Impermanence.

All things are constantly changing, moment to moment… #WednesdayWisdom

Emptiness can be a difficult concept to understand within Buddhism as is non-existence because we believe things to be ‘real’ since we can both see and touch them. What this actually means is that all things are devoid of intrinsic existence just the same as when we talk about there being no ‘self’ or ‘I’. This negates the need for ‘me and mine’ which in turn negates ‘me and other’. This is where we can start to get ourselves tied up in mental knots if we spend too much time in wrong thinking.

Suffice to say that the Buddha simply wants us to understand anicca, dukkha and anatta, of which there are many variations of the meanings, but let’s use transient, imperfect and ownerless or — changing, unsatisfactory and not belonging to a self — to help us here.

We want to investigate what this really means, so without getting too enmeshed in Buddhist philosophy, we want to understand it in a way which will help us make our lives less anxious and more joyful. The way we can do this is to firstly accept that everything is changing moment to moment. Just think of this body sitting here now as you read, breathing in and breathing out. One cannot happen without the other. If we decide we prefer to only inhale not exhale what will happen? As we sit we are also aging, this body is changing, every minute aspect of it, every molecule. It’s the same with our society and the world at large. Everything internal and external, big and small, is constantly in a state of change.

We come into problems because usually we don’t want things to change, especially if we like them as they are. If it is something we don’t like however we often can’t wait for it to change. Do you see the duality of this way of thinking? It can only ever lead to disaster, to suffering. This is an example of the delusion we live under.

We are attached to and cling to everything. We don’t want things to change, to age, to get sick. We don’t want to experience suffering of any kind but this is not realistic. When we don’t accept the truth of reality as it is, the workings of nature, when we spend great chunks of our precious time and energy fighting against the inevitable we have no peace and no joy.

I have spoken before about the happiness and joy of people like His Holiness The Dalai Lama. I could post hundreds of photographs of esteemed monks and respected gurus laughing and smiling. This is not because they are without problems but because they have understood and know what is real and what is not and, within that, what is wrong and what is right in terms of having a view and a way to conduct ourselves.

❀ If we can create more happiness and joy for the benefit of ourselves and others whom we come into contact with simply by realising and accepting the impermanent nature of all things, we should do this today, please do this.

❀ Take the time to really stop and consider. Anything in nature can teach us, simply observe a tree or a beautiful flower. For instance, I have a beautiful orchid in my garden which turns from a fairly ordinary looking plant with a stalk and green leaves into the most beautiful purple flowers. When it does this I can enjoy its beauty for a few days before the leaves gradually wither, turn brown and fall, either disappearing when the wind blows or getting swept on to the garden to become compost. Would it benefit me to get angry because it doesn’t remain beautiful the whole time? It would be futile, nature is as it is.

❀ The body too is with us all the time, and is its own lesson. From the moment we were born it has changed into what we have now, at this moment, and it will continue to change, deteriorating and decaying just like the beautiful orchid flowers until it too is gone.

“When our mind is constantly deluded by wrong thinking, we create suffering for ourselves in the search for happiness and create difficulty in the search for ease. All we can do is complain. It’s a better use of our time to investigate in order to understand the truth of reality. This is the way to liberation.”

May this teaching lead you to happiness; may it help you grow in truth. May you be freed from the suffering of birth and death.

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