impermanence

In Buddhist monasteries at the end of the final ceremonies of the evening, this verse is chanted:

This day is already done.
Our lives are that much less.
We're like fish in a shrinking pond;
What joy is there in this?

We should be diligent and vigorous,
As if our own heads were at stake.
Only be mindful of impermanence,
And be careful not to be lax.
(Universal Worthy Bodhisattva's Verse of Exhortation, TT 111)

The Buddha taught about impermanence in order to help living beings sever their attachment to the ideas of permanence and the eternal, particularly those taught by non-Buddhist religions.

The Buddha said to the great king [Prasenajit], 'Now I will question you. Is your present physical body like vajra, undecaying and immortal? Or does it deteriorate?'

'World-Honored One, this body of mine will keep changing until eventually it has completely disintegrated.'

The Buddha said, 'Great King, you have not yet perished. How do you know that you will perish?'

'World-Honored One, although my impermanent, deteriorating body has not yet totally disintegrated, I observe now, in thought after thought, that it fades away; renewing itself yet failing to remain and gradually burning away, as if fire were turning to ashes. This perishing without cease convinces me that this body will eventually completely disintegrate.'

The Buddha said, 'So it is. Great King, at your present age you are already old and declining. How does your appearance compare to when you were a youth?'

'World-Honored One, in the past, when I was a child, my skin was moist and shining. When I reached the prime of life, my blood and breath were full. But now in my elderly years, as old age presses upon me, my frame and shape are withered and worn out. My vitality is dull and unclear. My hair is white and my face is wrinkled. I haven't much time remaining. How can this be comparable to the way I was in the prime of life.?'

'The Buddha said, 'Great King, your appearance cannot have deteriorated suddenly.'

The king said, 'World-Honored One, the change has been a hidden transformation of which I honestly have not been aware. I have come to this gradually through the passing of winters and summers. Why? In my twenties, though I was still young, my appearance had aged compared with my first ten years. My thirties were a further decline from my twenties, and now, at two years past sixty, I look back on myself in my fifties as being strong and healthy. World-Honored One, I am looking at these hidden transformations. Although the changes wrought by this descent into death are evident through the decades, I might consider them further in finer detail. These changes do not occur simply between one period of life and another; there are actually changes year by year. And how can there be only yearly changes? There are also monthly transformations. How can there just be monthly transformations? There are further alterations day by day. As I ponder them deeply and examine them closely, I find that kshana after kshana, thought after thought, they never stop. And so I know my body will keep changing until it completely disintegrates. . . .'

The Buddha said, '. . . what changes will perish. What does not change is fundamentally free of production and destruction. How can it be subject to your birth and death? Yet you still bring up what Maskari Goshaliputra and the others all say: that after the death of the body there is total annihilation.'

The king heard those words, believed them, and knew that when the life of the body is finished, one is destined for rebirth. . . ." (SS II 25-35 BTTS rev. ms.)

Whatever flourishes must have decay.
Every union entails separation
The prime of one's life does not last long.
Health is encroached upon by illness.
Life is swallowed up by death.
There are no dharmas that last forever.
Kings attain to sovereignty,
With power that has no equal.
Yet all of it declines and perishes,
And our lives are that way too.
The wheel of sufferings has no bounds.
It keeps turning without cease.
All three realms are impermanent,
And none of the existences is bliss.
(NS Ch2 #25 BTTS, draft tr.)

Impermanence together with suffering and no-self are called the Three Characteristics of the Conditioned World. In the third of the Four Applications of Mindfulness the impermanent nature of the mind is contemplated.

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1) Chinese Mandarin: wu chang , 2) Sanskrit: anitya, 3) Pali: anicca, 4) Alternate Translations.

(Source: Epstein, 2003: pp. 115 - 116)

Buddhist Text Translation Society (http://www.BTTSonline.org) References: TT 110, 111 (2 verses); SS II 24-36 (text only); Nirvana Sutra Ch. 2 Pt. 1 24-25 and lectures.

: Search Results

(mwd)	=	Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon
(cap)	=	Capeller's Sanskrit-English Dictionary
(otl)	=	Cologne Online Tamil Lexicon
(cpd)	=	Concise Pahlavi Dictionary

1	(mwd)	anitya	mfn. not everlasting , transient , occasional , incidental ; irregular , unusual ; unstable ; uncertain ; (%{am}) ind. occasionally.
2	(cap)	anitya	a. not everlasting, perishable, transient, inconstant; abstr. {-tA} f., {-tva} n.

: Search Results

(mwd)	=	Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon
(cap)	=	Capeller's Sanskrit-English Dictionary
(otl)	=	Cologne Online Tamil Lexicon
(cpd)	=	Concise Pahlavi Dictionary

