But it depends on our ability to let go.
‘Nagarjuna, the second century Buddhist teacher, said, “Thanks to emptiness, everything is possible.” Emptiness is another term for nonself; when we say things are empty, it means they are without a separate self. Nonself and impermanence are two sides of reality; impermanence is looking at reality in terms of time, and nonself is looking at reality in terms of space. When we look deeply into our fears, we can see our desire for permanence and our fear of change. But impermanence and nonself are not something negative. Impermanence means transformation at every moment. Therefore we can say, “Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible.’
~ Thich Nhat Hanh. How To See
This is a wonderful realisation to have, that impermanence is not a loss, not something to fear, but something to celebrate. For instance if previous relationships in my life had not been so awful, I might not treasure the one I have right now, or not as much as I do. I might not even have this relationship and that would be awful on every level. If my family had not taught me how worthless I was, I would not have gone on the journey of discovery to challenge that belief and realise it was mistaken. I might have fallen into the trap of ‘superiority’ that many in my family hold and although I would have been acceptable to my family, I would not have been a genuine person.
We all live with impermanence but rarely do we see how positive it is in our life. We just think it is normal for things to ‘get better’ and bad luck for them to ‘get worse’.
I am glad of all the challenges and changes in my life, even for having ADHD and PTSD. They humbled me, they taught me the best life skills like compassion, and they gave me profound insight into the workings of human emotions. They all came on the back of great insecurity and uncertainty, which I now see was just impermanence in play. We should teach children how to understand impermanence in positive ways, to recognise the power of a closing door in creating space for a new one to open. This security comes from knowing everything is one, and we are simply part of it all, nothing more or less than that. we are not more important or less important than every other single part. Once we fully grasp and understand impermanence, there is no insecurity or uncertainty, there is just what is. Everything is just molecules being recycled endlessly into many different forms. Those molecules never die, they simply reform into various configurations.
What we need to let go of in this understanding is our desire for things to cling to, money, power, status, are all part of what keeps us unhappy and apart from the deepest truths that liberate us.
Most people who seek power seek it for personal gain, not for the greater good.
People who want more money usually are rich enough but are unsatisfied with life and have fallen into the false belief that money will somehow liberate them from their hollowness.
Being satisfied with all you have and all that has ever happened to you is a great liberator for the burdens of fear, anger, greed, anxiety and uncertainty.
‘What if I lose what I have worked so hard for to acquire?’
Instead ask your self this.
‘What would you give up for your heart’s desire for peace and contentment?’
There is a belief that the two are incompatible but they are not. I am not suggesting that we go back to cave-man or life at the very basic level of survival. That is not necessary. We can use the advantages we have in health and understanding, in art and creativity. We just need to demolish the false gods we all feel obliged to work for, and instead live in peace with the planet, stop destroying her children, including ourselves.
Because apart from climate science we are also destroying ourselves, through that very need to ‘make life better’ in materialistic ways.
How many people struggle with mental health or commit suicide because they are cast adrift and feel unable to make their spiritual connections with their own life?
How many people die from terrible diseases caused by pollution or starvation from poisoning the land and removing all its essential ingredients, like trees, ecosystems etc?
These are not small numbers and I could add hundreds of exemplars to this list. I could trace them all back to this same principle, a false belief that comes from human ego constructs and misinterpretations, and not from deeper truth.
Once we focus on impermanence it starts to open our eyes to the wonders of possibilities. I want the world to heal itself, and I want that to happen in my lifetime if possible, or at least be on the right track, so that my grandchildren can be safe in their futures and have a human life that is based on truth, not on lies that serve a very small minority. For the greater good should be the motto of the world, not for the few but for everyone. But everyone has to want that to make it happen. As Ghandi said, ‘be the change you want to see.’
It takes time to change, though we don’t have much time left, but if we all really looked deeply into our needs and wants I am sure we could all find the change needed. Everything is impermanent and anything is possible.