The three characteristics are as follows:- Impermanence (anicca)
- Insubstantiality or “not-self” (anatta)
- Frustration or suffering (dukkha)
Recognition of the three characteristics, like awareness of the rest of the Four Noble Truths, is part of wisdom. To gain wisdom we have to fully realise the reality of these characteristics in the whole of our experience, not just abstractly or intellectually accept them.
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Impermanent things
This is easy to comprehend first in relation to material things. Some things, like waves in the sea, are constantly changing before us. A sandwich, say, left in the open air for a week in warm conditions, will become a mass of mould. Even something we think is relatively safe like a house, will start to deteriorate if left un-maintained for ten years, and in a few hundred years (if not destroyed, rebuilt or renovated) will probably be a pile of ruins. Even the least changeable object in the world, a diamond, can be cut by a skilled person, and will eventually wear away, even if it takes millions of years.
Then if we think of our own bodies, change is constant. Nearly every cell in our body dies out and is replaced every few years. We are also constantly changing physically in dependence on things like what we have eaten, how well we have slept, and how healthy we are. This is even more obvious in relation to our minds, as mental states keep changing from minute to minute. One moment we are happy, another sad; one moment concentrated, another distracted and forgetful: all in accordance with conditions. The Buddha claimed that it was even more of a mistake to think of the mind as unchanging than the body, since at least the body has a certain degree of consistency and stability over time, but more than that of the mind.
Acceptance of impermanence
It is relatively easy to accept this impermanence abstractly and in general, but much harder to really bear in mind that things are impermanent when we make decisions in our lives. For example, people who buy the latest piece of hardware or software for their computer rarely reflect on how quickly it will become obsolete, and people starting love affairs rarely think about how the other person is bound to change from the one they fell in love with. Being aware of impermanence in these situations doesn’t necessarily mean not buying software or not falling in love (though it might), but it will at least add a tinge of realism to our decisions in these situations, and help to put things in their real perspective. The effect of this should be to make everyone happier in the long run.
We not only need to be aware of impermanence to gain wisdom in the Buddhist understanding, but to accept it. For example, parents may be acutely aware of the fact that their children are growing up, but it is still often difficult for them to adjust to this fact emotionally by giving up their attachment to having control over their children’s lives. Bereavement is another effect of impermanence which it is very difficult for many people to adjust to, but accepting that a death has in fact occurred and that the world is no longer the same seems to be the key to it.
Impermanence forms an important component of dukkha, either because things changing is directly painful to us (dukkha-dukkha), or because things we enjoy come to an end (viparinama-dukkha). Impermanence may also contribute to a sense that life is meaningless or to existential suffering (sankhara-dukkha), if we think that the only things that can give life meaning must be permanent. Ultimately, then, the only solution to impermanence is to find meaning and purpose in what is permanent, that is nirvana.
Related images and artists:
- Burning candles- Wax melting
- Frost melting
"Impermanence of Time" a drawing done in pencil, ink and acrylic. Seeks to explain the relationship between humanity, time, and the cycle of creation and destruction
Impermanence by Seung-Hwan Oh
For his series ‘Impermanence’, photographer and microbiologist Seung-Hwan Oh cultivates fungus that he applies to his film before he puts it into his camera. Through this process, the microorganisms slowly devour the film and the resulting image is a blur of abstract lines and colours.
In a world saturated with idealised images that are easily produced and dispersed, Seung-Hwan Oh brutalises and mistreats his images in order to make them sick, revealing not just the physicality of the photograph itself but the life of the artwork. He states: “I use this technique to share an idea that all the matter including all the life forms collapse in this spatial-temporal dimension we belong to.”
His “Impermanence” series is inspired by the second law of thermodynamics: the idea that all matter including all the life forms collapse in our spatial-temporal dimension we belong to. It marks an exploration into the physical limits of both organic matter and of photography itself.
The resultant images – distorted, discoloured and sometimes unnerving – are a testament to the power of decay. This process creates a tension between what is still visible and what is lost.
