Among other things, Shakyamuni Buddha taught that the mindful heeding of experience discloses three essential marks: anicca (impermanence), dukkha (dis-ease), and anatta (no-self). Although I want to pay special attention to the place of impermanence within the Dharma, these three marks are inextricably woven, and so must be co-explicated to a degree. In concentrating on the profound reality of impermanence, I am simultaneously pointing toward the compassion of a Bodhisattva as an irresistible fruit of this reality, a fruit of the enlightened mind that perceives this reality for itself, free of any conceptual scaffolding.

A Bodhisattva sees all living beings as radically impermanent. The enlightened mind understands such ephemerality as the natural ground of the “Four Immeasurables”: loving-kindness, empathetic joy, compassion, and equanimity; this it does experientially, not conceptually. By way of contrast, the ordinary mind of delusion engages worldly pleasures in a way best described as clinging (upadana), an activity fuleled by thirst (tanha). “Fuel” is a truly apt metaphor, given that in the “Fire Sutra” the Buddha describes the realm of samsaric existence as set aflame with the three poisons of greed, hatred, and ignorance. Traditionally, these two active factors are understood to produce dukkha. In a sense, though, we can say that dukkha and upadana are really one inseparable whole. To suffer is to cling, is to grasp. Why is this so? 

The act of clinging implies the expectation of an enduring object that anchors our grip. Yet, according to the teaching of impermanence, a thing’s very existence entails its own constant degeneration. The ordinary phenomena that we delusively perceive as independent, discrete, enduring entities are like wisps of wind or mounds of sand that pass through our fingers, negating our futile desire for permanence. We do well to observe that rebirth in Buddhism is primarily moment-to-moment cessation and regeneration of all conditions. When the 17th-century Zen master Bankei speaks of the “Unborn”, he invites us to realize that the One, Pure Buddha-mind is beyond birth and death. The concepts of birth and death would describe ultimate reality if there were actually independent, enduring things that came into existence at one moment, remained unaffected by external conditions for a lifetime, and finally passed from being to non-being. Instead, there exist dependently-arising physical conditions and “life streams” of sentient beings ever-interpenetrating, and through a long, complex process, ideas of a continuous ego and a self-essence emerge. This is the truth of anatta.  

So, radical impermanence, or no-self, is our reality. Seeing so, or tasting (in Buddhism, taste is viewed as the most intimate sense modality given its incorporation of the object into the subject’s body) so, is the manifestation of wisdom. But wisdom and compassion are not separate. For a Bodhisattva, to distinctly perceive the total function of the Dharma is to simultaneously foster a boundless love for all sentient beings. In fact, this Bodhisattvic ideal of infinite compassion, fructified by the Four Bodhisattva Vows, is thought to distinguish the Mahayana tradition of Buddhism from its Theravadan (way of the elders) predecessor. In that latter tradition, the model of practice is the ‘Arhat’, embodied by the solitary monk who renounces the world of impermanence and puts the Buddha’s teachings into practice toward the attainment of individual enlightenment (Nirvana). Quite radically, the Bodhisattva cultivates Bodhicitta, a resolute intention to liberate all beings from suffering, and defers attainment of Nirvana toward this end.

What, then, constitutes the specific link between directly perceiving impermanence and the expression of wisdom through infinite love? A clue is the concept of non-dual kindness. An expedient means of realizing this form of kindness is to investigate its dualistic counterpart. Typically, kindness is framed as one self-contained ego serving another self-contained ego. This service can either stem from a desire to ultimately benefit oneself in the form of a reward (egoism), or a desire to ultimately benefit another while sacrificing oneself (altruism). Each of these categories of action remain committed to the reality of self and other. Non-dual kindness completely transcends such binaries. The one who practices this kindness understands that each apparently isolated instance of compassion actually benefits all beings; self-sacrifice is utterly meaningless within the body of the true Self, the Dharmakaya. When we see that there is really nothing to protect, no inherent self-essence to act in the interest of, we engage the world with absolute integrity and generosity, free of calculation. Recognizing that all things are both identical and different is a Dharma-gate of this practice. Every stream is demarcated and delimited by a completely unique set of conditions proper to its respective place, yet they are all nothing but water. Likewise, the deluded mind of egoism is an angry sea, and the Buddha-mind is a perfectly tranquil expanse of unperturbed water. Phenomenal differences betray a sameness of substance.

Beyond interpersonal compassion, Bodhisattvic non-duality enables a general contentment and a virtuous relationship with worldly (sensory) pleasures. The happiness we usually derive from sensory pleasures is conditioned by impermanent cravings. These pleasures are thoroughly contingent and extrinsic insofar as they depend on the existence of certain external matters-of-fact. In the absence or cessation of a pleasurable worldly possession or condition, dukkha arises since we fail to observe that experiences are desirable because of, not despite their impermanence. Conversely, the bliss of spiritual pleasure is everlasting and wholly unconditioned. One of the most beautiful aspects of Mahayana Buddhism, especially the Chan/Zen tradition, is the teaching that this spiritual pleasure does not wait for us in a transcendent Heaven; Nirvana is right in front of us, and has been all along. Finding composure and grounding in the field of selflessness and no-thingness is a step toward unveiling the always-present Buddha-nature.