Everything is impermanent. Everything is on fire, smoldering at the edges, burning. Moment to moment, everything suffers a miniature death and miniature rebirth. Like frames of film, fast enough to be imperceptible when immersed. But then I go away and come back and I don’t know what the hell is going on in the movie anymore. I’ve lost the plot.
Deeply nourishing thoughts and reflections as usual Tommy. I especially liked this idea, that you'll never have a better foothold than you do in this moment. That's a profound framing of the truth, because it helps to "out" that incessant personal lie that a better foothold is just around the corner, just one more paycheck, or sunset, or vacation, or lay, or dessert, or accomplishment away. But no. This is it! Imagine making one's complete and utter peace with that fact! So good my friend. And also, the fact that the monk didn't laugh his ass off at this - "(naturally, I joked the tattoo was permanent, which he didn’t think was as amusing as I did)." is proof that he still has a ways to go. : )
Yes, my friend, remembering that every day is one more closer to our last is a vital confront that can empower our lives. I work with it every single day….
A student asked Suzuki Roshi “What is the essence of Enlghtenment?” His instant reply was “EVERYTHING CHANGES!”
My own first teachers were high Lamas from Tibet and one of the very first teachings was “The Four Ends”….
The end of all building is ruin…
The end of all accumulation is dispersion….
The end of all meeting is parting…
The end of all birth is death!
This is an excellent article as your heart is really and truly hungering for the truth…
Wonderful! This is the path that all great ones having taken, which leads to penetrating the veil and attaining the freedom of deep real understanding….
Good for you!
I live by this attitude….Victory comes to those who will not quit on the great quest and who persevere through everything which comes up in the process.
“You suffer because life is bursting with beauty, both in its joy and its pain, but demands you to let go, a million times over². You can’t hold on to anything.”
Tommy - so deep. Such wisdom. The thing I love about your writing is that it’s like we ride delicately along, inside your soul as your take in your surroundings, think about them, reflect on them, be influenced by them, ponder them, and then tell us your feelings about them in a warm and whimsical way. The story about the monk with the tattoo was so fitting - and as Rick says - illustrative of where he is in his own journey.
I’ve been studying non-duality recently and I wondered when reading your essay, how can we hold onto anything when we’re all One?
Thank you James. That feedback means a lot coming from you.
I know my essays don’t always come to concise answers but I’m trying more to sit with the questions, not pretend I have answers that I don’t. Especially at my age.
Non-duality is a tricky one. I understand it logically but actually experiencing it feels far away. Hard to wrap my mind around.
Thank you for taking time out of your busy life to spend with me on Saturdays (: means the world
Brilliantly written, Tommy. Reading your piece brought to mind Dennis Washburn's description of the Japanese aesthetic sensibility known as mono no aware, which in his words, 'prized above all else an intuitive sensitivity towards the sublime, sad beauty that inheres in mutable nature and transitory human existence.'
On a more personal level, my faith helps me contend with the inherent impermanence of this world. One particular verse of the Qur'an (28:88) always serves to reorients me toward my true purpose:
'No God is there but He:
Everything is perishing but the Face of His everlasting Being:
His is the judgement,
and to Him shall you be returned.'
And on a lighter tone, I thought your joke was awesome :)
I’ll add that there’s this (Sufi?) idea that we are all just travelers in this world, so don’t get attached to anything in this realm. Not the people, the stuff, the feelings, none of it can be taken with you to the final destination …
really needed this reminder on impermanence Tommy!
I liked how you said : You won't find the same person twice, not even in the same person. So true especially as a parent; I’m a different parent for each child, in a totally different state of mind. Your child too is totally impermanent. I can’t control the trajectory, decisions, or choices of this child yet every new parent tries so hard… I’m in the bed wetting stage of child development so I keep telling myself this too is temporary 😂
I love that outlook Sadia. Thank you for sharing (:
just being a traveler reminds me that we’re just renting everything, nothing is truly ours. Even things like our houses and land and money. We have them for a time but eventually push our chips back into the pile and someone else “owns” them
You’re very right on a child being impermanent. I can imagine it’s both a joy and pain of adulthood.
Thank you so much for reading & your thoughtful words here
Ali, it’s so good to hear from you. Thank you for reading & writing such a beautiful reflection here.
