What characterises all of existence according to Buddhists? What can we be certain is true about ourselves and the world? Buddhism speaks of the dimension of ordinary everyday life as “conditioned existence”, where everything that exists depends on causes and conditions. The Three Marks of Existence (or Three Characteristics of Existence) define the experience of conditioned existence. The Three Marks are: (1) anicca, impermanence, (2) dukkha, suffering or unsatisfactoriness, and (3) anatta, no self. It is central to the Buddhist worldview to understand all things as impermanent, unsatisfactory, and empty of any true existence.

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