The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.
24 January 2026
Q: How to do contemplation of the Three Characteristics of Existence and what is the goal?
Than Ajahn: Well, the goal of contemplating the Three Characteristics of Existence is for you to see the truth – that the things you crave for or desire for can hurt you in the end.
They might make you feel good in the beginning when you acquire them, but they will eventually cause you harm, make you sad because they might not be with you, because they are impermanent.
Everything that you think that will make you happy, it usually won’t stay with you forever.
One day, sooner or later it will be separated from you, and when that happens, then you’ll become sad. Sad is dukkhaṁ or suffering.
Anicca is impermanent. Anattā is beyond your control - you cannot always control the things that you have.
So this is the purpose of contemplating on the Three Characteristics: to see that things change; and when they change, they can cause you sadness or hurt you; they are beyond your ability to control them all the time, sometimes you can control them but sometimes you will not be able to control them, and when you cannot control them, then there will be sadness.
“Dhamma in English, Sep 3, 2019.”
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Q: Could you give some advice on when is the time to move from samatha to vipassanā?
Than Ajahn: Vipassanā is the second level of practice.
You have to complete your samatha practice first.
When I say, ‘complete,’ it means that you have to be fully capable of calming your mind at any time you want.
When you meditate, you should be able to calm your mind within 5 minutes, and should stay calm and become still at least for an hour or more. Then it means that you have samatha capability, you can stop your mind any time when your mind is restless, agitated, angry, greedy or desiring for things.
If you still cannot control your emotions with samatha, then you cannot go to the level of vipassanā. Do you know why? Because samatha and vipassanā do the same functions, they get rid of your emotions. But samatha can only do it temporarily. If you want to get rid of your emotions permanently, you need to go up to the vipassanā level.
Before you can go up to vipassanā level, you have to be capable of getting rid of your emotions - your love, hate, fear, delusion - on the level of samatha first. Once you can do that, when you want to completely rid of all your emotions, all your defilements, then you need the work on the vipassanā.
Do you see what I mean? Samatha is simply stopping your thinking. When you stop your thinking, you can stop your anger, your greed, your desire. But when you restart your thinking, your greed and hatred will come back again. So, if you want to get rid of these love, hatred, fear and delusion permanently, even when you think that they won’t come back again, you need to develop vipassanā.
Vipassanā is to see things that you are involved with have the Three Characteristics of Existence: they are impermanent, they are constantly changing; they are not always under your control; and they can hurt you when they cannot satisfy you or when they cannot do what you want them to do for you.
If you can see them as having these Three Characteristics, then you will stop your desire to have them. Then, you can remain living alone without having to have anything because you see things with wisdom or vipassanā. You see that it’s better to have nothing than to have something, because as soon as you have something, that things you possess will eventually hurt your mind.
Because when you become emotionally attached to them, you don’t want to lose them. But all things come and go and there is no way to stop them from leaving you.
So, this is vipassanā: you can see everything as having the Three Characteristics: as being anicca (impermanent), dukkha (hurting, harmful) and anattā (not under your control).
Then you would not want to have anything to do with them. You’d rather live alone. Every time you think, you will not think of having desire for anything because you see everything as having the Three Characteristics: this is vipassanā.
You have to have samatha first. You have to have the ability to stop your desire, your greed, your hatred, your delusion first, although it’s temporary. Then, you can go up to the next level by using vipassanā, to get rid of your greed, hate and delusion permanently.
“Dhamma in English, Apr 22, 2019.”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
YouTube: Dhamma in English.
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