Both the Japanese quote and the passage from the Qur’an are sublime. Thank you for sharing. The real trick, it seems, is to keep the impermanence top of mind, integrating it into your worldview.
Thank you again. Really appreciate your time here & hope you had a lovely weekend (:
Great writing pal, loved the message of impermanence especially this: “The world is full of painstakingly beautiful things that are all careening toward decay.”
Although impermanence is unavoidable and worth keeping in mind, I’ve been trying to be most positive lately. To not think worst case scenario. To enjoy the sun while it’s shining. I know it’s impermanent, but I have a natural predisposition to remember that. Others, who live more on autopilot, might need this reminder more than people like me and you who are aware, painstakingly at times, of how everything passes. You want to live while alive not just be constantly reminded of how it will end. Just some thoughts. Great writing as always buddy. Thanks for sharing.
Impermanence yes, however the hope of joyful, thankful reacquainting resonates with me now. Me and you - Tokyo a few weeks ago, my condo for Christmas dinner, steaks in Buenos Aires in October, Paris and Nuremberg last December. All gone, impermanent, wafted into the past. Saturday we come together again, downtown with your siblings at my place, vanquishing impermanence, rejoining once again, joyfully, thankfully. Always. Forever. Blessed.
It’s funny thinking back on those moments, how they all somehow exist still in the present moment, live somewhere in us, despite their remoteness in time.
I totally agree that everything is impermanent, and I would go a step further to say that it's that impermanence that makes everything so worth experiencing. Knowing that a natural view will only be shown for an instant or that certain feelings won't last for ever gives them a sort of value that almost compels one to wish to see them. This is a thought-provoking post; thanks for sharing!
Ah I love that take Bethel, so good. You're so right that life's transience adds to the beauty. I read a quote once that said: “The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost.”
If life lasted forever and there were no last times, we'd be robbed of much of the beauty.
Thank you for reading & the thoughtful note! Made my day (:
Accepting Impermanence for me is both relieving and melancholic. Thinking about a tough work task or studying for an old chem test I could revel in the fact that an end was near. However, I remember my last month living with some of my closest friends I was deeply saddened that it was not a permeant home or feeling. "Both in its joys and its pain" as you put it. Great writing as always, thanks for sharing.
Peter, thank you for reading and the beautiful reflection here.
I totally agree on impermanence being both relieving and melancholic. I’ve had periods of my life I was very grateful to let pass, but also periods that were very hard to let go of. Like moving out from my roommates, similar to you.
Yes, my friend, when we are seriously engaged on our own spiritual path, our prayers and practices actually churns all of our “shit” and causes it to come up to be healed and cleared.
My teachers would say that if this isn’t happening, then it indicates that we are already enlightened or are not engaging with our practice courageously and honestly.
Knowing that I have a limited time opportunity to make good use of my life is something that spurs me to not waste any of my precious time so that when the end of my days does arrive i will be able to greet it with a smile and leave this earth as lovingly and consciously as I can.
Sometimes, it’s good to walk around a cemetery just to make this more real as I read the tombstones with those little dashes between “born and died”….
...can't believe the dude didn't get the tattoo joke..."You won't find the same person twice, not even in the same person."...heads to printer, prints picture of self, scrawls missing atop it, posts on 2 week old milk carton at the right of my desk...
Your reflections on impermanence are very relatable to me. Being fully aware of it brings out a sense of peace in me. In those moments, life’s fleeting nature isn’t a source of fear but rather a profound truth that is remembered. Deep meditation brings me closer to total acceptance of the unknown, and it’s like the entire world’s burden just melts away. It’s liberating, like breathing fresh air into every part of my being.
Danique, thank you for reading & leaving such a thoughtful note. Made my night (:
You’re so right about it bringing a sense of peace. Being okay with things coming and going, not clinging, surrendering to the flow of events. Love it.
To me impermanence sounds like losing something- even tho that’s what it IS - impermanence - in life. I like the word “change” because we have the option, the free will, to choose to move with it or against it. To embrace it or to pretend it’s not happening. Or to hang on tight to a moment and lose it anyway and suffer, or to remain in the moment with gratitude and know it’s ok right now until the moment changes into another moment.
And somehow we have changed with it because we were in the moment as it changed. Key words for me: change, acceptance, in the moment, awareness, personal responsibility, growth, love, gratitude.
And Einstein’s quote: “You cannot solve a problem with the same mind that created it.”
