Impermanence in difficult times

Did you know that our history records reveal some interesting information about the oldest printed book in existence.

It’s called The Diamond Sutra and apparently originated in China. The book includes Sanskrit text translated into Chinese and was found in a place called ‘The Cave of a Thousand Buddhas,’ a hidden space that was once under threat.

What’s important about this text is that it holds very prominent Buddhist teachings that are so important that they still exist today, even after their publication in 868 A.D.

What I really felt called to share was one of the quotes found in this book. In English the translation sounds like this:

So you should view
this fleeting world-
A star at dawn, a
bubble in a stream,
A flash of lightning
in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a
phantom, and a
dream.

This had me thinking about the idea of impermanence and the impact it has on our minds. In the end, our lives are as fluid as the stream that moves with the bubbles and the clouds that reveal the lightening and the coming and going of phantoms and dreams. But what remains still is the observing mind amongst it all.

While life continues to bring about its transient set of circumstances; good, bad and indifferent, what I realise among it all is the nature of non grasping. The need to let go, to surrender and allow life to unfold. Like the Buddhists are taught through their scriptures, it is the mere grasping, clinging and squealing through the flow that creates suffering and facilitates room for animosity.

When we learn that nothing is fixed and that even our soul is movement, we can finally allow our minds to surrender to oneness and know that tomorrow is another day, another fleeting moment, not to be taken, just to be lived.

It is in these times of uncertainty and change that we wish to express our wishes for health and to find peace as the moment passes us by.

With love and best wishes

Anneka and Teresa

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