The reason I chose a picture of a butterfly sitting on a toad’s face is because there is no way that moment lasted for more than a fraction of a second. Does it seem sad because the moment has passed? Do you sense gratitude because you can witness just a moment of its beauty?
We can learn from impermanence. A word that describes perfectly the transient and ever changing state of everything, including us. Impermanence is familiar to those whom study Buddhism. It presents less of a problem to those who subscribe to a faith that offers spiritual eternity.
Impermanence, regardless of faith, applies to us all. Our health is temporary, our time to work is finite, the ground we stand on won’t even remain the same forever.
I remember in my early twenties slipping into a state of deep depression when considering my ‘true’ worldly fate. My answers to all of the challenges in life were answered arrogantly by ‘who cares? We’ll all be dead one day anyway’. After a couple of years of depression, I learned to cope practically with the existential vacuum in my heart whilst wrestling with the meaning of life and the ‘point’ of everything. I smoothed over my own unhappiness and unappreciative beliefs, I never really dealt with the problem.
The hole in my life never truly filled or stopped popping up frequently until I truly started to appreciate how much value impermanence really gave to my life, and what it really meant.
In ‘Taming The Tiger’ Akong Tulku Rinpoche explains how a misdirected grasp of impermanence can be used to justify total apathy, depression or any kind of inaction rooted in the essence of ‘what’s the point?’. A true understanding and correct approach to our temporary existence is to accept change, completely. Accept that change is one of the few true universal constants of human experience. Accept that our experience is temporary, brief and indescribably beautiful. A shooting star is not beautiful because it lasts forever, it is exciting because it is so brief, so transient, that we are lucky to catch even a brief glance. The crash of a wave lasts a moment, it may leave behind beautiful patterns, shells or life. In the same way we can leave behind the legacy of a well tamed mind or ‘Tiger’, a deepened and mature sense of what it truly means to be temporary and to embrace life the way we might embrace a shooting star, with awe, amazement and curiosity.
An analogy I am particularly fond of is one we all may recognise and appreciate. When we were children we would be taken to the park, we would want the experience to last forever. Our parents would eventually start glancing at their watch ‘two minutes, then its time to go home’. As children we were faced with a decision, a number of choices. What did you do? We could have played like we’ve never played in that park before, jump on as many different climbing frames and swings as our little legs could possibly manage. We could have been overcome with a sense of ‘that’s not fair’ and sat with our arms folded and show a pout that would rival any modern day selfie. We could have run around the park in a state of resentment and anger, pinching, punching and scratching as many other children as we could possibly find and leave a trail of self-righteous destruction.
Out of these three options, which version of yourself truly wins? Which version of yourself is both tame and content?
Like the child in the playground, we can embrace the rest of our lives with open hearts and an appreciation of the moments we have. We can show love and compassionate kindness no matter how much time we have. Our transience does not make us pointless or weak, it makes us a shooting star.
I would like to thank you for being so kind in reading my blog. I hope I have achieved my goal of bringing you the same warmth I felt when I learned the true beauty of impermanence. Please share your thoughts, feelings or questions in the comment section below. Your views count!
Really beautifully written, look forward to reading more of these. Great stuff Jon.
LikeLiked by 5 people
Thank you Nick 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for leaving the link on my post – https://ramblingsofawriter2016.com/2017/10/14/carpe-diem-1274-ryuko-ji-compassion/. I would never have found this blog otherwise, I enjoyed reading it and have posted it on Twitter.
Have a nice weekend.
LikeLiked by 5 people
Nicely written!
LikeLiked by 5 people
Thank you Joc 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Jonathan, thanks for reading my blog, as I could then read your well articulated and insightful post.
Beautifully written.
LikeLiked by 5 people
Like a breath of fresh air, a wind blowing through my room shakes things free that have been undisturbed for too long. Thank you for this
T
LikeLiked by 4 people
What a wonderfully poetic response. Thank you
LikeLiked by 2 people
This is beautiful and irinocally not transient. It stays with you. Your wordd have brought out the essence of transcience. Awesome. Looking forward to more!
LikeLiked by 4 people
Great thank you Ketan, I’m really glad I conveyed the essence of the topic 🙂
LikeLike
Thankyou!
A beautifully written article. This has challenged my thoughts at a time which I am finding particularly difficult.
LikeLiked by 4 people
I was hoping you would read it also Mum! I’m glad you could take something from it 🙂 X X x
LikeLike
Jon, you have created a beautifully written & composed piece that manages to encapsulate the transient nature of life while allowing us a glimpse into what makes you ‘you’. To overcome, to move past life’s trials & tribulations is something that many attempt but less accomplish. The ability to see past the perceived injustice of a situation, to realise that it is merely a moment among a collection of moments that makeup our lives is something that is often forgotten. As a kindred in circumstance the insight of your words ring true. Please continue to ensure these & your future words are made public. P
LikeLiked by 3 people
Phil I really appreciate both what you’ve written and also how you’ve written it. It means a lot that you really see the essence of what I’ve written. Thank you so much 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love this – really well written and definitely made me think! It’s so true that things that are impermanent are often exciting because they are fleeting. If shooting stars were always there, we wouldn’t get so excited about them – I’ve never really thought about that before!
LikeLiked by 4 people
A very well written piece, and a subject I’ve never been conscious of. The words will resonate with me as I go about my day.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thank you for commenting Steven 🙂 I’m really glad you’ve taken something from it.
LikeLike
Jon, this is beautiful. I love the way you have taken the key learning from the book and explained how it applied to your own life. I agree that the analogy with the swings is excellent, and must make a point of remembering that. Keep your library membership up-to-date because I’m hungry for more insight! 🙂
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thank you Eleanor. I’m amazed by the support and response so far. I didn’t realise writing could connect with people on such a level. I will update content consistently 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Normally I balk at getting links left on my blog but I am very glad you did leave the door open for me to wander through and read this. It speaks my heart, actually. It really IS only when we understand that life is ephemeral that we begin to breathe it in mindfully and appreciate the moment by moment nature of it like so many tiny little bubbles of experience. Thank you. I truly appreciated this post.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thank you for your words Osyth. I really appreciate them. Very poetic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
And in turn, I thank you for following my blog … I will try not to let you down 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
And in turn, I thank you for following my blog. I will try not to be a let-down!
LikeLiked by 2 people
No such thing 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
wonderful, thank you for providing me with this link )
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thank you ksbeth your welcome 🙂
LikeLike
A beautifully written piece that I am certain to return to and reflect upon, again and again. Really lovely Jon xx
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thank you myfamilytravels2017 🙂
LikeLike
What a beautiful story to come across on Friday afternoon…a great reminder to enjoy – moment, time, childhood, adulthood, life without putting any filter to it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much for adding to the discussion 🙂 it’s brilliant to hear I may cheer a couple of people up along the way.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s amazing how we come to discount impermanence, but the truth of it is reinforced as every second goes by. Nice article.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you so much, you are absolutely right. Wrestlethyself is a really great name 😀
LikeLike
Awesome post. Impermanence is actually one of the prime doctrines in Buddhism which asserts that all of conditioned existence is, without exception, transient, evanescent and inconstant. I agree with that, which is why I ty to live my life mindfully, in the moment as much as possible.
It was a very enlightening post. I’ll be coming back for more. X
LikeLike