A human being is a continuous stream of the five skandhas—not separate, always changing, and interdependent with other streams of phenomena—and cannot be regarded as a fixed “self.” The teaching of non-self, one of the three Dharma seals (impermanence, non-self, nirvana), affirms that within the stream of phenomena there is no unchanging entity. The five skandhas—

1. form
2. feelings
3. perceptions
4. mental formations
5. consciousness
   —combine and flow together like a river; the notion of a permanent self is only an illusion.

There are three mistaken views about self and the skandhas that the Buddha taught:

1. Identifying the self with the skandhas (taking the five skandhas as the self).
2. Separating the self from the skandhas (the self stands apart and possesses the skandhas).
3. Mutual existence: within the self there are the skandhas and within the skandhas there is the self (two entities interwoven)—this is the subtlest way of seeing.

When we contemplate impermanence and non-self, we see “interbeing”: not only do the streams of the five skandhas continue, but the streams of phenomena interpenetrate one another like cloud—rain—river, with no absolute boundaries. Even neuroscience and modern thought have not found a permanent “I”; all mental formations (such as sadness, anger, thoughts) are only successive “moments,” creating the illusion of a permanent subject. Non-self is not a dry philosophy but a practice of contemplation, helping us let go of wrong views, give rise to compassion, and take responsibility to protect one another and the Earth.