Anicca
1.*Anicca (One of the Three Marks)
Dictionary Definition: 'Impermanence’ is the first of the three characteristics of existence. It is from the fact of impermanence that the other two characteristics, suffering (dukkha) and not-self (anattá), are derived. Impermanence is a basic feature of all conditioned phenomena, be they material or mental, coarse or subtle, one's own or external: All formations are impermanent. That the totality of existence is impermanent is also often stated in terms of the five aggregates, the twelve personal and external sense bases, etc. (www.urbandharma.org)
My Definition: Every moment of experience is process, everything is in flux. It is important to not hold on to any moment because it is not absolute.
Journal Entry February 6th: I have been having a hard time getting over a break up recently. I end up thinking about it often and it consumes my thoughts most of the time. This class and in particular the terms have been a huge part of improving my attitude about the situation. Within anicca, I learned that dukkha is impermanent and will not last. The second arrows I have been adding to the first arrow of the break up have been overwhelming me. I now realize when I am starting to add another arrow, see it for what it is as a negative thought, and change the direction of my mind. It has helped infinitely with my well being and I feel much more content.
1.*Anicca (One of the Three Marks)
Dictionary Definition: 'Impermanence’ is the first of the three characteristics of existence. It is from the fact of impermanence that the other two characteristics, suffering (dukkha) and not-self (anattá), are derived. Impermanence is a basic feature of all conditioned phenomena, be they material or mental, coarse or subtle, one's own or external: All formations are impermanent. That the totality of existence is impermanent is also often stated in terms of the five aggregates, the twelve personal and external sense bases, etc. (www.urbandharma.org)
My Definition: Every moment of experience is process, everything is in flux. It is important to not hold on to any moment because it is not absolute.
Journal Entry February 6th: I have been having a hard time getting over a break up recently. I end up thinking about it often and it consumes my thoughts most of the time. This class and in particular the terms have been a huge part of improving my attitude about the situation. Within anicca, I learned that dukkha is impermanent and will not last. The second arrows I have been adding to the first arrow of the break up have been overwhelming me. I now realize when I am starting to add another arrow, see it for what it is as a negative thought, and change the direction of my mind. It has helped infinitely with my well being and I feel much more content.
Anatta
2. *Anatta (One of the Three Marks)
Dictionary Definition: 'not-self', non-ego, egolessness, impersonality, is the last of the three characteristics of existence. The anatta doctrine teaches that neither within the bodily and mental phenomena of existence, nor outside of them, can be found anything that in the ultimate sense could be regarded as a self-existing real ego-entity, soul or any other abiding substance. This is the central doctrine of Buddhism, without understanding which a real knowledge of Buddhism is altogether impossible. (www.urbandharma.org)
My Definition: Anatta is the third mark of existence; the non-self. Every moment in one’s life experiences arises in complete dependence upon and is conditioned by every other event. There is no “I” as an independent being, it is “I”, the very conditions that are ever-changing (anicca) and there is no separate essential being that is “me.”
Journal Entry March 5: If you are trying to understand this moment and what it is about, you are trying to understand everyone. A quote that got brought up in class today that explains Anatta very well was by Carl Sagan, “If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.” To make the apple pie from scratch, you must know all of the conditions that have led to that point. There are almost an infinite amount of conditions that make a moment exist.
2. *Anatta (One of the Three Marks)
Dictionary Definition: 'not-self', non-ego, egolessness, impersonality, is the last of the three characteristics of existence. The anatta doctrine teaches that neither within the bodily and mental phenomena of existence, nor outside of them, can be found anything that in the ultimate sense could be regarded as a self-existing real ego-entity, soul or any other abiding substance. This is the central doctrine of Buddhism, without understanding which a real knowledge of Buddhism is altogether impossible. (www.urbandharma.org)
My Definition: Anatta is the third mark of existence; the non-self. Every moment in one’s life experiences arises in complete dependence upon and is conditioned by every other event. There is no “I” as an independent being, it is “I”, the very conditions that are ever-changing (anicca) and there is no separate essential being that is “me.”
Journal Entry March 5: If you are trying to understand this moment and what it is about, you are trying to understand everyone. A quote that got brought up in class today that explains Anatta very well was by Carl Sagan, “If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.” To make the apple pie from scratch, you must know all of the conditions that have led to that point. There are almost an infinite amount of conditions that make a moment exist.
Attachment
3. *Attachment
Dictionary Definition: A feeling that binds one to a person, thing, cause, ideal, or the like; devotion.(dictionary.reference.com)
My Definition: Two forms of attachment, craving and intimacy. Both forms of attachment are bonding, but the difference lies in how and what one is bonding to. Craving is the bad type of attachment that is based in ignorance, a deluded state about the fundamental nature of reality, the assumption that reality is not anicca. It is projecting instead of seeing a moment for what it actually is.
Journal Entry Feb 18: Looking at the psychotic form of attachment (craving), bonding one’s unreal story about reality onto an experience, will bring about dukkha. It is projecting what one grasps at in a phenomenal experience onto another experience and not accepting the dharma, the what is the case of the actual experience. Psychotic attachment leads to trsna, or craving negative desires and addictions. Looking at attachment in the positive form is intimacy. Intimacy is attaching to experiences with family and loved ones, and will not cause dukkha to arise. It is where one seeks to truly experience a moment for what it is, and lets it go as the conditions cause it to leave. Intimacy is the healthy form of attachment and accepts anicca for what it is.
3. *Attachment
Dictionary Definition: A feeling that binds one to a person, thing, cause, ideal, or the like; devotion.(dictionary.reference.com)
My Definition: Two forms of attachment, craving and intimacy. Both forms of attachment are bonding, but the difference lies in how and what one is bonding to. Craving is the bad type of attachment that is based in ignorance, a deluded state about the fundamental nature of reality, the assumption that reality is not anicca. It is projecting instead of seeing a moment for what it actually is.
Journal Entry Feb 18: Looking at the psychotic form of attachment (craving), bonding one’s unreal story about reality onto an experience, will bring about dukkha. It is projecting what one grasps at in a phenomenal experience onto another experience and not accepting the dharma, the what is the case of the actual experience. Psychotic attachment leads to trsna, or craving negative desires and addictions. Looking at attachment in the positive form is intimacy. Intimacy is attaching to experiences with family and loved ones, and will not cause dukkha to arise. It is where one seeks to truly experience a moment for what it is, and lets it go as the conditions cause it to leave. Intimacy is the healthy form of attachment and accepts anicca for what it is.