Conditioned Objects Are Impermanent

Monks, conditioned objects are impermanent; conditioned objects are unstable; conditioned objects are unreliable.

It is enough to become dissatisfied with all conditioned objects, enough to become free from strong feelings toward them, enough to be liberated from them.

Monks, Sineru, the King of mountains, is 84,000 yojanas in length (yojana = 12-15 kms) and 84,000 yojanas in width; it is submerged 84,000 yojanas in the great ocean and rises up 84,000 yojanas above the great ocean.

(1) There comes a time, Monks, when rain does not fall for many years, for many hundreds of years, for many thousands of years, for many hundreds of thousands of years. When rain does not fall, seed life and vegetation, medicinal plants, grasses, and giant trees of the forest wither and dry up and no longer exist.

So impermanent are conditioned objects, so unstable, so unreliable. It is enough to become dissatisfied with all conditioned objects, enough to become free from strong feelings toward them, enough to be liberated from them.

(2) There comes a time when, after a long time, a second sun appears. With the appearance of the second sun, the small rivers and lakes dry up and evaporate and no longer exist.

So impermanent are conditioned objects, so unstable, so unreliable. It is enough to become dissatisfied with all conditioned objects, enough to become free from strong feelings toward them, enough to be liberated from them.

(3) There comes a time when, after a long time, a third sun appears. With the appearance of the third sun, the great rivers — the Ganges, the Yamunā, the Aciravati, the Sarabhū, and the Mahī - dry up and evaporate and no longer exist.

So impermanent are conditioned objects, so unstable, so unreliable. It is enough to become dissatisfied with all conditioned objects, enough to become free from strong feelings toward them, enough to be liberated from them.

(4) There comes a time when, after a long time, a fourth sun appears. With the appearance of the fourth sun, the great lakes from which those great rivers originate Anotatta, Sīhapapāta, Rathakāra, Kannamunda, Kunāla, Chaddanta, and Mandākinī - dry up and evaporate and no longer exist.

So impermanent are conditioned objects, so unstable, so unreliable. It is enough to become dissatisfied with all conditioned objects, enough to become free from strong feelings toward them, enough to be liberated from them.

(5) There comes a time when, after a long time, a fifth sun appears. With the appearance of the fifth sun, the waters in the great ocean sink by a hundred yojanas, two hundred yojanas ... three hundred yojanas ... four hundred yojanas ... five hundred yojanas ... six hundred yojanas ... seven hundred yojanas. The water left in the great ocean stands at the height of seven palm trees, at the height of six palm trees ... five palm trees … four palm trees … three palm trees ... two palm trees ... a mere palm tree. The water left in the great ocean stands at the height of seven fathoms ... six fathoms … five fathoms ... four fathoms.. three fathoms ... two fathoms ... a fathom (1.8 meters) ... half a fathom ... up to the waist … up to the knees ... up to the ankles.

Just as, in the autumn, when thick drops of rain are pouring down, the waters stand in the hoof prints of cattle here and there, so the waters left in the great ocean will stand here and there (in pools) the size of the hoof prints of cattle.

With, the appearance of the fifth sun, the water left in the great ocean is not enough even to reach the joints of one’s fingers.

So impermanent are conditioned objects, so unstable, so unreliable. It is enough to become dissatisfied with all conditioned objects, enough to become free from strong feelings toward them, enough to be liberated from them.

(6) There comes a time when, after a long time, a sixth sun appears. With the appearance of the sixth sun, this great earth and Sineru, the King of mountains, smoke, fume, and smolder.

Just as a potter’s fire, when kindled, first smokes, fumes, and smolders, so with the appearance of the sixth sun, this great earth and Sineru, the King of mountains, smoke, fume, and smolder.

So impermanent are conditioned objects, so unstable, so unreliable. It is enough to become dissatisfied with all conditioned objects, enough to become free from strong feelings toward them, enough to be liberated from them.

(7) There comes a time when, after a long time, a seventh sun appears. With the appearance of the seventh sun, this great earth and Sineru, the King of mountains, burst into flames, blaze up brightly, and become one mass of flame. As the great earth and Sineru are blazing and burning, the flame, cast up by the wind, rises even to the Brahma world (heavenly realm). As Sineru is blazing and burning, as it is undergoing destruction and being overcome by a great mass of heat, mountain peaks of a hundred yojanas disintegrate; mountain peaks of two hundred yojanas … three hundred yojanas ... four hundred yojanas … five hundred yojanas disintegrate.

