anitya

(Sanskrit; Pāli, anicca). Impermanence, the first of the three marks (trilakṣaṇa) which characterize all conditioned phenomena. A fundamental tenet of Buddhism is that all formations (saṃskāra)—things that come into being dependent on causes and conditions—are impermanent. Impermanence refers to the arising, passing away, changing, and disappearance of things that have arisen, and according to the Abhidharma is a process that takes place from moment to moment. It is because of the impermanence of the five aggregates (skandha) that Buddhism teaches there can be no eternal self or soul (see anātman). For the same reason it is thought that there can be no permanent happiness in saṃsāra, because situations constantly change and in time all things decay (see duḥkha).