Three Dharma Seals
Every Buddhist teaching bears the Three Universal Dharma
Seals. Without all three seals the teaching is not a
Buddhist teaching. In the
Mahayana tradition,
the three seals are impermanence, no self, and no wish.
Impermanence and no self belong to our world of
existence, to our limited view of reality. The state of
wishlessness—Nirvana—is the ultimate reality.
The first Dharma seal stresses that all fabricated things
are impermanent. These include our thoughts and
feelings, ourselves, our world, and everything around
us. Our thoughts and feelings are in a constant state of
flux. One moment we may be happily laughing and in the
next miserable as something that is said deeply hurts
us.
We are constantly changing: Our body cells are
continuously regenerating themselves. We can see this in
a general sense when we look in a mirror. What we see in
the mirror is not what we saw a year ago. It is similar,
but not exactly the same. Hence, everything in our world
is impermanent and continuously changing.
Knowing that a flower will not be around forever, or
that the person we love will no longer be with us one
day will remind us to cherish our time with them and not
take them for granted. Realizing that a wonderful moment
will soon be gone will motivate us to appreciate it now.
We do not want to regret later that we missed an
opportunity because we thought that there would be
another chance to enjoy it later.
Understanding that nothing is permanent will help us to
accept the fact that people and the things we love will
not be with us forever. We will thus value them even
more. Also, knowing that everything changes, including
unhappiness, gives us the hope that unpleasant
circumstances may improve for the better, that negative
conditions may later turn positive.
The second Dharma seal explains that nothing that exists
has an individual self. When we look in that mirror, we
perceive what we think of as "self." We look a little
different than we did a year ago, but we perceive
ourselves as being the same person. But once we think of
"me," it becomes natural to think of "you" and "others."
That is how discrimination, with all its inherent ills,
starts. Eventually, we discriminate against everyone and
everything. But "I" is composed of minerals and elements
that used to be someone or something else. One hundred
years ago, "I" did not exist. One hundred years from
now, "I" will no longer be here, at least not in this
form. Part of the physical "I" may be in a cloud,
another part in a flower, or another part in a new
book—no more "I."
At some time, each of us will die. If we understand that
throughout the universe there is only one being and that
we are therefore all part of one another, that we are
not individuals, that our component parts will separate
and re-form, and that our loved ones are already one
with us, then we will not be overwhelmed with sadness
when the physical separation occurs.
Hearing that nothing has an individual self might be very
difficult to accept. Perhaps we can appreciate this
concept more if we look at an example that demonstrates
interconnectivity, such as pollution. To pollute the
environment or to pollute one part of our body is to
pollute and harm the whole of ourselves. When one organ
in our body is nourished, polluted, or hurt, our whole
body will be affected similarly. Likewise, being part of
a single, bigger entity, to nourish ourselves is to
nourish all beings.
Understanding that there is no independent self and that
we are all interrelated and part of one another will
bring us a sense of togetherness and peace, while
viewing ourselves as individuals can lead to feelings of
isolation or superiority. If we feel we are separate
from everything and everyone, we might be unable to
connect with others and will become caught up in
self-pity. On the other extreme, feeling that we are
separate from others, we might begin to think that we
know the best way to do things and that others are not
as bright as we are. Feeling superior can lead to the
justification that it is right to impose our views on
others and that controlling others is justifiable.
The Third Dharma Seal is Nirvana, the state of
wishlessness. Not a place or a state of nothingness,
Nirvana is a state that is beyond suffering, beyond
craving for worldly existence or sensual indulgence. It
is the extinction of the ideas of self and other, birth
and death, gain and loss. It is the cessation of
thinking that one can attain happiness even though
others have not or that the distress of others is their
concern, not mine.
Understanding that the way to ultimate liberation is
Nirvana, we will understand that genuine happiness is
not to be found in a materialistic, self-centered
existence. It is achieved through compassion, moral
self-discipline, meditative concentration, and innate
wisdom. Only by passing to a state beyond anything we
can now imagine or attempt to describe will we truly be
free and be able to help others to be free as well.
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