When we realize that the nature of things is change, our appreciation, our gratitude and our ability to value what we have when we have it increases exponentially.
Like nothing else, impermanence can teach us how to treasure every aspect of life and how to live fully. Let’s not wait. Life is as fragile as a sand castle. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. In the face of impermanence, only love can exist, discarding anger, resentment and even worry.
The following passage, which I adapted from Who Dies?: An Investigation of Conscious Life and Conscious Death by Stephen and Ondrea Levin, tells us about the intrinsic wisdom in the impermanent nature of all things.
One students once asked Ajahan Chau, a well-known Thai Buddhist monk, “In this world where everything changes, where nothing stays the same, where loss and pain are inherent in our existence, how can there be happiness? How can we find security when we see that we can’t count on anything being the way we want it to be?
The teacher, looking compassionately at this fellow, raised a glass and said: Do you see this glass? For me this cup is already broken. I enjoy it. I drink from it. It holds my water admirably, sometimes even reflecting the sun in beautiful patterns. If I click it, it gives out a lovely sound. But when I put this glass on a shelf and the wind hits it, or my elbow pushes it off the table and it falls to the floor and breaks, I say to myself, “Of course.” When I understand that this cup is already broken, every moment with it is precious. Every moment is just as it is, and nothing has to be otherwise.”
What does this story reveal to us?
When we recognize that, like the cup, our body is impermanent, that we are in fact in constant flux, then life becomes precious and we open ourselves to it just as it is. When we understand that our time on earth is short, our children, our partner, our friends, they all become so precious.
Pema Chodron, the beloved Buddhist nun, tells us since death is certain and the moment of death is uncertain, what is the most important thing here and now? When you live your life aware of this fact, life takes on a new meaning. Each moment becomes a whole life, a universe itself.
In this way, we bring awareness to our mortality and our priorities change, our hearts open, and our minds begin to clear off the fog of old possessions and appearances. We see all life in transit, and what really matters becomes immediately obvious: the love in our lives, the letting go of obstacles to understanding. We let go of our clinging, our inflexibility, and stop hiding from ourselves.
Seeing how we judge ourselves mercilessly, we become more gentle with ourselves and with others. If we take every teaching, every loss, every gain, every fear, every joy that arises and fully experience it, life becomes viable. We are no longer victims and, instead, each experience becomes another opportunity to learn and appreciate.
If our only spiritual practice were to remember how ephemeral our lives are on this earth, there would be no time for falsehoods, for masks, for appearances, for resentments. If we remembered how little time we have with each other, we would forgive faster and love more.
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