Because that difference and/or change in consciousness applies to more than just problems. I would hope I perceive that impermanence/change as growth when it happens.
Deeply nourishing thoughts and reflections as usual Tommy. I especially liked this idea, that you'll never have a better foothold than you do in this moment. That's a profound framing of the truth, because it helps to "out" that incessant personal lie that a better foothold is just around the corner, just one more paycheck, or sunset, or vacation, or lay, or dessert, or accomplishment away. But no. This is it! Imagine making one's complete and utter peace with that fact! So good my friend. And also, the fact that the monk didn't laugh his ass off at this - "(naturally, I joked the tattoo was permanent, which he didn’t think was as amusing as I did)." is proof that he still has a ways to go. : )
Thank you Rick. I felt a pang of nervousness checking comments and feedback, and it always feels good to see your familiar name.
It’s a personal lie I have to remind myself of, day in, day out. That this is it. This is real life. It’s not waiting to start. I’m living it now.
Haha he said something about his flesh dissolving when he dies which is fair enough but it’s permanent for him.
Thank you again and hope your weekend is lovely
Yes, my friend, remembering that every day is one more closer to our last is a vital confront that can empower our lives. I work with it every single day….
A student asked Suzuki Roshi “What is the essence of Enlghtenment?” His instant reply was “EVERYTHING CHANGES!”
My own first teachers were high Lamas from Tibet and one of the very first teachings was “The Four Ends”….
The end of all building is ruin…
The end of all accumulation is dispersion….
The end of all meeting is parting…
The end of all birth is death!
This is an excellent article as your heart is really and truly hungering for the truth…
Wonderful! This is the path that all great ones having taken, which leads to penetrating the veil and attaining the freedom of deep real understanding….
Good for you!
I live by this attitude….Victory comes to those who will not quit on the great quest and who persevere through everything which comes up in the process.
Thank you my friend. For reading my work and leaving such an insight reflection.
I especially loved: “Victory comes to those who will not quit on the great quest and who persevere through everything which comes up in the process.”
That’s worth its own tattoo haha.
Hope you had a lovely weekend and thank you again (:
“You suffer because life is bursting with beauty, both in its joy and its pain, but demands you to let go, a million times over². You can’t hold on to anything.”
Tommy - so deep. Such wisdom. The thing I love about your writing is that it’s like we ride delicately along, inside your soul as your take in your surroundings, think about them, reflect on them, be influenced by them, ponder them, and then tell us your feelings about them in a warm and whimsical way. The story about the monk with the tattoo was so fitting - and as Rick says - illustrative of where he is in his own journey.
I’ve been studying non-duality recently and I wondered when reading your essay, how can we hold onto anything when we’re all One?
Thank you James. That feedback means a lot coming from you.
I know my essays don’t always come to concise answers but I’m trying more to sit with the questions, not pretend I have answers that I don’t. Especially at my age.
Non-duality is a tricky one. I understand it logically but actually experiencing it feels far away. Hard to wrap my mind around.
Thank you for taking time out of your busy life to spend with me on Saturdays (: means the world
Brilliantly written, Tommy. Reading your piece brought to mind Dennis Washburn's description of the Japanese aesthetic sensibility known as mono no aware, which in his words, 'prized above all else an intuitive sensitivity towards the sublime, sad beauty that inheres in mutable nature and transitory human existence.'
On a more personal level, my faith helps me contend with the inherent impermanence of this world. One particular verse of the Qur'an (28:88) always serves to reorients me toward my true purpose:
'No God is there but He:
Everything is perishing but the Face of His everlasting Being:
His is the judgement,
and to Him shall you be returned.'
And on a lighter tone, I thought your joke was awesome :)
I’ll add that there’s this (Sufi?) idea that we are all just travelers in this world, so don’t get attached to anything in this realm. Not the people, the stuff, the feelings, none of it can be taken with you to the final destination …
really needed this reminder on impermanence Tommy!
I liked how you said : You won't find the same person twice, not even in the same person. So true especially as a parent; I’m a different parent for each child, in a totally different state of mind. Your child too is totally impermanent. I can’t control the trajectory, decisions, or choices of this child yet every new parent tries so hard… I’m in the bed wetting stage of child development so I keep telling myself this too is temporary 😂
I love that outlook Sadia. Thank you for sharing (:
just being a traveler reminds me that we’re just renting everything, nothing is truly ours. Even things like our houses and land and money. We have them for a time but eventually push our chips back into the pile and someone else “owns” them
You’re very right on a child being impermanent. I can imagine it’s both a joy and pain of adulthood.
