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philosophy: the wholehearted
embrace of materialism. Their view
was that if everything is simply a
temporary arrangement of physical
elements, there is no enduring soul
that can be influenced by good or
bad deeds during life. Furthermore,
if there is no life after death, the
best policy is to seek as much
pleasure as possible in this life.
However, in rejecting these two
extremes, Buddha did not simply
opt for a Middle Way in the sense of
a negotiated compromise; rather,
his view was based on an insight
that is key to understanding the
whole of Buddhist teaching: the
concept of interconnectedness.
Three marks of existence
Buddha pointed out that all things
in life come about as a result of
certain causes and conditions;
when these cease, the elements
that depend upon them will also
cease. Nothing, therefore, has
a permanent or independent
existence. The Sanskrit term for
such mutual dependence is pratitya
samutpada, of which a literal
translation might be things
stepping up together. The phrase is
sometimes translated as dependent
origination, better to convey the
idea that nothing originates in
itself—everything is dependent
upon prior causes. We live in
a world in which everything is
interconnected and nothing is
the source of its own being.
This simple but profound
observation leads to what are
known as the three universal marks
of existence. The first is anicca:
that everything is impermanent
and subject to change. We may
wish it were not so, but it is.
The Buddha said that the quest
for permanence and the certainty
of things having a fixed essenceTHE ENLIGHTENMENT OF BUDDHA
Buddhist monks do not cultivate
hardship for its own sake; they are
expected to eat moderately and depend
on the gifts of lay people for their food—
a practical example of interdependence.leads people to have a general
sense of dissatisfaction with life
(dukkha), and this constitutes
the second mark of existence.
Dukkha is sometimes translated
as suffering, but it means more
than physical suffering or the
inevitability of death—it points to
existential frustration. Life does not
necessarily provide us with what
we want and, at the same time,
it contains things, events, and
other people that we don’t want.
Nothing in life gives us complete
satisfaction; everything has
its limitations.
The third mark of existence
is anata: that, because everything
is constantly changing, nothing
has a fixed self or essence.
Conventionally, we see things
(such as trees) as separate from
one another, and define them on
that basis. In reality, however,
because everything depends on
those elements that bring it about
(trees cannot grow without soil,
water, and sunlight), nothing can
be defined or permanently fixed
in the way that our common sense
and language supposes.
The idea of interconnectedness,
as well as the three marks of
existence implied within it, is a
matter of observation rather than
argument. It is not a statement of
how the world should be, simply
that this is how it is—and that
attempts to deny it are the root
cause of our daily frustration.
Buddha’s subsequent teaching
was shaped by the concept of
interconnectedness. By relating
dukkha, or dissatisfaction, to the
process of change, the concept