1	(mwd)	nitya	mf(%{A})n. (fr. %{ni} ; cf. %{ni-ja}) innate , native MBh. iii , 13941 ; one's own (opp. to %{araNa}) RV. ; continual , perpetual , eternal RV. &c. &c. ; ifc. constantly dwelling or engaged in , intent upon , devoted or used to (cf. %{tapo-n-} , %{dharma-n-} , %{dhyAna-n-} , %{zastra-n-}) Mn. MBh. &c. ; ordinary , usual , invariable , fixed , necessary , obligatory (opp. to %{kAmya} , %{naimittika} &c.) Br. S3rS. Mn. &c. (with %{samAsa} m. a compound the meaning of which is not expressed by its members when not compounded Pa1n2. 2-1 , 3 Sch. ; with %{svarita} m. = %{jAtya} , the independent Svarita TPra1t. ii , 8) ; m. the sea , ocean L. ; (%{A}) f. a plough-share Gal. ; N. of Durga1 BrahmaP. ; of a S3akti Tantras. ; of the goddess Manasa1 L. ; n. constant and indispensable rite or act W. ; (%{am}) ind. always , constantly , regularly , by all means RV. &c. &c. (%{na@nityam} , never ; %{nityam@an-AdAta} , never a receiver Mn. vi , 8).
2	(cap)	nitya	a. inner, interior, indigenous, own; constant, continual, eternal ({nitya} --- & n. adv.); abiding or persevering in, devoted to (---); regular, essential, necessary, obligatory. Abstr. {-tA}Å f., {-tva}Å n.

Source: http://webapps.uni-koeln.de/tamil/

(NOTE: Numerous corrections and enhancements have been made under Shastra tradition and "Fair Use" by an Anonymous Buddhist Monk Redactor (Compiler) of this Online Buddhist Encyclopedia Compilation)

Primary Original Source: The Tripitaka Sutra, Shastra and Vinaya teachings
(as found in the scripture storehouse of the Indian Sanskrit-Siddham, Chinese, Tibetan and Japanese traditions of the Nalanda Tradition of ancient Nalanda University) of Shakyamuni Buddha, and his Arya Sagely Bodhisattva Bhikshu Monk and Upasaka disciples.

These Good and Wise Advisors (Kaliyanamitra) Dharma Master teachers include Arya Venerables Nagarjuna, Ashvaghosha, Aryasura, Kumarajiva, Shantideva, Chandrakirti, Chandragomin, Vasubandhu, Asanga, Hui Neng, Atisha, Kamalashila, Dharmarakshita, Tsong Khapa, Thogme Zangpo, Patanjali, Sushruta, Charaka, Vagbhata, Nichiren, Hsu Yun, Hsuan Hua, Shen Kai, Tenzin Gyatso, Kyabje Zopa, Ajahn Chah, Vasant Lad, and other modern day masters. We consider them to be in accord with Master Hsuan Hua’s "Seven Guidelines for Recognizing Genuine Teachers"

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See also: Tripitaka (1. Sutras, 2. Vinaya, 3. Shastras or Abhidharma, or Tantra), Taisho Catalog Numbering System, Dharma, and names of individual sutras (such as Shurangama Sutra, Avatamsaka Sutra [Flower Adornment Sutra], Lotus Sutra [Wonderful Dharma Flower Sutra], Earth Store Sutra, Dharani Sutra, Brahma Net Sutra, Medicine Master Buddha Sutra, Sixth Patriarch Platform Sutra, Sutra in 42 Sections, Sutra on the Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching, et al.

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         Name Recitation of Buddhas Amitabha-Amitayus, Medicine Buddha - Bhaisajya Guru - Akshobhya,
         and Bodhisattvas: Avalokiteshvara-Guanyin-Chenrezig-Mahakala, Tara, Samantabhadra Universal Worthy,
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Compilation Sources for the Above Material on the Teachings of the Buddha:

Primary Compilation Source: Epstein, Ronald B., Ph.D, compiler, Buddhist Text Translation Society's Buddhism A to Z, Burlingame, California: Buddhist Text Translation Society, 2003. ISBN: 0881393533 Paperback: 284 pages. www.BTTSOnline.org www.Amazon.com
http://www.bttsonline.org/product.aspx?pid=118 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0881393533/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20

Secondary Compilation Source: The Seeker’s Glossary of Buddhism, 2nd ed., San Francisco, California: Sutra Translation Committee of the United States and Canada, 1998: www.budaedu.org.tw

Secondary Compilation Source: Muller, Charles, editor, Digital Dictionary of Buddhism [DDB], Toyo Gakuen University, Japan, 2007: Username is "guest", with no password.
http://buddhism-dict.net/ddb - Based in large part on the Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms with Sanskrit and English Equivalents (by Soothill and Hodous) Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass, 1997.

Secondary Compilation Source: Ehrhard, Diener, Fischer, et al, The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications, 1991. 296 pages. ISBN 978-0-87773-520-5 www.Shambhala.com, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0877735204/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20,
http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/978-0-87773-520-5.cfm

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Sarva Mangalam.
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Arya Bhikshu Shantideva’s Bodhisattvacharyavatara says:
Just as Manjushri works
To fulfill the aims of all limited beings
To the far reaches of space in the ten directions,
May my behavior become just like that.

For as long as space remains,
And for as long as wandering beings remain,
May I too remain for that long,
Dispelling the sufferings of wandering beings.

(Like Ananda says in the Shurangama Sutra introduction to the Shurangama Mantra,
"And even could the nature of shunyata melt away, my vajra-like Supreme Resolve would still remain unmoved.)

Whatever sufferings wandering beings might have,
May all of them ripen on me,
And through the Bodhisattva assembly,
May wandering beings enjoy happiness.

May the teachings,
the sole medicine for the sufferings of wandering beings
And the source of all happiness,
Continue to endure for a very long time,
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Updated May 10, 2008