This cross-cultural study explores how the Buddhist view of human development, as presented in the Marks of Existence, applies to the experience of Western elders engaged in the life review process. This study is based on data derived from: (1) a formal 90 minute audio-taped life review interview with 10 elders, 7 women and 3 men aged 69--90, conducted by graduate students in the "Psychology of Aging" class at The Naropa Institute, (2) summaries of the life review written jointly by the student pairs that conducted each interview, (3) individual papers written by each student detailing his/her personal experience of the life review process, (4) audio-taped and transcribed follow-up interviews with each of the 10 elders conducted by the researcher 3--5 months after completion of the life review interviews. The question examined in this qualitative research project: Is the Buddhist view of the Marks of Existence, (1) that all human beings experience the truths of impermanence and suffering in their lives, and (2) that the direct encounter with these truths can lead to the experiences of egolessness and peace, inherent in the life review of elders? The transcripts of all of the interviews, life-review and follow-up, were evaluated after creating working definitions for each of the four marks---"impermanence," "suffering," "egolessness," and "peace"---identifying the subcategories inherent in each definition, and systematically reviewing the transcripts for references to each mark. It was found that all four marks were present in the interviews of all 10 elders, and that a relationship may exist between the experience of egolessness and the experience of peace in old age.
