From our childhood onwards, when grandparents or other loved ones pass away, we all learn and know that life on this Earth and in this body is temporary and transient. We understand that life is inevitably, inescapably followed by death, and that life itself is a process of very gradual but definite ageing and deterioration.
We know all this but we don’t like to dwell on it and often prefer to avoid it at all costs, deliberately never allowing ourselves to fully acknowledge, accept, and come to terms with it.
We have not made peace with impermanence. If we were to do so, our own peace in life would surely be much greater and we would be able to handle the changes of life with far less suffering, fear, and despair.
In the world’s religions, there are very few that dwell specifically and in detail on this subject and on helping people to make peace with impermanence. The two which prominently do so are Buddhism, originating in India about 2,500 years ago, and Daoism or Taoism, originating in China at seemingly the same time; Buddha and Laozi (Lao Tzu) most likely being contemporaries. This is why the compilation below is derived from Taoist and Buddhist sources.
Buddhism, having the more complex philosophy of impermanence, recognises two aspects to this: there is the simple fact of impermanence, i.e. that everything in manifestation is transient and temporary, and there is also what is termed momentariness.
The Buddha emphasised that everything is constantly changing, arising and ceasing with every tiniest moment. It is not that things only change and become impermanent when their impermanence is visually, physically noticed by us. They are impermanent from one moment to the next.
H. P. Blavatsky in “The Secret Doctrine” Vol. 1, p. 37, says:
“Nothing on earth has real duration, for nothing remains without change – or the same – for the billionth part of a second; and the sensation we have of the actuality of the division of “time” known as the present, comes from the blurring of that momentary glimpse, or succession of glimpses, of things that our senses give us, as those things pass from the region of ideals which we call the future, to the region of memories that we name the past. . . . The real person or thing does not consist solely of what is seen at any particular moment, but is composed of the sum of all its various and changing conditions from its appearance in the material form to its disappearance from the earth.”
Plato’s “Cratylus” quotes from the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus, saying “All entities are moving and nothing ever remains still.” And, more famously: “Everything changes, nothing remains still; you cannot step into the same river twice.”
And why is it that a person cannot step into the same river twice? Not only will the ever-flowing water constituting the river have completely changed after even a split second but so too will the person stepping in.
Modern science confirms and agrees with Ancient Wisdom on this, at least with regard to the material level, which is science’s focus.
In “The Mahatma Letters” (p. 111) the Master K.H. or Koot Hoomi says:
“See the Abhidharma Kosha Vyākhyā, the Sutta Pitaka, [or] any Northern Buddhist book, all of which show Gautama Buddha saying that . . . the body is constantly changing, and that neither man, animal, nor plant is ever the same for two consecutive days or even minutes. [The Master then quotes from the Buddha:] “Mendicants! Remember that there is within man no abiding principle whatever, and that only the learned disciple who acquires wisdom, in saying ‘I am’ —knows what he is saying.””
The Master underlines the words “no abiding [or “no permanent and unchanging”] principle whatever.”
The celebrated Anagarika Dharmapala, a leading Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhist who was close to H. P. Blavatsky in India and died in the 1930s, wrote: “The Blessed One [i.e. Buddha] after having gained omniscience found that there is neither a permanency nor an annihilation of [one’s] existence; but a continuous change depending on the law of cause and effect according to the good or evil karma.”
That principle of neither eternalism nor annihilationism points to the Middle Way, a defining feature of Buddhism.
And perhaps now it may make more sense why Buddha and Buddhism speak not of an unchanging, static, ethereal being called a “soul” within each of us but rather of a mindstream or stream of consciousness, an ever- and rapidly-flowing stream, of consciousness, karma, and energy, continually in flux, change, and transformation. This is what is said in Buddhism to be reborn and go from life to life. It is pictured not as an eternal entity but as an energetic process. And in modern Western philosophy and psychology, we find very similar ideas in the work of William James and in Alfred North Whitehead’s system called Process Philosophy.
One of the core components of Buddha’s teaching is called the Three Marks or Three Characteristics of Existence. We’ll see these in the compilation which follows but briefly they are:
All conditioned phenomena are impermanent, or subject to impermanence.
All conditioned phenomena are suffering, or subject to suffering.
All phenomena are non-self, that is, they are devoid of self.
In “The Theosophical Glossary,” HPB calls these “the three fundamental axioms in mysticism.”
