Dharma Seals

Jeffrey

I have always heard the term 'seals' regarding: impermanence, non-self, and dukkha.

Are these like a wax seal on a letter? Is it like they open a gateway when we realize them? We break the seal on the letter and then our experience changes somewhat?

Tosh

Is this the Four Seals?

http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Four_seals

On my foundation course, these are taught to be the Buddhist tenants;

All that is conditioned is impermanent,
All that is tainted is suffering,
Nirvana is peace,
All phenomena are empty and devoid of self.

It's these things that make something 'Buddhist'.

how

As Tosh says
The four seals of Buddhism???

1.All compounded things are impermanent.
2.All stained emotions are painful.
3.All phenomena are empty.
4.Nirvana is peace.

When someone asks if a teaching is buddhist or not,
a Buddhist teacher looks to see if it passes the 4 seals to confirm it or not.

xabir

Dharma seal means the nature of dharma is so. It is "sealed" as such

PrairieGhost

Dharma Seal

federica

Is this the Four Seals?

http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Four_seals

On my foundation course, these are taught to be the Buddhist tenants;

All that is conditioned is impermanent,
All that is tainted is suffering,
Nirvana is peace,
All phenomena are empty and devoid of self.

It's these things that make something 'Buddhist'.

(tenets.)


(sorry.)

:eek2:

Tosh

Your OCD kicked in there Fed.

federica

You're so right! It's a curse, honestly!

I apologise.....

SattvaPaul

The three Dharma seals:

DairyLama

The three Dharma seals:

Are these the "Buddhist tenants"?

federica

Now now.....*Insert wagging finger emoticon here*....

SattvaPaul

Jokes aside, to try and answer @Jeffrey's original question - it might be the term seal is meant to be understood as in every dharma (phenomenon) has the seal of - is marked by - dukkha, anicca and anatta. In a similar way as Mahamudra means (in one translation) The Great Seal. But maybe I'm wrong.

Sile

"Seal" in this case means something closer to a literary seal, as in "sign," "symbol," "mark," "hallmark," etc. which gives evidence of authenticity (as opposed to a device that seals something shut).

In the case of the seals of Buddhism, a Tibetan explanation is:

These are said to be the hallmark of the Buddha’s teaching, and it is often said that the mark of a real Buddhist is that he or she accepts these four. Of course, taking refuge is the real entrance to the Buddhist path, and that which serves to distinguish Buddhists from non-Buddhists, but in terms of the View, these four statements encapsulate the uniqueness of the Buddha’s teachings and really set the Buddhadharma apart from all other religions and philosophies. (Rigpa Wiki)

It's also said that if a teaching bears all these hallmarks, then the teaching is (counts as) Buddhist, whether or not it is labeled Buddhist.

The four seals are:

All that is conditioned is impermanent,
All that is tainted is suffering,
Nirvana is peace,
All phenomena are empty and devoid of self.

Sile

Khentin Tai Situ Rinpoche gives it this way:

The Four Seals are sometimes also called the 'Four Keys of the Buddha's teaching'.
They are:

The first seal: All composite things are impermanent,
The second seal: All that is tainted entails suffering,
The third seal: Realization is Peace
The fourth seal: All phenomena are devoid of independent entity.

These are closely related to the Four Noble Truths of the Deeply Realized:

1. The truth of suffering,
2. The truth of the origination of suffering
3. The truth of cessation of suffering
4. The truth of the path.

http://www.samyeling.org/index/the-four-seals-of-mahamudra