Three marks of existence

In Buddhism, the three marks of existence are three characteristics (Pali: tilakkhaṇa; Sanskrit: त्रिलक्षण trilakṣaṇa) of all existence and beings, namely aniccā (impermanence), dukkha (commonly translated as "suffering", "unsatisfactory," "unease"), and anattā (without a lasting essence). That humans are subject to delusion about the three marks, that this delusion results in suffering, and that removal of that delusion results in the end of dukkha, is a central theme in the Buddhist Four Noble Truths and Noble Eightfold Path. There are different lists of the "marks of existence" found in the canons of the early Buddhist schools. In the Pali tradition of the Theravada school, the three marks are: sabbe saṅkhārā aniccā – all saṅkhāras (conditioned things) are impermanent sabbe saṅkhārā dukkhā – all saṅkhāras are unsatisfactory, imperfect, unstable sabbe dhammā anattā – all dharmas (conditioned or unconditioned things) have no unchanging self or soul The northern Buddhist Sarvāstivāda tradition meanwhile has the following in their Samyukta Agama: All conditioned things are impermanent (sarvasaṃskārā anityāḥ) All dharmas are non-self (sarvadharmā anātmānaḥ) Nirvāṇa is calm (śāntaṃ nirvāṇam) In the Ekottarika-āgama and in Mahayana sources like the Yogācārabhūmi-Śāstra and The Questions of the Nāga King Sāgara (Sāgaranāgarājaparipṛcchā) however, four characteristics or “four seals of the Dharma” (Sanskrit: dharmoddāna-catuṣṭayaṃ or catvāri dharmapadāni , Chinese: 四法印) are described instead of three: all compounded phenomena are impermanent (anitya) all contaminated phenomena are without satisfaction (duḥkha) all phenomena are without self (anātman) nirvāṇa is peaceful/peace (śānta/śānti) Impermanence Impermanence (Pali anicca, Sanskrit anitya) means that all things (saṅkhāra) are in a constant state of flux. Buddhism states that all physical and mental events come into being and dissolve. Human life embodies this flux in the aging process and the cycle of repeated birth and death (Samsara); nothing lasts, and everything decays.