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Grammatical Analysis

Tilakkhaṇa: [nt.] The Three Characteristics; Three Marks of Existence. Formed by ti (three) + lakkhaṇa (mark, sign, characteristic, defining trait).

Orthodox Definition

The Tilakkhaṇa are the three absolute, universal characteristics branded onto the fabric of all conditioned reality. Penetrating these three marks is the exclusive target of Insight Meditation (Vipassanā), distinguishing the Buddha’s teaching from all other spiritual systems.

The three characteristics are:

  1. Anicca-lakkhaṇa (The Mark of Impermanence): The fact that all conditioned things rise and fall and undergo constant destruction.
  2. Dukkha-lakkhaṇa (The Mark of Suffering): The fact that all conditioned things are continuously oppressed by rise and fall, offering no genuine security or lasting satisfaction.
  3. Anattā-lakkhaṇa (The Mark of Non-self): The fact that all phenomena (both conditioned and unconditioned) are empty of an abiding soul, ego, or controlling essence.

The commentaries warn that these marks are naturally hidden from the untrained mind. Impermanence is concealed by the illusion of continuity (santati); suffering is concealed by the illusion of changing postures (iriyāpatha); and non-self is concealed by the illusion of compactness (ghana-saññā). Insight practice smashes these illusions to reveal the three marks clearly.

Quote

Keci pana ‘‘etaṃ mamāti mamaṃkārakappanā, esohamasmīti ahaṃkārakappanā, eso me attāti ahaṃkāramamaṃkārakappito attābhinivesoti ca, tathā yathākkameneva taṇhāmūlaniveso mānapaggāho, taṇhāmūlaniviṭṭho mānapaggahito, attābhinivesoti ca, saṅkhārānaṃ dukkhalakkhaṇādassanaṃ, saṅkhārānaṃ aniccalakkhaṇādassanaṃ, saṅkhārānaṃ tilakkhaṇādassanahetuko attābhinivesoti ca, dukkhe asubhe ca sukhaṃ subhanti vipallāsagatassa, anicce niccanti vipallāsagatassa, catubbidhavipallāsagatassa ca attābhinivesoti ca, pubbenivāsañāṇassa ākārakappanā, dibbacakkhuñāṇassa anāgatapaṭilābhakappanā, pubbantāparantaidappaccayatāpaṭiccasamuppannesu dhammesu kappanissitassa attābhinivesoti ca, nandiyā atītamanvāgameti, nandiyā anāgataṃ paṭikaṅkhati, paccuppannesu dhammesu saṃhīrati attābhinivesoti ca, pubbante aññāṇahetukā diṭṭhi, aparante aññāṇahetukā diṭṭhi, pubbantāparante idappaccayatāpaṭiccasamuppannesu dhammesu aññāṇahetuko attābhiniveso’’ti ca etesaṃ tiṇṇaṃ vacanānaṃ atthaṃ vaṇṇayanti.
“But some explain the meaning of these three phrases thus: ‘This is mine’ is the fabrication of ‘mineness’; ‘This I am’ is the fabrication of ‘I-ness’; ‘This is my self’ is the adherence to self fabricated through ‘I-ness’ and ‘mineness.’ Also: ‘Respectively, it is adherence rooted in craving, a grasping upheld by conceit, and an adherence rooted in craving and upheld by conceit.’ Also: ‘It is adherence to self due to not seeing the characteristic of suffering in formations, not seeing the characteristic of impermanence in formations, and not seeing the three characteristics in formations.’ Also: ‘For one who has fallen into perversion, seeing pleasure and beauty in what is suffering and foul, it is adherence to self; for one who has fallen into perversion, seeing permanence in what is impermanent, it is adherence to self; and for one who has fallen into the fourfold perversion, it is adherence to self.’ Also: ‘It is the fabrication of modes of the knowledge of previous existences, the fabrication of future attainment of the divine eye, and the adherence to self for one dependent on fabrications concerning dhammas arisen from dependent origination with its specific conditionality in the past and future.’ Also: ‘Through delight one pursues the past, through delight one longs for the future, and in present dhammas one is carried away by adherence to self.’ And also: ‘It is a view caused by ignorance of the past, a view caused by ignorance of the future, and adherence to self caused by ignorance of dhammas arisen from dependent origination with its specific conditionality in the past and future.’”

— Paṭisambhidāmagga-aṭṭhakathā (Saddhammappakāsinī)

Quote (Discourse on the Forty Aspects of Contemplation)

Cattārīsākāraanupassanākathā.
Discourse on the Forty Aspects of Contemplation.

So tasseva pañcasu khandhesu aniccadukkhānattasammasanassa thirabhāvatthāya, yaṃ taṃ bhagavatā ‘‘katamehi cattārīsāya ākārehi anulomikaṃ khantiṃ paṭilabhati, katamehi cattārīsāya ākārehi sammattaniyāmaṃ okkamatī’’ti etassa vibhaṅge –
For the sake of firmly establishing the contemplation of impermanence, suffering, and not-self in those five aggregates, as the Blessed One said in the analysis of “By what forty aspects does one attain conformable patience? By what forty aspects does one enter the fixed course of rightness?”—

1. Aniccānupassanā (10 Aspects of Impermanence):
‘‘Pañcakkhandhe aniccato, palokato, calato, pabhaṅguto, addhuvato, vipariṇāmadhammato, asārakato, vibhavato, saṅkhatato, maraṇadhammato’’ti.
“The five aggregates are impermanent, disintegrating, unstable, perishable, unreliable, subject to change, without essence, subject to dissolution, conditioned, subject to death.”

2. Dukkhānupassanā (25 Aspects of Suffering):
‘‘Dukkhato, rogato, gaṇḍato, sallato, aghato, ābādhato, ītito, upaddavato, bhayato, upasaggato, atāṇato, aleṇato, asaraṇato, ādīnavato, aghamūlato, vadhakato, sāsavato, mārāmisato, jātidhammato, jarādhammato, byādhidhammato, sokadhammato, paridevadhammato, upāyāsadhammato, saṃkilesikadhammato’’ti.
“[The five aggregates are] painful, a disease, a boil, a dart, a misfortune, an affliction, a calamity, a disaster, a danger, an obstacle, without refuge, without shelter, without protection, fraught with danger, the root of misfortune, a slayer, with fermentations, a bait of Māra, subject to birth, subject to aging, subject to sickness, subject to sorrow, subject to lamentation, subject to despair, subject to defilement.”

3. Anattānupassanā (5 Aspects of Not-Self):
‘‘Parato, rittato, tucchato, suññato, anattato’’ti.
“[The five aggregates are] alien, empty, void, hollow, not-self.”

— Visuddhimagga (du)

Textual References

  • Sutta: Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta (SN 22.59) – The classic discourse systematically applying the three characteristics to the five aggregates.
  • Canonical: Dhammapada (Maggavagga, vv. 277-279) – The famous verses declaring that seeing the three characteristics with wisdom is the path to purity.
  • Commentary: Visuddhimagga (Chapter XXI) – The definitive meditation manual on how to strip away the illusions concealing the marks to attain the knowledges of insight.
  • Commentary: Paṭisambhidāmagga-aṭṭhakathā (Saddhammappakāsinī) – Explaining the adherence to self through various fabrications, conceits, and views.

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