Meditation On Impermanence

The Meditation Newsletter

Everything is impermanent. We know this intellectually, but we tend to fight against the reality. Our own bodies are something different every day, and our minds are like Grand Central Station, with thoughts, feelings and other visitors coming and going in an unending and chaotic flow. We want to believe that there is some way to keep things from changing so fast, but by refusing to recognize and accept the transitory nature of everything, we only increase our frustration and suffering.

How do you deal with this? Acceptance of truth certainly removes you from the battle against reality, and lets you relax with the way things are, but how do you accomplish this on more than an intellectual level? A good start is a meditation on impermanence.

Begin by sitting, either cross-legged, or in a chair, with both feet flat on the floor. Relax your body while sitting up straight. Aim your eyes slightly upwards, and close them. Breath deeply through your nose. Do nothing but pay attention to your breath for the first few minutes. Return attention to your breath each time your mind wanders.

Imagine the clouds, how they are forming, and dissipating, and constantly changing shape. Now choose something in this world, and contemplate how it came into being, and how it will cease to be. A mountain, even, was once non-existent, and will someday be worn down to nothing. See the process, and see it again for another thing of this world.

Imagine the birth, growth, and death of a man or woman, and then see it in the context of all of human history. Think back on your own life. See the changing of your body and mind over time. See into the future, into the certainty of your own death. Notice in that vision that even as you are dying, others are being born. All is in a state of flux.

Finally, return your attention to your own breath. Notice how your own thoughts and feelings come into existence, and then fade away. Every new thought and sensation becomes old. Even in the sanctuary of your own "self," impermanence is the only certainty. Finish with a look around the room, and a commitment to recognize and accept the flux of life in this world.

Why You Need To Understand This

This is not pessimism, by the way. Is it pessimistic to say that gravity is real, and will kill you if you step off a cliff? No. It's reality, and because you fully experience the reality of gravity, you don't deny it, nor suffer from knowing it, nor fight against this part of reality. You don't step off cliffs.

The same is true when you fully experience the reality of impermanence. You cease to fight it and suffer from it. This is liberating, not depressing. Why not try this meditation today?

Next Issue: An Atheist's Prayer

Steve