Introduction: The Three Reminders
Image by JWDenson
Consider a typical coffee cup sitting on a table: in looking at it, what do we actually know about the cup without resorting to thought or concept? For those of us who speak English, and who have seen one before, we will know it is called a “cup” - that label naturally and immediately arises, as does the knowledge that we can drink from it. However, do we know anything else?
If we are a Buddhist, we might first reflect as to whether the cup, which exists as the result of the causes and conditions that went into making it, is permanent or impermanent; however, can we know that by looking at it? While we might think about how it was made from certain materials, can break, and will no longer be a cup if we drop it, is it visibly changing or degrading right now? Or, is its eventual demise just an abstract thought? Conversely, though it is not obviously changing in any way, is there anything we actually see that proves the opposite, namely that the cup is permanent? All we can say, without resorting to speculation, thought or concept is that it is a coffee cup.
And even that isn’t necessarily what it appears to be. Rather than having a transparent and direct experience of an actual “cup”, all we have is an inference, based on how we interpret sensory information coming in, that there is a “cup” currently happening in our experience. Though we may not realize it, we have conditioned ourselves to believe that we are real and who we are, and we are looking at a cup, separate from us, that is as real as we are. And yet, all we can really say for sure is that, unlike a few minutes ago when we were looking at something else, we are currently experiencing what is commonly called a “cup”.
We might also reflect on whether there is any essence or substance to the cup, a certain “cup-ness” that makes it what it is; however, can that be directly experienced? Is there something we can actually see, by which we can definitively say either way? Or, is that too a matter of thought and concept, and perhaps only as a result of applying the previous concept of “impermanence” to say that it cannot be substantial? In reality, we have merely conditioned ourselves to think in terms of what is substantial or not, because we believe that we are substantial, with a certain “me-ness” that makes us what and who we are.
Finally, we might reflect on whether or not the cup is a potential source of either satisfaction and joy, or of dissatisfaction and suffering. We might suppose that something impermanent and insubstantial cannot possibly always be pleasing to us; that too, however, is the product of thought and concept. What we directly and simply see is a cup, an experience that does not inherently lead to joy or suffering unless we project our wants and needs onto it. In other words, we have conditioned how we experience things such as coffee cups by which they can bring either joy or suffering.
The formulation of the Three Reminders is a Buddhist teaching that applies to everything that is “conditioned”. While that term is typically assumed to mean that these reminders apply to everything that arises from causes and conditions, the Three Reminders only apply to the conditioned version of everything that we manufacture in our mind. Awakening means removing our projections by which we no longer condition what we experience: after that, everything is "unconditioned".
What follows is an exploration of using these three terms as reminders that:
(1) nothing in conditioned experience is permanent,
(2) nothing in conditioned experience is substantial, and
(3) nothing in conditioned experience is what we want it to be.
If we are a Buddhist, we might first reflect as to whether the cup, which exists as the result of the causes and conditions that went into making it, is permanent or impermanent; however, can we know that by looking at it? While we might think about how it was made from certain materials, can break, and will no longer be a cup if we drop it, is it visibly changing or degrading right now? Or, is its eventual demise just an abstract thought? Conversely, though it is not obviously changing in any way, is there anything we actually see that proves the opposite, namely that the cup is permanent? All we can say, without resorting to speculation, thought or concept is that it is a coffee cup.
And even that isn’t necessarily what it appears to be. Rather than having a transparent and direct experience of an actual “cup”, all we have is an inference, based on how we interpret sensory information coming in, that there is a “cup” currently happening in our experience. Though we may not realize it, we have conditioned ourselves to believe that we are real and who we are, and we are looking at a cup, separate from us, that is as real as we are. And yet, all we can really say for sure is that, unlike a few minutes ago when we were looking at something else, we are currently experiencing what is commonly called a “cup”.
We might also reflect on whether there is any essence or substance to the cup, a certain “cup-ness” that makes it what it is; however, can that be directly experienced? Is there something we can actually see, by which we can definitively say either way? Or, is that too a matter of thought and concept, and perhaps only as a result of applying the previous concept of “impermanence” to say that it cannot be substantial? In reality, we have merely conditioned ourselves to think in terms of what is substantial or not, because we believe that we are substantial, with a certain “me-ness” that makes us what and who we are.
Finally, we might reflect on whether or not the cup is a potential source of either satisfaction and joy, or of dissatisfaction and suffering. We might suppose that something impermanent and insubstantial cannot possibly always be pleasing to us; that too, however, is the product of thought and concept. What we directly and simply see is a cup, an experience that does not inherently lead to joy or suffering unless we project our wants and needs onto it. In other words, we have conditioned how we experience things such as coffee cups by which they can bring either joy or suffering.
The formulation of the Three Reminders is a Buddhist teaching that applies to everything that is “conditioned”. While that term is typically assumed to mean that these reminders apply to everything that arises from causes and conditions, the Three Reminders only apply to the conditioned version of everything that we manufacture in our mind. Awakening means removing our projections by which we no longer condition what we experience: after that, everything is "unconditioned".
What follows is an exploration of using these three terms as reminders that:
(1) nothing in conditioned experience is permanent,
(2) nothing in conditioned experience is substantial, and
(3) nothing in conditioned experience is what we want it to be.