Alliance for Mystical Pragmatics

Alliance for Mystical Pragmatics

Harmonizing Evolutionary Convergence

Glossary Menus

anitya

Chenrezig sand mandalaThe double negative in the etymology of anitya tells us that only that which is not born is immortal and eternal. Thus everything that is born into the relativistic world of form is impermanent. Anitya is thus the most fundamental principle in the Universe, denoting the first of Buddhism’s three marks of being, indicating that no form has a permanent existence, for the entire Universe is in a constant state of change.

So conservatism, holding on the status quo, at these times of accelerating evolutionary change leads not only to suffering, but also threatens the very survival of the human race. The beautiful mandalas created by Tibetan monks with tiny grains of coloured sand, which are then thrown into the sea or some other convenient place, well illustrate the principle of anitya in action.

Etymology

Sanskrit ‘impermanence’ (Pali anicca), from a- ‘not’, from PIE base *ne ‘not’, and nitya ‘innate, native; continual, perpetual, eternal’, from ni- ‘not’, from PIE base *ne ‘not’, and ja ‘born’, from PIE base *genə ‘to give birth’.

Common ancestor(s):