INTRODUCTION The Three Dharma Seals, translated from Chinese 三 法 印 (san- fa-yin), are the key teachings in Buddhism, both in Theravāda and Mahāyāna. According to the Buddhists, the Buddha taught the Three Dharma Seals in order to determine the genuineness of Buddhist teachings.1 [The Three Dharma Seals are the three aspects of Buddhist teachings which are distinguished from the non-Buddhist teachings.] However, These Three Dharmas are said to be very different in the both traditions. In the Theravāda tradition, the Three Dharma Seals are presented as impermanence, suffering and non-self. Meanwhile, in the Mahāyāna tradition, these are known as emptiness, signlessness and wishlessness.2 In order to make difference between the two sets, the Buddhist scholars called impermanence (anicca/anitya), suffering (dukkha/duḥkha) and non-self (anattā/anātman) as the Three Characteristics of Existence, or the Three Marks of Existence, etc., and emptiness (śūnyatā/sunnattā), signlessness (animitta) and wishlessness (apraṇihita) as the Three Doors of Liberation or the Three Concentrations. On the philosophical view, if the Theravādins based their thought on the phenomenal world, the world of birth and death, to explain 1 The Seeker‟s Glossary of Buddhism, ed., The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation, Taiwan, 1998, p. 159; Thích Nhất Hạnh, The Heart of the Buddha‟s Teaching – Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy and Liberation, London: Rider, 1999, p. 131. 2 The Seeker‟s Glossary of Buddhism, ibid; Thích Nhất Hạnh, ibid; Thích Nhất Hạnh, The Kinh Pháp Ấn, Sài Gòn: Lá Bối. 2 things, then the Mahāyānists relied on the ontological (or absolute) world, the world of no-birth and no-death. We know that in the world of phenomena, all dharmas always exist in their changing forms. The Buddha said that they are impermanent, suffering and non-self: ―Whether Buddhas arise, O monks, or whether Buddhas do not arise, it remains a fact that … all [the world‘s] constituents are transitory … that all its constituents are dissatisfactory … that all its constituents are lacking a permanent self.‖3 With this statement of the Buddha we can partly understand the true nature of the world; and it is also from this statement, a lot of scholars, with their own ideas describe the world in various ways. Patrul Rinpoche describes ―impermanence‖ as something very terrible when he advises us to meditate on it: ―While standing up, sitting or lying down, tell yourself: ―This is my last act in this world‖, and meditate on it with utter conviction. On your way to wherever you might be going, say to yourself: ―Maybe I will die there. There is no certainty that I will ever come back.‖ When you set out on a journey or pause to rest, ask yourself: ―Will I die here?‖ Wherever you are, you should wonder if this might be where you die. At night, when you lie down, ask yourself whether you might die in bed during the night or whether you can be sure that you are going to get up in the morning. When you rise, ask yourself whether you might die sometime during the day, and reflect that there is no certainty at all that you will be going to bed in the evening.‖4 3 A. N., I, III, XIV, 134. 4 Patrul Rinpoche, Words of My Perfect Teacher – A Complete Translation of a Classic Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism, trans., The Padmakara Translation Group, Delhi: Vistaar, 1994, p. 54. 3 For Donald W. Mitchell, ‗impermanence‘ is the cause of ‗suffering‘. When discussing the word, especially ―suffering‖, he represents that things are suffering because things cannot provide the lasting happiness that humanity seeks. In other words, things are suffering because things are impermanent (because of impermanence things cannot provide the lasting happiness). This representation does not differ from the description of Patrul Rinpoche on ―impermanence‖. Donald W. Mitchell writes: ―In the early texts, the Buddha mentions the happiness that comes from such things as family life, life in the Saṅgha, and meditative attainments. However, he also points out that these enjoyments are ―impermanent, duḥkha, and subject to change‖. That is, they are dissatisfactory because they cannot provide the lasting happiness that humanity ultimately seeks. In other words, since all things in life must pass away – given their impermanence – so must all the pleasures these things provide be fleeting. Since humanity ordinarily seeks a lasting happiness in things that do not last, or a permanent satisfaction in impermanent things, these things are said to be characterized by duḥkha.