Most people who are familiar with Buddhism know of the metaphor of the Buddha as a doctor for the world’s ills. I’m going to update this metaphor to the 21st century to describe and explain the Three Characteristics of Impermanence, Dissatisfaction, and No Self.
Let’s say the Buddha is a doctor and he has his office in any town or village for that matter. He has a nice expansive clean office. I sit in the waiting room and am called into see him. He has the rollaway bench covered with fresh white paper and he asks me to sit up on it. He asks, “What seems to be the problem?” I launch into a litany of issues – money problems, breakup with girlfriend, worries about health issues, aches and pains and depression. The Buddha examines me and says, “I can help you. You think there’s something wrong with you but you’re reacting to a false positive.”
“A what?” I ask.
“A false positive – that’s when some test tells you that you have a disease, but it’s wrong – the instrument that gave you the information was inaccurate. The instrument in question is your mind, your views in their present state. You see signs that you think there’s something wrong with you and you believe them. You have a totally upside down view of the world and I will help to set you straight.”
“What am I missing,” I ask.
The Buddha says, “You don’t really understand how the world works. You are ignorant of the Three Marks or Characteristics of existence. “What are they?” I ask. The Buddha replies, “They are concepts or doctrines, teachings that point to the way things really are. You believe in just the opposite, that’s why I say you have a false positive – you view things existing in a certain way that they are not. Also, each of these Three Characteristics, Impermanence, Dissatisfaction, and No Self are described in negative terms because we’re trying to negate – that is remove – your false views.”
“Here’s the first: Impermanence.” I look blankly. The Buddha tells me, “You think that things, including yourself are permanent and unchanging.” I think for a moment and say, “sure, there is my job, my house, my name, all my friends. I had them yesterday and I have them today. I don’t see any issue.” The Buddha says, “has it always been so and will it always be so?” I’m not so sure.
The Buddha hooks me up to an X-ray machine. He says, “I’m going to do a scan of your five skandhas – that is everything that constitutes you, your mind and body.” So I look up at the screen and I see some very detailed images of my body, sensations running through it, what I perceive, what my mind does with it – volition or mental formations, and finally my consciousness. The Buddha asks, “Do you see anything in all of this that remains the same, even for a moment?” “No,” I say. “Everything that I’ve shown you, everything you experience with your mind in the confused state that it is in, is conditioned.”
“What does conditioned mean?” I ask. “One thing is dependent or contingent on another. It goes like this,” the Buddha says. “When this is, that comes to be; with the arising of this, that arises; when this is not, that does not come to be; with the cessation of this, that ceases; In other words, you can’t have a book without pages, and the pages cannot exist without paper, paper comes from tree, on and on – literally ad infinitum.”
“OK,” I say, “with everything changing and dependent on something else, I guess there is nothing permanent.” “Absolutely nothing in mind or body.” the Buddha adds.
“So that’s my problem?” The Buddha says, “You’re on the right track.”
“What’s next?” “Well, there’s another false positive – a piece of inaccurate information that you believe.”
“What’s that?”
“You think that the world is reliable, definable, that it acts the way you want it to act. Look, up until a little while ago, you thought that everything was permanent, that gave you a false sense of a kind of certainty.”
“What do you mean by certainty?” The Buddha says, “Well I have your records going back a very long time.”
“How long?” I ask. “Time immemorial,” the Buddha replies. “There have been times when you thought that you were a king, the smartest person in the world. That everybody should bow down to you.” I remain silent.
Then the Buddha says, “there were other times that you thought you were an insignificant worm, that you were of no consequence, and hardly had the right to the live.” “That’s true,” I say sheepishly. The Buddha continues, “other times when you sort of thought life is both good and bad, sometimes this, sometimes that.” I brighten a little, “Yes.” The Buddha said “all false, just philosophical ideas that you were caught up in, quite beside the point.”
So the Buddha continues, “From time immemorial, you have held onto to this idea of permanence”, and checking the results of some of the lab tests he gave me he says, “I see that your body and mind have accumulated some toxins.” “Toxins!” I say, “what do you mean?” “Well,” he’s trying to be a non-alarmist here, “You have these toxins – sometimes we call them the three poisons – of greed, hatred and ignorance, or passion, aversion and delusion.” “Sounds serious,” I say. “Depends on how you look at it,” he says. Now he hooks me up to a CAT scan and starts to look at the readings. “Look, you had this original toxin, we call it ignorance or delusion. It slowly and subtly crept into your mind and you started to not see what was right in front of you, you were always looking at things created by your mind. You believed in permanence and that caused you to try to attach to things – especially the ones that made you feel good – that’s the greed and desire. But then there are things that don’t make you feel very good – you want to get away from them at all cost – that’s the hatred and aversion.” “What’s wrong with wanting some things and getting rid of others?” I ask. The Buddha says, “nothing except for the fact that it doesn’t work and these feelings cause you all sorts of discomfort. And you end up with dissatisfaction, unease, imperfection – you suffer because of it.” I get a little depressed hearing this. The Buddha says, “ But hang on – you also have generosity, kindness and goodwill, and wisdom within you, and when you start to look at things correctly, you’ll see they’re made of the same stuff as greed, hatred and ignorance. Wait till I fill you in on the rest of the Four Noble Truths – I’ve told you about suffering and it’s cause, those are the first two. These Four Noble Truths are an analysis of what’s wrong and a prescription for what’s right. I’ll get to the cure soon.”