When this great earth and Sineru, the King of mountains, are blazing and burning, neither ashes nor soot are seen. Just as, when ghee or oil are blazing and burning, neither ashes nor soot are seen, so it is when this great earth and Sineru, the King of mountains, are blazing and burning.

So impermanent are conditioned objects, so unstable, so unreliable. It is enough to become dissatisfied with all conditioned objects, enough to become free from strong feelings toward them, enough to be liberated from them.

Monks, who except those who have seen the truth would think or understand:

This great earth and Sineru, the King of mountains, will burn up, be destroyed, and will no longer exist?

(Reference: AN 7.66)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares The Universal Truth of Impermanence.

Understanding The Universal Truth of Impermanence is a foundational Teaching as it relates to The Path to Enlightenment. Without understanding and applying this Teaching to your life practice, a Practitioner would be unable to progress to the attainment of Enlightenment.

The Buddha explains “conditioned objects are impermanent; conditioned objects are unstable; conditioned objects are unreliable”.

A conditioned object is one that arises, changes, and then ceases to exist.

For example, the human body itself is impermanent. It arises, changes, and then ceases to exist. Any and all material objects are impermanent as well as conditioned feelings in the mind.

Feelings that are based on an impermanent condition will arise, change, and then cease to exist. Due to this, the impermanent feelings of pleasant feelings, painful feelings, and feelings that are neither painful-nor-pleasant are all impermanent and dissatisfying.

These feelings are impermanent because they are based on some impermanent condition. We refer to pleasant feelings, painful feelings, and feelings that are neither painful-nor-pleasant as discontentedness. When experiencing these impermanent feelings, the mind is discontent or discontented, thus, experiencing discontentedness.

The unEnlightened mind is untrained in regard to understanding The Universal Truth of Impermanence wanting things to be permanent. Due to the craving/desire/attachment for permanence, the unEnlightened mind causes itself to be discontent.

But, through training the mind on The Path to Enlightenment, a Practitioner can liberate the mind from discontentedness by first deeply understanding The Universal Truth of Impermanence and applying this Teaching to your daily life along with all the other Teachings of The Buddha.

The Buddha explains that “It is enough to become dissatisfied with all conditioned objects” meaning, that a Practitioner’s mind will be dissatisfied or displeased with the impermanent nature of all conditioned objects. But, the mind can “become free from strong feelings toward them” wanting them to be permanent through training of the mind. Then, the mind will “be liberated from them” no longer experiencing discontentedness due to the mind craving permanence.

An awakened and Enlightened mind will deeply understand impermanence applying this Teaching and practice of these Teachings in their life practice becoming liberated from strong feelings no longer experiencing discontentedness.

Gotama Buddha then provides many examples of the environment that are impermanent helping people to see through their own independent verification that, indeed, all conditioned objects are impermanent. He does not ask for Students to believe him but instead, to learn, reflect, and practice to observe the truth for yourself to acquire wisdom.

The mind is liberated through wisdom. Through doing this work, a Practitioner can observe “so impermanent are conditioned objects, so unstable, so unreliable”.

Understanding the impermanent nature of all conditioned objects, the mind is then trained to not hold on to anything tightly causing itself to become discontent. The mind is then liberated from craving/desire/attachment no longer carrying the burden of craving.

He then explains, “who except those who have seen the truth would think or understand: This great earth and Sineru, the King of mountains, will burn up, be destroyed, and will no longer exist?”.

In other words, only one who understands with wisdom The Universal Truth of Impermanence would think or understand that this earth and mountain will no longer exist. If you understand The Universal Truth of Impermanence, then you know that everything the eye sees, ears hears, nose smells, tongue tastes, body touches, and the mind recognizes will one day be gone and no longer exist. So, why hold on to any of that with craving/desire/attachment allowing it to cause the mind to be discontent and continue to experience rebirth?

Detailed explanation of The Universal Truth of Impermanence is available in this same book series found in Chapter 4 of the book “Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment” (Volume 1).