So we can see that the only constancy is change. Change is the only certainty in manifested life.
But Theosophy, and Buddhism, and Taoism, do acknowledge that there is something which is truly eternal, infinite, and unchanging, and which everyone has the potential to attain to.
For the Buddha, this is Nirvana, which is not a place, or a realm, or a sphere populated by beings, but is rather an almost entirely indescribable state of absoluteness and pure non-duality. It is not somewhere metaphysically objective, outside of us that we go to, but is reached within and only within.
More esoterically, we find “The Voice of The Silence,” translated by H. P. Blavatsky from the Book of the Golden Precepts, telling us:
“All is impermanent in man except the pure bright essence of Alaya. Man is its crystal ray; a beam of light immaculate within, a form of clay material upon the lower surface. That beam is thy life-guide and thy true Self, the Watcher and the silent Thinker, the victim of thy lower Self.” (p. 57, original edition)
While in Buddhism the fact of impermanence is often viewed as something terrible and awful, to become detached from but escape from as soon as possible through putting an end to one’s necessity for rebirth, Taoism generally perceives impermanence as something which is in reality beautiful, an unavoidable and ever-present component of this mysterious and wondrous thing called existence, and which should be actively and joyously embraced by us. This is reflective of the fundamental difference in philosophical outlook between the Indian and the Chinese mind, the former highly spiritualised and hyper-metaphysical, and the latter much “earthier” in its spirituality and in tune with physical Nature. Whichever approach we favour will largely be determined by our own skandhas, passed down from our prior life and lives. Perhaps, as with most things, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
~ * ~
From the Daodejing or Tao Te Ching by Laozi (Lao Tzu)
(literal translation by Stephen Addiss and Stanley Lombardo)
TAO endures. Your body dies. There is no danger. (# 16)
Your body dies. There is no danger. (# 52)
Something unformed and complete before Heaven and Earth were born, solitary and silent, stands alone and unchanging, pervading all things without limit. It is like the mother of all under Heaven, but I don’t know its name – Better call it TAO. Better call it great. . . . Therefore, TAO is great, and Heaven, and Earth, and humans. Four great things in the world. Aren’t humans one of them? Humans follow Earth, Earth follows Heaven, Heaven follows TAO. TAO follows its own nature. (# 25)
Reversal is TAO’s movement. Yielding is TAO’s practice. All things originate from being. Being originates from non-being. (# 40)
When searching only for life’s bounty, people ignore death. Only those who don’t strive after life truly respect life. (# 75)
From the Zhuangzi or Book of Chuang Tzu
(translated by Martin Palmer)
We are all in a process of change, . . . Contentment produces the smile; a genuine smile cannot be forced. Don’t struggle, go with the flow and you will find yourself at one with the vastness of the void of Heaven. . . . meander alone in freedom and aimlessness, enjoying things as they happen through the process of change . . . (Ch. 6, p. 56-57)
Ordinary people . . . say they are happy, but I am not happy and I am not unhappy either. Ultimately, do they have happiness or not? I regard actionless action [i.e. wu wei, one of the key terms and concepts of Taoism] as worthy of being called happiness, . . . It is said: ‘Perfect happiness is not happiness, perfect glory is not glory.’ . . . Heaven does without doing through its purity, Earth does without doing through its calmness. Thus the two combine their actionless action and all forms of life are changed and thus come out again to live! Wonder of wonders, they have not come from anywhere! All life is mysterious and emerges from actionless action. (Ch. 18, p. 150)
Chuang Tzu’s wife died and Hui Tzu came to console him, but Chuang Tzu was sitting, legs akimbo, bashing a battered tub and singing.
Hui Tzu said, ‘You lived as man and wife, she reared your children. At her death surely the least you should be doing is to be on the verge of weeping, rather than banging the tub and singing: this is not right!’