Interesting concept - 360 degree view of Earth? - Portray the decay and change on the reverse side - underwater? - not hell?
The sad truth about our electronics consumption is that we often end up throwing away obsolete technology. How many of us have found ourselves wondering what to do with a stack of floppy disks or a box full of VHS tapes? London artist Nick Gentry uses these aged bits of technology to create something new and entirely different: fine art with a soul. 
The environmental aspect of Gentry’s work certainly can’t be ignored. By taking the obsolete devices and turning them into art, he is saving the disks from an eternity in a landfill. With these paintings, the artist is rebelling against the disposable society where we so freely and quickly throw things away. According to the artist, he is challenging the notion of a disposable world by breathing new life into what many would consider garbage.This Too Shall Pass: A Lesson In Impermanence
- This is a popular Jewish wisdom folktale as told by David Franko from Turkey. It contains a very important lesson that relates to the Buddhist concept of “impermanence.”
“One day Solomon decided to humble Benaiah Ben Yehoyada, his most trusted minister. He said to him, “Benaiah, there is a certain ring that I want you to bring to me. I wish to wear it for Sukkot which gives you six months to find it.”
“If it exists anywhere on earth, your majesty,” replied Benaiah,
“I will find it and bring it to you, but what makes the ring so special?” “It has magic powers,” answered the king. “If a happy man looks at it, he becomes sad, and if a sad man looks at it, he becomes happy.” Solomon knew that no such ring existed in the world, but he wished to give his minister a little taste of humility.
Spring passed and then summer, and still Benaiah had no idea where he could find the ring. On the night before Sukkot, he decided to take a walk in one of the poorest quarters of Jerusalem. He passed by a merchant who had begun to set out the day’s wares on a shabby carpet. “Have you by any chance heard of a magic ring that makes the happy wearer forget his joy and the broken-hearted wearer forget his sorrows?” asked Benaiah.
He watched the grandfather take a plain gold ring from his carpet and engrave something on it. When Benaiah read the words on the ring, his face broke out in a wide smile. That night the entire city welcomed in the holiday of Sukkot with great festivity.
“Well, my friend,” said Solomon, “have you found what I sent you after?” All the ministers laughed and Solomon himself smiled. To everyone’s surprise, Benaiah held up a small gold ring and declared, “Here it is, your majesty!” As soon as Solomon read the inscription, the smile vanished from his face. The jeweler had written three Hebrew letters on the gold band: gimel, zayin, yud, which began the words “Gam zeh ya’avor” — “This too shall pass.” At that moment Solomon realized that all his wisdom and fabulous wealth and tremendous power were but fleeting things, for one day he would be nothing but dust.”
Gam zeh ya’avor — This too shall pass.
OPTIONS
HENDRIX - "Castles Made of Sand"
- Psychedelic Indian Cheif
- beauty and fragility of life
- nothing is permanent
- Split the song into 3 verses
- quote ideas
- impermanence - three marks of existence
- mandalas
- burning candles
- decaying photographs
- This Too shall Pass Ring
- 360 degree view
- spacey melting behance proj
BUCKLEY - "Lover, You Should've Come Over"
- "cum over" on a phone, illustration of the room
- comments off songmeaning.com - glitch, typographical
- screenshot, make it look like fb,
MANIC STREET PREACHERS - "No Surface, All Feeling"
- Minimal type, Nick & Richey's relationship - disappearance of Richey ?
THE CLASH - "I'm Not Down"
- Punk Rock, Brash type
- Encouraging vibes
- Definition of 'clash' - typographical
- 1. to come together or collide loudly
- The cymbals clashed.
- 2. to conflict; to disagree; the opposition of views or interests
Clash of the titans? Roy Lichtenstein (Comic book clash)? Liberty Leading the people?
- 3. the juxtaposition of colours: to be offensive to the eye
- Clash of clothing - eccentric character
- Breaking through the wall - comic book 'clash' 'boom' - over-coming something
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