Finding Comfort in Impermanence
The Buddha pointed out that any idea of existence or persistence is faulty. But he also pointed out that any notion of nonexistence is also flawed.
Many people think that the Buddhadharma teaches that all is impermanent, that everything in the universe is in constant change, being born and dying endlessly. But this is not exactly what the Buddha taught (nor is it borne out by actual experience). Rather, he saw that there isn’t anything that comes or goes, that is born or dies.
If we reach into this world where things appear to come and go and try to find something to put our mind at ease, to free us from our pain, suffering, and confusion, we’ll not find it.
Instead, we will find it only in this moment—in the complete freedom and fluidity of impermanence itself.
–Steve Hagen, from Buddhism is Not What You Think (HarperSanFrancisco)
Comments
impermanence
Is this about dependent origination? The ebb & flow of causes and conditions?
That we cannot hold on to any moment, just see it and on to the next, the next....