By Venerable Anuradhapura Ariyajeewa Thero - Chife Incumbent Gold Coast Buddhist Centre
Anicca (Pāli) or impermanence is a cardinal concept in Buddha’s teachings, emphasising the true nature of all existences that are conditioned and created.
The Buddha explains Anicca as an eternally universal law in the universe:
“Bhikkhus, whether Tathagatas arise or not, there persists that law, that stableness of the Dhamma, that fixed course of the Dhamma: ‘All conditioned phenomena are impermanent/ A Tathagata awakens to this and breaks through to it, and then he explains it, teaches it, proclaims it, establishes it, discloses it, analyses it, and elucidates it thus: ‘All conditioned phenomena are impermanent [annica].” (AN, Bodhi, p. 363).
Therefore, Anicca can be identified as the fundamental quality of everything that exists according to Buddhist doctrine – a state of impermanence characterising all conditioned reality. It is one of the most critical concepts to Buddhism, that requires comprehending the Buddha’s teachings from the fundamental level to the apex.
When analysing the etymology of the word “anicca” it is construed as a negation. Adding a prefix “a- “denotes the opposite of the term nicca (‘Nitya’ in Sanskrit): the word nicca refers to the notion of permeance, eternal, everlasting, unchanging, etc.
Even though the word “impermanence” in the English language is widely used to refer to Anicca, the concept has a much broader connotation in the Buddha’s teaching. The Buddha had used an incremental teaching process to explain the idea to his followers. The process is guaranteed to create a gradual but profound understanding of anicca step by step. In other words, the Anicca is used as a tool to identify the reality of existence at incremental levels and in multiple perspectives. In Buddhism, this understanding is the only way to freedom from all sufferings.
The Buddha taught to Rohitassa:
“I tell you, friend, that it is not possible by travelling to know or see or reach a far end of the cosmos where one does not take birth, age, die, pass away, or reappear. Nevertheless, at the same time, I tell you that there is no making an end of suffering & stress without reaching the end of the cosmos. However, it is just within this fathom-long body, with its perception & intellect, that I declare that there is the cosmos, the origination of the cosmos, the cessation of the cosmos, and the path of practice leading to the cessation of the cosmos.”
With the above statement, the Buddha explains that the whole universe can be understood by the accurate understanding of the “self”- the mental and physical structure that generates all thoughts, feelings, judgements and sensations. In other words, the Buddha explains that the world relative to an individual is a judgement of a sense or thought emerged within that individual and consumed by him at a certain point of time and space. Also, he elaborates that developing a deep understanding of the “self” is the sure way to understand everything in the universe- the absolute reality.
This approach led to discovering the ‘self’ in two dimensions: the mental and physical processes, that should be achieved through a detailed analysis of the theory of Anicca. The process will help to identify the causes of depression and ways to manage depression. At the highest level, the process will reveal the root cause of the depression as a severe misalignment of one’s perceived reality and the absolute truth resulting from the wrong perception. The false perception mentioned here can be linked to a disability triggered by a depression causing event.
In brief, Buddhism explains the ignorance of the true nature of “self” as the cause of all sufferings. When one reaches an accurate understanding of the “self”, he is free from all miseries. The ultimate fruit of the Buddha’s guidance is the understanding of the self. With that understanding, the purification of mental and physical behaviours occurs – a state that no mental stress can exist.