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mind elated: 
I. Wealth [lAbha]: this is anything 
which we 
gain or which comes to us as 
profit, such as 
possessions, a spouse, land, houses 
or jewelry; 
2. Honour [yasa]: This is receiving 
promotion to 
a better position or status or being 
accorded 
more powers; 
3. Praise [pasaOsA]: This is 
receiving compliments 
or flattery or a tribute; 
4. Happiness [sukha]: This is 
receiving comfort 
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or convenience of body or mind. 
The second group of vicissitudes is 
the opposite to 
all of the above because they are 
all undesirable
[anitthAramaAa]: 
I. Loss of Wealth [alAbha]: You 
lose what you 
used to own — whether it is your 
wealth, your 
house, your land, your spouse, 
your children 
or your jewelry; 
2. Loss of Honour [ayasa]: This 
means demotion 
or being fired or having your 
powers 
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withdrawn; 
3. Malicious Gossip [nindA]: This 
means being 
criticized for your faults, or 
someone talking 
about your faults to your face or 
behind your 
back; 
4. Suffering [dukkha]: This is hurt 
or torture of 
the body or mind. 
For all of these desirable things, 
before we have 
them, we spend years worrying 
about how to gain 
them. Once we have got them,we 
are possessive 
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and scared that we will lose them. 
If we lose them, 
we spend years lamenting their 
loss. When ordinary 
people encounter the vicissitudes 
of the world, 
they cannot but help be elated or 
disappointed. For 
the enlightened ones however, 
encountering the 
same vicissitudes, they cause no 
disturbance to the 
mind. When the arahants are 
praised or insulted, 
their the suffering is different to 
that of a mundane 
person because the suffering of 
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illness affects only 
their body. They have their 
'bunker' inside the 
Blessing Thirty-Five: A Mind 
Invulnerable to Worldly 
Vicissitudes 397 
depths of mind which they can use 
to shelter from 
suffering the whole of the time. 
The happiness of 
the world is no temptation to the 
arahant who already 
knows the superior happiness of 
Nirvana. 
It is like a millionaire with assets 
of $100 million 
is offered a `free gift' of $5. He 
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will feel indifferent. 
It is like the ocean full of water 
feels indifferent if 
two or three drops more of rain 
should fall. An 
arahant is like a millionaire of 
happiness. If you offer 
him a little more insignificant 
piece of happiness, 
it is unlikely to interest him. If he 
hears the 
praise or condemnation of others 
he will feel indifferent 
because he knows what the truth is 
— there 
is no need for him to listen to the 
opinions of others 
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about what the truth might be like. 
Praise and gossip 
is no more than the sound of a 
crow or a dog 
barking to someone who would 
prefer to discuss 
the Dhamma. If he were to obtain a 
new robe or 
some nice food or a new kuti to 
live in — all of these 
things are functional but the 
happiness they give is 
insignificant compared to the 
happiness of reaching 
an end of defilements.They are 
nothing compared 
to the requisites available in the 
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heavenly 
world which they have already 
seen and had the 
chance to compare the things of 
the world with. 
B.2 The Three Universal 
Characteristics 
Everything in the world has its 
own characteristics. 
Some characteristics are unique —
some are 
shared with others. Gold, for 
example, has the characteristic 
that when it is pure, it will have a 
yellow 
colour and will sparkle. It is hard 
to alloy it with 
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other elements. Iron has the 
characteristic that it is 
a hard metal but it rusts easily. 
Mercury is a fluid 
metal that is heavy. These are the 
specific qualities 
of certain materials. People have 
their own characteristics 
too. They are able to speak and 
move about 
and can be knowledgeable about 
things. However, 
for all their differences, there are 
three characteristics 
that are shared by all things in the 
world. It was 
these that the Lord Buddha called 
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the Three Universal 
Characteristics
[sAmafinalakkhaAa] (S.iv.1, 
Dh.277-29): 
I. Impermanence [aniccatA]: The 
first Universal 
Characteristic is impermanence. 