“Can I go home now?” I ask.
“Not yet,” says the Buddha. “There’s one Characteristic to go. “What’s that?” “It’s the last false positive. An incorrect view of who you are. It’s called No Self “ “Huh?” I say. Now he puts me in for an MRI scan.
I feel a little claustrophobic. “This is very subtle,” the Buddha says, “and we need a deep investigation.” I look at the screen and say, “where are we now?” He says, “this is the deep prajnaparamita?” I say, “Is that near the pineal gland or the cerebrum?” He says, “be quiet and pay attention.”
The Buddha starts to look at the dials and the readings and he explains to me what is going on. “You had this sense, false and baseless as we have seen, that things were permanent and you started to operate as if they were. Well you yourself needed a sense of continuity in all this flux and change. You needed a base of operations.” “OK, what would that be?” I ask. “That’s a sense of self,” the Buddha says. “That seems reasonable”, I say. The Buddha, says “I know, but look closely at this scan, the most powerful in the universe, there is nothing that it doesn’t detect. You show me where your self is in this scan.” This is really disturbing.
I look everywhere – through the five skandhas, conditioned arising, everywhere, and I can’t find a self. “But I’ve had a self as long as I can remember,” I protest. The Buddha said, “what you had was a set of reoccurring illusions that kept reinforcing themselves, pulling the wool over your eyes. Everything that was going on was real enough in its moment, but your understanding and conclusions about them were flat wrong. Look, if everything else is impermanent, why should there be a “self “ that is permanent. It was an illusion. You were the victim of the false positive.”
“You mean I don’t exist?” The Buddha said, “I’m not talking about that at all. I’m just talking about some crazy ideas you had in your head.”
“Hold on,” I say, “isn’t there something true and knowable that’s not a fiction? There’s got to be something there.” “Sure,” says the Buddha. “Well, what is it?” I ask. “It’s your original face before you were born.” I look over the x-rays, CAT scans, and MRI information. “I don’t see it,” I say. “That makes sense”, says the Buddha, “because you can’t find it there, or let’s just say it might be hard for you to recognize at this point. All of these things, my teachings, the Three Characteristics are meant to remove illusion and misunderstanding.”
“So do I have it now?” I ask “Am I cured?” “Well,” the Buddha says, “you have some correct information to work with. But you really have to begin treatment. I explained to you about suffering and I’ve shown you its cause. That the first two Noble Truths. But you have to know the third and last Noble Truths. You have to know that there really is a cure and that there is path, a regimen, a course to treat your problems with.”
“What’s that”, I ask. The Buddha said, “The Eightfold Path.” So he gave me some pills. “These are for starting you on Wisdom, they will start you on the path – correctly seeing things as they are - Right View, and making effort to live the way things are – Right Intention. The pills aren’t really going to do it for you. They’re just a reminder.”
I was more banged up then I thought I was, so the Buddha gave me some bandages and dressings – these are the precepts, guidelines for an ethical life. “They will keep you safe on the path and make sure you act, speak, and make a living according to Right principles.
Lastly, he gave me a syringe for my self-inoculation. “This is samadhi – you take it then you’re on your own – you develop your mind so that you are ever vigilant, mindful and finally stable and concentrated. This should get you on your way. Call me if you run into any problems.”
After I left, the Buddha turned to his assistant, Ananda, and said, “Nice fellow. You know there really wasn’t anything wrong with him in the first place.” “Yes”, Ananda said, “there’s seems to be an epidemic of self delusion.” Then he looked out into the waiting room, saw all the sentient beings lined up. “Next!” he shouted.
Harry Miller studied with Master Sheng Yen for over 30 years. He was editor of the Chan Newsletter for over 10 years, and is a frequent contributor to Chan Magazine. He is a board member of Dharma Drum Retreat Center and a member of the Dharma Teachers in Training at Chan Meditation Center.
