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,
suffer from knowing it, or 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
Meditation
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