In her third Meditation Month video—our free practice series posted every Monday on Trike Daily throughout March—Insight meditation teacher Ruth King introduces the three marks of existence. These Buddhist teachings on impermanence, suffering, and nonself challenge us to reframe what we think of as personal, permanent, and perfect.

“This practice of looking at nothing as personal, nothing as permanent, and nothing as perfect is a really profound teaching . . . What am I perceiving? What am I believing to be personal? What am I believing to be perfect? What am I believing is so solid that it’s going to be here forever?

This is a profound relationship with our sense of wanting and not wanting. This is another way to enter into inquiry with our experiences, to relax our awareness, and to be OK about being curious about what we think we know, or curious about the perceptions that we have,” King says in her talk.

 

Download a transcript of this talk. It has been edited for clarity.

Learn more about Tricycle’s Meditation Month, sign up for weekly emails, and join a Facebook group to engage with fellow practitioners across the globe.

Thank you for subscribing to Tricycle! As a nonprofit, to keep Buddhist teachings and practices widely available.