For a Buddhist, this analysis of the way the world is starts from the experience of dukkha. It develops into a practical path for leaving dukkha behind. Another possible starting point for Buddhists is also based on the experience of the Buddha. This is the truth that everything is changing all the time, that all that we experience here in the world is impermanent (anitya in Sanskrit).

The Buddha saw old age, illness, and death. This experience made him realize that nothing in the world is permanent. Buddhists believe that a person is a chain of life, a continuity from baby to child, to young adult, to old adult. Every part of each individual changes physically and mentally in one lifetime. This realization led the Buddha to teach anatman (not-self). This is the belief that there is no ultimate, unchanging essence in anyone or anything.

According to anatman, human beings are part of an ever-changing pattern that runs through all life. When a person no longer grasps after a sense of self, there is no feeling of separateness from others, no fear for the self, no fear of dying. People become selfless persons. They experience a mental state of loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity (calmness of mind).

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