Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Sogyal Rinpoche on Impermanence


[image source]

Glimpse of the Day:

Reflect on this: The realization of impermanence is paradoxically the only thing we can hold on to, perhaps our only lasting possession. It is like the sky, or the earth. No matter how much everything around us may change or collapse, they endure.

Say we go through a shattering emotional crisis . . . our whole life seems to be disintegrating . . . our husband or wife suddenly leaves us without warning. The earth is still there; the sky is still there. Of course, even the earth trembles now and again, just to remind us that we cannot take anything for granted. . . .

Wouldn't it be nice if we could the center of impermanence in the midst of this kind of chaos? I'm certainly not there yet.

Technorati Tags: , , ,

1 comment:

Mike said...

Hi Bill,

I find direct meditations on impermanence help greatly. For instance, sit down to meditate, and take a neutral object around you, or a neutral event, then contemplate it until you experience/understand its impermanence. Then move to something a little bigger, a little more personal. Keep going until your meditation is over. This eventually gets to the point where you can use it in-the-moment, which is a pretty neat experience.