‖5 The researcher humbly holds that the Buddha did not advise people to avoid things or to seek happiness in things. He wanted them to encounter things in order that they can realize the true nature of things. Impermanence, suffering and non-self help them to realize the true nature of things. We should not scare impermanence, suffering and non-self. Because without impermanence we would not grow up, could not 5 Donald W. Mitchell, Buddhism – Introducing the Buddhist Experience, New York: Oxford, 2002, p. 36. 4 transform our problems, and could not attain Liberation; without suffering, we could not love others; and without non-self, we could not become a saint or a Buddha. By the way of explanation given by Patrul Rinpoche and Donald W. Mitchell, the researcher thinks that the readers cannot find happiness and liberation in the teachings. On the contrary, the teachings can make them arise the feelings of unhappiness, sadness and fearfulness. Of course, every dharma in the phenomenal world has two aspects in itself: pessimistic and optimistic. Patrul Rinpoche and Donald W. Mitchell base their explanations only on the pessimistic aspect. Why do we not explain the teachings on the view of optimism, for the teachings can enable one to destroy one‘s problems and lead one to the shore of liberation? Why do we only look garbage as the very garbage, or even a flower as a garbage-to-be, but do not look at garbage deeply in order to see that it will be flowers in the future? The Buddha said that everyone will be a Buddha-to-be. So, from these teachings if we learn to practise diligently we can certainly get freedom. On this view, Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield are right when they say that ―there is no need to fear our pain… Facing it directly, we can come to freedom.‖6 And Vạn Hạnh (? – 1025) – the Vietnamese Zen Master stated freely with the well-known verse in Vietnam: The body is like lightning: it‘s there and then it‘s not, It is like myriad plants and trees - fresh in the spring but fading in autumn. 6 Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield, Seeking the Heart of Wisdom – The Path of Insight Meditation, Delhi: Shambhala, 2000, p. 141. 5 Trust in your destiny unafraid of ups and downs, Because ups and downs are as drops of dew on a blade of grass.7 Thích Nhất Hạnh in his book ―The Heart of the Buddha‟s Teaching– Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy and Liberation‖ says that ―Understanding impermanence can give us confidence, peace and joy. Impermanence does not necessarily lead to suffering.‖8 This idea is very different from what Donald W. Mitchell thinks: ―This characterization of impermanence leads to the second characteristic of phenomena, namely, ‗dissatisfactoriness‘ (duḥkha).‖9 From the representation above, we can easily realize the true meaning of impermanence, suffering and non-self; and thus, we can say that the Three Characteristics of Existence are the very keys to open the doors of liberation. The Three Doors of Liberation are the teachings which describe the ultimate truth where all things in the phenomenal world are understood as unreal. In practice, they are the continuative teachings of the Three Characteristics. In other words, the Three Doors of Liberation are higher than the Three Characteristics of Existence, because on the way to liberation the practitioners are said truly to enter the Three Doors after becoming free from all obstructions in the phenomenal world. In these doors, their minds become free from everything: no fear, no confusion and no sadness. They always dwell in meditation, 7 Cường Từ Nguyễn, Zen in Medieval Vietnam – A Study and Translation of the Thiền Uyển Tập Anh, USA: University of Hawaii, 1997, p. 176. 8 Thích Nhất Hạnh, The Heart of the Buddha‟s Teaching – Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy and Liberation, London: Rider, 1999, p. 132. 9 Donald W. Mitchell, Buddhism – Introducing the Buddhist Experience, New York: Oxford, 2002, p. 36. 6 and see that all dharmas are empty, signless, and there is nothing to wish to attain. The Heart Sūtra describes: ―All dharmas are marked emptiness; they are not produced or stopped, not defiled or immaculate, not deficient or complete.‖ Thus, in the Vajra. Pra. Pā. Sūtra, the Buddha declares: Those who by my form did see me, And those who followed me by voice. Wrong the efforts they engaged in, Me those people will not see.10 In the ultimate truth, how could we see the Buddha by form or by voice? Because ―wherever there is a sign there is deception, illusion.‖11 In practice, we have to see all dharmas by their real form; that the real form of all dharmas has no form. Buddha is not a form or a voice. Buddha has no sign. If we see the signlessness of signs, we see the Buddha. Moreover, while practising meditation, we should not think to attain enlightenment, because there is nothing to attain: ‗no cognition‘, ‗no attainment‘ and ‗no non-attainment‘. Enlightenment has no sign; and enlightenment is already in us.