Wheel turning we
have to find the
Cause, then stop
it.
The Cause of Suffering is
Craving/Greed
(Tanha)
Greed / Craving
Tanha
Hatred /
Aggression
Ignorance
The animals at the centre of
the wheel represent the three
poisons or the three fires.
These fuel the wheel and
help it turn.
The animals are shown
biting each other because
they feed off each other
and so cause each other.
In order to stop the Wheel
turning we need to stop
feeding these fires and so
stop suffering and
recognise the true nature
of life. We will then have
achieved enlightenment
and attained
We attach ourselves to
things and expect things to
provide us with pleasure
and satisfaction – when it
does not we suffer.
ANICCA
ANATTA
In Pali this is called
Tanha. This is the
Second Noble
Truth.
Give examples
of the three
types of
craving!!
The Buddha identifies three types of craving:
(1)Craving for objects of sense pleasure
(2)Craving for Existence
(3)Craving for Non Existence
BODILY
PLEASURES
SWEETS AND
ALCOHOL
LUXURY
GOODS
We place high expectations on these items as we
assume that they will give us lasting pleasure.
When they don’t we get upset and we then suffer.
We get attached to the experience of pleasure and
as we know this never lasts (Anicca). We will
always want more and we are never satisfied. Our
desire for an object may also increase the more we
use it. This may cause us more suffering.
This is the desire to be someone. We
crave recognition and acceptance of
who we are. We want people to
recognise us a certain person.
When they don’t recognise us as that
person we suffer. We become upset and
this may lead us to anger because we
are ignorant of the truth.
Even if we become that
person it will not last forever
– WHY…? …because of
Anicca!
Also remember that there is no permanent
self so these times will not last forever.
There are often times in life that we want to
be a nobody and want to run away from the
various situations that life has thrown at us.
This again could lead us to do harmful or
anger-fuelled actions because we have
been ignorant of the fact that this will not
last forever. (ANICCA)
It is these actions that we have committed
as a result of craving non existence that
may cause us further suffering.
DHAMMAPADA 334 – 342
If a man watches not for NIRVANA, his cravings grow like a creeper
and he jumps from death to death like a monkey in the forest from one
tree without fruit to another.
And when his cravings overcome him, his sorrows increase more and
more, like the entangling creeper called birana.
But whoever in this world overcomes his selfish cravings, his sorrows
fall away from him, like drops of water from a lotus flower.
Therefore in love I tell you, to you all who have come here: Cut off
the bonds of desires, as the surface grass creeper called birana is cut
for its fragrant root called usira. Be not like a reed in a stream which MARA,
the devil of temptation, crushes again and again.
DHAMMAPADA 334 – 342
Just a s a tree, though cut down, can grow again and again if its roots
are undamaged and strong, in the same way if the roots of craving are not
wholly uprooted sorrows will come again.
When the thirty six stream of desire that run towards pleasures are
strong, their powerful waves carry away that man without vision whose
imaginings are lustful desires.
Everywhere flow the streams. The creeper of craving grown everywhere.
If you see the creeper grow, cut off its roots by the power of wisdom.
The sensuous pleasures of men flow everywhere. Bound for pleasures
and seeking pleasures men suffer life and old age.
DHAMMAPADA 334 – 342
Men who are pursued by lust run around like hunted hares.
Held in fetters and in bonds they suffer and suffer again.
In groups of no more than four – highlight the places in
the source that describe the Buddhist teachings we
have learned about i.e Tanha, Anicca, Anatta, Dukkha.
Then rewrite the passage summarising
the meaning or message
the Buddha was trying to convey.
DHAMMAPADA 334 – 342
If a man watches not for NIRVANA, his cravings grow like a creeper
and he jumps from death to death like a monkey in the forest from one
tree without fruit to another.
And when his cravings overcome him, his sorrows increase more and
more, like the entangling creeper called birana.
But whoever in this world overcomes his selfish cravings, his sorrows
fall away from him, like drops of water from a lotus flower.
Therefore in love I tell you, to you all who have come here: Cut off
the bonds of desires, as the surface grass creeper called birana is cut
for its fragrant root called usira. Be not like a reed in a stream which MARA,
the devil of temptation, crushes again and again.
DHAMMAPADA 334 – 342
Just a s a tree, though cut down, can grow again and again if its roots
are undamaged and strong, in the same way if the roots of craving are not
wholly uprooted sorrows will come again.
When the thirty six stream of desire that run towards pleasures are
strong, their powerful waves carry away that man without vision whose
imaginings are lustful desires.
Everywhere flow the streams. The creeper of craving grown everywhere.
If you see the creeper grow, cut of its roots by the power of wisdom.
The sensuous pleasures of men flow everywhere. Bound for pleasures
and seeking pleasures men suffer life and old age.
DHAMMAPADA 334 – 342
Men who are pursued by lust run around like hunted hares.
Held in fetters and in bonds they suffer and suffer again.
The Buddha is teaching us about the roots or cause of craving.
He compares craving to a creeper called birana. A
creeper is supported by another structure but eventually overcomes it.
It overcomes this structure until it starts to damage it – just like
craving will start to damage us – it will cause us to suffer.
Only by overcoming craving, or cutting out the roots, can we stop
the cycle of rebirth and achieve enlightenment and Nibbana.
Acts that are a result of hatred or aggressive
acts will ultimately cause suffering. Harmful acts
will result in you building up bad kamma and this
will cause the wheel to continue turning. Medical
Anger includes putting
research shows that anger can cause bad
The blame for something on
effects on our health.
someone else.
These are acts like
assault or physical
abuse or active
acts.
These are acts
like ignoring
someone or more
passive acts
What does it mean to be
ignorant of
something?
It means that you didn’t know any better
or that you did not know the truth about
something and didn’t bother to find out.
IGNORANCE
According to Buddhism, if we are ignorant then we do
not know how things really are. As humans we are
ignorant of the true nature of things,. We are ignorant
of the Three Marks of existence. For Buddhists it is this
ignorance that is the root of the other two poisons or
fires.
So how do they
cause each other?
IGNORANCE
We do not know what
true happiness is so we
want what we think
will make us happy.
CRAVING
We crave and Attach
Ourselves to objects
and ideas. When they
don’t meet our
expectations we get angry
and suffer.
A cycle of poisons that
cause each other.
ANGER
ANGER TO IGNORANCE
We are angry so we are
further deluded by the true
nature of things.
We are aggressive to
others because we have
suffered and
we do not understand
the true nature of
suffering.
The Three Poisons work
together and cause selfish
action to take place. This
keeps the Wheel turning
and we are caught in the
Samsaric Cycle.
They cause even more
suffering if we don’t stop
them and because the
wheel keeps on turning we
still have to go through the
suffering of life.
We are the
result of our own
actions.
The only way that we can
stop it is if we realise the
truth, and build up good
kamma to move on…
The Wheel turning is called
Samsara. We are caught in
this continual turning cycle
of birth, life, death and
rebirth. We want to stop this
and achieve enlightenment.
This type of existence is
Samsara.
The type of existence we
are aiming for is Nibbana
• It is a long process
• It happens over time.
• There have been
numerous rebirths.
• Innumerable past
lives.
• We wander aimlessly
from life to life.
The Six Realms of
Rebirth and how a
being moves through
them.
There are three good
existences on the
right and three bad
existences on the
left.
So what is life like for a Buddhist?
It is characterised by the three Marks of Existence and also by the fact
that we are caught in the Wheel of Samsara.
You will need to know about each of these things in detail. You
should also be able to talk about these with references to sources.