I had a couple of aha moments since I started studying Tibetan Buddhism with a teacher. One of those was about impermanence. It’s one of the important teachings of this philosophy: everything is impermanent. Everything!
I was minded blown when I realized it was true. This will change my life forever, for two specific reasons. If nothing is permanent, it means that my suffering is not either. Don’t get me wrong, suffering is inevitable (worth another blog post), but what I mean is that they will end at some point. Things like feeling sad because of someone’s death or being sick or not having a job. One day, that sadness caused by a loved one who passed way will fade and disappear. You still love and miss them, but you won’t be sad anymore. At some point, you’ll get a new job: if not this week, next month. When you are sick, most of the time it’s for a couple of days, unless you have something incurable. Even in that case, you have days when you don’t suffer. It may sound macabre, but think about that these types of sickness and suffering will go away when you die. The point is that you can find comfort in knowing that the negative experiences we have in life won’t last forever.
We could say the same for positive things happening to us. They won’t last! Once your vacations are done, you need to go back to reality. The amazing evening you have with your friends will end once people call it a night and go to bed. Obviously, they may happen again in the future, but even that is uncertain. Hopefully, some of them will last as long as it can, like a married couple who loved themselves until death teared them apart. In the end, it’s not about feeling defeated by that: it is a way to celebrate life as much as we can. Don’t take those joyful moment for granted. Live them at their fullest because they won’t last.
Nothing is permanent. It is a hard pill to swallow at first, but it’s a beautiful gift of life when you accept that it’s the reality, don’t you think?
