You don’t actually need to maintain that pattern. Every little inch of it could be given a little nudge and a push and somehow, at some point, it could all collapse and it could be a new day, a new life, a new you and a whole different feel about life and about everything. It does happen in the end. Continue reading What if Reflecting on Impermanence & Death Feels Hopeless?
Notice moments when you have a strong impulse to deny, resist or try to ignore change. Instead of trying to ignore or shut off the experience, stay with the feeling and let there be a gap or a space for that feeling to spread into. Continue reading Reflection Exercise on Responding to Change/Impermanence
Reflect on the poignancy of impermanence and on the inevitability of death. Let the significance of that really strike to your heart and reflect on what is most important in life in the light of that fact. Notice how this thought heightens your awareness and how it could be used to intensify your heart wish for clarity and confidence in relation to the path of awakening Continue reading How the Inevitability of Change & Impermanence Heightens Our Clarity/Awareness
Resolves give you a general direction and structure to how you live while turning towards situations. Keeping in touch with what is going on in yourself and in the situation, allows you to work through the resolve in practice – clearly adapting the resolve to fit the developing situation as you go. Continue reading What’s the difference between being firm with my resolve and being fixed and solidified?
If impermanence meant that everything changed all the time so there is no point in doing anything, then life would be pretty meaningless wouldn’t it?
What gives life meaning is connecting to our Heart Wish and aligning our intentions with it. As we align we commit to a particular direction and then let go into that direction and see what happens. When we make a commitment to others we want them to believe in and trust our commitment to our intention and for them to co-operate with us on that basis.
Continue reading What is the difference between commitment and not seeing the reality of impermanence?
Bearing death in mind is not a matter of turning away from the beauty of life. It is about enjoying life to the full because you are not deluding yourself any more. You come to really know what life actually is. Continue reading Student’s Question: How can we enjoy worldly things, knowing that they are impermanent?