Chuang Tzu said, ‘Certainly not. When she first died, I certainly mourned just like everyone else! However, I then thought back to her birth and to the very roots of her being, before she was born. . . . before the very origin of her life’s breath. Out of all this, through the wonderful mystery of change she was given her life’s breath. Her life’s breath wrought a transformation and she had a body. Her body wrought a transformation and she was born. Now there is yet another transformation and she is dead. . . . She is now at peace, lying in her chamber, but if I were to sob and cry it would certainly appear that I could not comprehend the ways of destiny.’ (Ch. 18, p. 150-151)
The constant transformation of all forms of life is like a beginning without end. What is there in this to disturb your heart? Those who comprehend the Tao are freed from all this. (Ch. 21, p. 180)
Bring all things together under the Equality of Heaven, allow their process of change to go on unimpeded, and learn to grow old. . . . I say not-being is being and being is not-being. But let us not get caught up in discussing this. Forget about life, forget about worrying about right and wrong. Plunge into the unknown and the endless and find your place there! (Ch. 2, p. 20)
From the Teachings of The Buddha
in the Pali Canon
From the Dhammapada (translation by Gil Fronsdal)
Hatred never ends through hatred. By non-hate alone does it end. This is an ancient truth.
Many do not realize that we here must die. For those who realize this, quarrels end. (v. 5-6)
Knowing this body is like foam, fully awake to its mirage-like nature, cutting off Mara’s flowers, one goes unseen by the King of Death. (v. 46)
Virtuous people always let go. They don’t prattle about pleasures and desires. Touched by happiness and then by suffering, the sage shows no sign of being elated or depressed. (v. 83)
On the immense value of noticing, observing, and realising the impermanence of all conditioned phenomena:
Better than one hundred years lived without seeing the arising and passing of things is one day lived seeing their arising and passing. (v. 113)
Better than one hundred years lived without seeing the Deathless is one day lived seeing the Deathless. (v. 114)
Why the laughter, why the joy, when flames are ever burning? Surrounded by darkness, shouldn’t you search for light? Look at this beautified body: a mass of sores propped up, full of illness, the object of many plans, with nothing stable or lasting. This body is worn out – so fragile, a nesting ground for disease. When life ends in death, this putrid body dissolves. What is the delight in seeing these dull-white bones tossed away like white gourds in autumn? (v. 146-149)
If one sees the world as a bubble, if one sees it as a mirage, one won’t be seen by the King of Death.
Come, look on this world as a beautified royal chariot. Fools flounder in it, but the discerning do not cling. (v. 170-171)
Don’t get entangled with what you long for or dislike. Not seeing what you long for is suffering; so also is seeing what you dislike.
Therefore, do not turn anything into something longed for, for then it’s dreadful to lose. Without longing or dislike, no bonds exist. (v. 210-211)
“All conditioned things are impermanent.” Seeing this with insight, one becomes disenchanted with suffering. This is the path to purity.
“All conditioned things are suffering.” Seeing this with insight, one becomes disenchanted with suffering. This is the path to purity.
“All things are non-self.” Seeing this with insight, one becomes disenchanted with suffering. This is the path to purity.” (v. 277-279)
Let go of the past, let go of the future, let go of the present. Gone beyond becoming, with the mind released in every way, you do not again undergo birth and old age.
For people who have agitated thoughts and intense passion, and who are focused on what’s pleasant, craving grows more and more. Indeed, they strengthen their bonds.
But those who delight in calming their thoughts, are always mindful, and cultivate a focus on what’s unpleasant, will bring an end to craving. They will cut Mara’s bonds. (v. 348-350)
From the Sutta Nipata, IV.6 (Jara Sutta) (translation by H. Saddhatissa)
Short indeed is this life; one dies within a hundred years, but if anyone survives longer than that he surely dies of decay.
People grieve for the things they are attached to as ‘mine,’ but there is no enduring object of grasping. Comprehending this situation, the wise one should lead a homeless life.
What one grasps, thinking, ‘this is mine,’ is left behind by death. Recognizing this fact, let not the wise one who follows the right path turn to acquisitiveness. . . . only the name of a person remains when he has passed away.
The selfish, greedy ones do not give up sorrow, lamentation and miserliness. Hence, the sages, giving up objects of grasping, wander about with insight into tranquillity. . . .
The sage who is independent in all circumstances, does not exhibit like or dislike. Sorrow and avarice do not cling to him as water does not stick to the lotus leaf.
As a drop of water does not stick to a lotus leaf or as a lotus flower is untainted by the water, so the sage does not cling to anything – seen, heard or thought.
The liberated one does not seek anything that is seen, heard or thought. He does not seek purity through anything else for he has neither passion nor dispassion.
From the Mahaparinibbana Sutta (translation by Sister Vajira and Francis Story)
And the Blessed One spoke to the bhikkhus [i.e. monks], saying: “Where, bhikkhus, is Ananda?”
