S: I never thought science and modern

philosophy can have such close ties with

Buddhism. What is this doctrine of change,

sorrow and no soul about?

U: Change (Anicca), suffering (Dukkha) and

no soul (Anatta) are the 'Characteristics of

Life'. All living beings, without exceptions, are

subject to these characteristics. They are

universal laws of the world and are scientific in

all their aspects.

S: Can you explain Anicca?

U: Anicca or impermanence applies to everything

in the universe. Nothing which is formed can

endure for eternity. Sooner or later it will be

worn away, broken, destroyed or disintegrated,

providing material for new forms to come into

being. Nothing is still for a moment and therefore

nothing can be enduring or permanent. Even our

likes and dislikes change. We may want to have a

thing but the moment we get it, the happiness

we get from it evaporates. This is also true with

deep unhappiness which disappears in time.

S: I see what you mean. Seen at this angle, it is

difficult to achieve real happiness.

U: Yes, joy slips through our fingers and fades

away even as we experience it. Man can endure

the passing of his happiness only because he

expects to gain it once more. If that expectation

is taken from him, he sinks into despair. In fact,

human lives alternating between memory and

hope. But Buddhism does not deny that there is

good in the world. It simply says that on the

whole, the suffering of Dukkha outweighs the

good.

S: Is it not a rather pessimistic view?

U: Pessimism optimism, these are just opposite

points of view. Truth lies in an entirely different

dimension. If we didn't know death to be a fact,

we would say that death is a pessimistic idea.

But because death is a fact, we cannot call the

knowledge pessimistic. It is a truth we have to

accept. Are you happy now?

S: Well, I suppose I am in a negative sort of way,

because I am not unhappy at the moment. But

anyway, I know there's a possibility of

happiness, because I've experienced it in the

past.

U: If you try to reconstruct your happiness,you

will realize that it is a very precarious kind of

feeling. It can be shattered completely by a

single event-a loss, a piece of bad news, an

injury or evena severe toothache. Buddhism is

simply a realistic way of looking at the world. It

does not only speak of sorrow, but it also

offers the way to put an end to sorrow.The

Eightfold Path.

S: And no soul?

U: Anatta is a difficult doctrine to understand.

Not until we arrive at the stage of Sotapanna

or the first state of sainthood, do we

completely comprehend this doctrine and

dispel self-illusion. Soul, self and spirit arc

believed to be an immaterial part of man

which survives on after death and destruction

of the body. Science today does not support

this legendary belief but recognizes the

existence of the human personality as an

aspect of the mind. It is astounding how close

scientific thinking today is running with the

Buddhist concept of Anatta. Don't confuse this

soul theory with a person's personality. The

personality changes continuously and can't

exist apart from the functioning of the mind

and body. A soul, on the other hand, is

supposed to be capable of separate existence,

apart from the functioning of the mind and

body.

A gust of wind rippled the leaves of the Bodhi

tree and set the little bells tinkling. Voices in

the shrine hall drifted across to the pagoda.

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