Sometimes we 
think that material things are 
unchanging, but 
in fact this is not the case. If you 
don't believe it, 
try taking photos of yourself as a 
demonstration 
— you are born as a baby (take a 
first picture), 
take another picture after a month, 
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after a year, 
at teenage, in middle-age, in old 
age. If on the 
last day of your life you were to 
compare all the 
pictures that have been taken 
throughout your 
life you will find that there are no 
two pictures 
alike. This is true, not just for 
people, but for all 
things in the world is this 
characteristic applicable. 
Everything is in flux. There is 
degradation 
and deterioration built into 
everything around 
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us. Metal rusts. Paint blisters. 
Cloth frays. This 
is true, not only for material 
objects, but even 
abstract phenomenon in the world. 
Last year 
they said they loved you, but this 
year, that seems 
to have changed. Last year, they 
looked beautiful 
in your eyes, but this year, that 
seems to have 
changed. Even if you try weighing 
the most precious 
of materials like your gold ring, 
you will 
find that year by year, the weight 
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will systematically 
decrease. The price of the gold 
sometimes 
goes up and sometimes goes down. 
Even if you 
were to sell the ring back to the 
shop tomorrow, 
there is nothing to guarantee the 
price that you 
will recover the amount of money 
for which you 
bought the ring. Even the state of 
our mind is 
impermanent. When you pass your 
entrance 
exams to go to university you 
make up your 
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mind to work so hard for your 
degree that you 
will get a `first-class honours'. 
However after 
seven-days of diligence, you 
change your mind 
in favour of the night life. At the 
end of the year 
you get thrown out of university...! 
So much for 
steadfastness of mind! 
2. Suffering [dukkhatA]: The 
second Universal 
Characteristic is suffering. 
Normally we understand 
suffering as pain, but the word 
`duldchatA' 
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in the Pali has the wider meaning 
that it is the 
quality of things that they `have 
decay as their 
nature' with all the shades of 
meaning (already 
discussed in Blessing Thirty-Three, 
§B.1). 
3. Being without self [anattatA]: 
The third Universal 
Characteristic is `not-self. 
Nothing in the 
world has implicit identity. You 
look at a meditation 
mat and ask what about the 
meditation 
398 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
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towards Enlightened Living 
mat makes it a mat. If you were to 
take it apart 
into all its components, you will 
just be left with 
a pile of components — there is no 
particular part 
which makes it a `mat'. If you look 
at it with a 
microscope all you can see is a 
collection of cells. 
You cannot even see the 
components any more. 
In the same way people look at 
their own bodies 
and they say "This is me", "This is 
what makes 
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me who I am". However, if they 
were to look 
closely at their body and see that it 
is just a collection 
of organs, bones, tissues and 
nerves, it 
will make them wonder what about 
their body 
makes them who they really are. 
The word 
`anattatA' has a second important 
meaning and 
that is the quality of something that 
is `outside 
your control'. From the point of 
view of practice 
this is a very important definition. 
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You might 
notice when you sit for meditation 
that you cannot 
stop yourself from feeling aches 
and pains. 
You cannot even keep your mind 
on the thing 
you want to concentrate on for 
your meditation. 
Even if you don't want to look old, 
you cannot 
stop the signs of aging from 
appearing on your 
body. Your hair turns grey without 
you being 
able to stop it. All you can do to 
stop it from 
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changing colour is to dye it. Your 
hair falls out 
without you being able to stop it. 
All you can do 
to save yourself from baldness is to 
buy a wig. 
Whether the Buddha arises in the 
world or not, 
these Three Characteristics are the 
nature of things 
in the world. However, if it wasn't 
for the teaching 
of the Buddha, we might never 
realize. 
Don't take the teachings that way 
however —
some people hear the teachings 
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that everything in 
the world is impermanent and they 
think to themselves, 
"Why bother to invest one's time 
and effort 
in doing any good deeds?" If you 
don't understand 
this point correctly you will be like 
many Buddhists 
who use this teaching as an excuse 
for doing whatever 
they like — killing, stealing, 
corruption and 
lying — why? — because they 
believe that there is 
no lasting effect from any of their 
actions. They forget 
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