“The Venerable Ananda, Lord, has gone into the vihara [i.e. temple/monastery] and there stands leaning against the door post and weeping: ‘I am still but a learner, and still have to strive for my own perfection. But, alas, my Master, who was so compassionate towards me, is about to pass away!'”
Then the Blessed One asked a certain bhikkhu to bring the Venerable Ananda to him . . .
Then the Blessed One spoke to the Venerable Ananda, saying: “Enough, Ananda! Do not grieve, do not lament! For have I not taught from the very beginning that with all that is dear and beloved there must be change, separation, and severance? Of that which is born, come into being, compounded, and subject to decay, how can one say: ‘May it not come to dissolution!’? There can be no such state of things. . . . Great good have you gathered, Ananda! Now you should put forth energy, and soon you too will be free from the taints.” (5.33-35)
And the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus, saying: “Behold now, bhikkhus, I exhort you: All compounded things are subject to vanish. [Also translated as “All conditioned things are subject to impermanence.”] Strive with earnestness!” This was the last word of the Tathagata. (6.8)
~
The bones of the successive bodies of a single being, accumulated in a single aeon, would make a heap like a mountain – so said the Great Sage. He declared it to be as great as Mount Vepulla to the north of Vulture’s Peak in the hill-fort of Magadha.
But when one sees with perfect wisdom the Four Noble Truths as they are – (1) suffering, (2) the cause of suffering, (3) the overcoming of suffering, and (4) the Noble Eightfold Path leading to freedom from suffering – having merely continued on seven more lives at the most, by destroying all fetters one puts an end to suffering. (Itivuttaka, 1.24, Atthipunja Sutta)
Monks, there is an unborn, unbecome, unmade, unconditioned. If there were not that unborn, unbecome, unmade, unconditioned, you could not know an escape from the born, become, made, and conditioned. (Udana, 8.3, Tatiyaparinibbana Sutta)
The Buddha, the bull among sages, the leader, taught me about the origin [of suffering, i.e. desire and craving], suffering, and impermanence; and he also taught the unconditioned, the cessation of suffering, the eternal; as well as the straight and peaceful path. Having heard the Buddha’s message, the deathless state, the unconditioned, I became well restrained by the precepts and was established in the Dhamma. (Vimanavatthu, v. 143-144)
A bhikkhu . . . contemplates whatever is present . . . pertaining to form, feeling/perception of sensation, discriminating cognition, dispositions and volitions, and consciousness [i.e. the five skandhas or psychophysical aggregates] as being impermanent, suffering, an illness, a boil, a dart, misery, affliction, alien to oneself, disintegrating, empty, and non-self. He then turns his mind away from those dhammas [i.e. “phenomena,” “things,” “factors”] and directs it to the deathless element thus: ‘This is peaceful, this is sublime, that is, the stilling of all formations, the relinquishing of all acquisitions, the destruction of craving, dispassion, cessation, nibbana [i.e. the Pali for Nirvana].’ If he is firm in this, he attains the destruction of the taints. (Mahamalunkya Sutta)
~ * ~
“From a conviction of the impermanence of material happiness would result a striving after that joy which is eternal, and in which all men can share.” (H. P. Blavatsky, “Theosophical Queries”)
“. . . the old Brahmanical secret Schools . . . the parent of all others, had been established beyond the Himalayas for ages before the appearance of Shakyamuni. Gautama [i.e. Gautama and Shakyamuni being names and titles of the Buddha] was a pupil of this; and it was with them, those Indian Sages, that He had learned the truths of the Shunyata, the emptiness and impermanence of every terrestrial, evanescent thing, and the mysteries of Prajna-Paramita, or “knowledge across the River,” which finally lands the “Perfect One” in the regions of the One Reality.” (HPB, “A Few More Misconceptions Corrected”)
~ * ~
This article may have raised more questions about various things. Please make use of the site search function (the magnifying glass symbol at the top of the page) and visit the Articles page to see the complete list of over 400 articles covering all aspects of Theosophy and the Theosophical Movement. If you found this article helpful, you may particularly like others listed on the Articles page under the heading BUDDHISM AND TAOISM as well as those listed under SPIRITUAL LIVING AND PRACTICE.
~ BlavatskyTheosophy.com ~