Thank you so much for reading & your thoughtful words here
Ali, it’s so good to hear from you. Thank you for reading & writing such a beautiful reflection here.
Both the Japanese quote and the passage from the Qur’an are sublime. Thank you for sharing. The real trick, it seems, is to keep the impermanence top of mind, integrating it into your worldview.
Thank you again. Really appreciate your time here & hope you had a lovely weekend (:
Great writing pal, loved the message of impermanence especially this: “The world is full of painstakingly beautiful things that are all careening toward decay.”
Although impermanence is unavoidable and worth keeping in mind, I’ve been trying to be most positive lately. To not think worst case scenario. To enjoy the sun while it’s shining. I know it’s impermanent, but I have a natural predisposition to remember that. Others, who live more on autopilot, might need this reminder more than people like me and you who are aware, painstakingly at times, of how everything passes. You want to live while alive not just be constantly reminded of how it will end. Just some thoughts. Great writing as always buddy. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Jack, for always reading my work, being there for support and making me a little smarter each week.
I totally agree the challenge is keeping impermanence top of mind. The more I can accept it and integrate it into my worldview, the better I feel.
Thank you again. Your words mean the world (:
Impermanence yes, however the hope of joyful, thankful reacquainting resonates with me now. Me and you - Tokyo a few weeks ago, my condo for Christmas dinner, steaks in Buenos Aires in October, Paris and Nuremberg last December. All gone, impermanent, wafted into the past. Saturday we come together again, downtown with your siblings at my place, vanquishing impermanence, rejoining once again, joyfully, thankfully. Always. Forever. Blessed.
It’s funny thinking back on those moments, how they all somehow exist still in the present moment, live somewhere in us, despite their remoteness in time.
Thanks Dad - I appreciate you reading (:
I totally agree that everything is impermanent, and I would go a step further to say that it's that impermanence that makes everything so worth experiencing. Knowing that a natural view will only be shown for an instant or that certain feelings won't last for ever gives them a sort of value that almost compels one to wish to see them. This is a thought-provoking post; thanks for sharing!
Ah I love that take Bethel, so good. You're so right that life's transience adds to the beauty. I read a quote once that said: “The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost.”
If life lasted forever and there were no last times, we'd be robbed of much of the beauty.
Thank you for reading & the thoughtful note! Made my day (:
Accepting Impermanence for me is both relieving and melancholic. Thinking about a tough work task or studying for an old chem test I could revel in the fact that an end was near. However, I remember my last month living with some of my closest friends I was deeply saddened that it was not a permeant home or feeling. "Both in its joys and its pain" as you put it. Great writing as always, thanks for sharing.
Peter, thank you for reading and the beautiful reflection here.
I totally agree on impermanence being both relieving and melancholic. I’ve had periods of my life I was very grateful to let pass, but also periods that were very hard to let go of. Like moving out from my roommates, similar to you.
Hope you have a great start to your week (:
Thank you for your comment!
Yes, my friend, when we are seriously engaged on our own spiritual path, our prayers and practices actually churns all of our “shit” and causes it to come up to be healed and cleared.
My teachers would say that if this isn’t happening, then it indicates that we are already enlightened or are not engaging with our practice courageously and honestly.
Knowing that I have a limited time opportunity to make good use of my life is something that spurs me to not waste any of my precious time so that when the end of my days does arrive i will be able to greet it with a smile and leave this earth as lovingly and consciously as I can.
Sometimes, it’s good to walk around a cemetery just to make this more real as I read the tombstones with those little dashes between “born and died”….
Thank you for your writing…i appreciate your pov and voice. I will look forward to reading whatever you publish in future. Here is a link to one of my stories… https://open.substack.com/pub/thedawninglight/p/my-favorite-place-in-the-universe?r=1l34hk&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Ah I love that so much. I will check out your post.
Thank you again 🙏
God. This really hit home for me. Thank you for writing this. Lots for me to meditate on 🙏🏾
Thank you Precious (: really appreciate you reading & leaving a kind note
Hope you had a lovely weekend
...can't believe the dude didn't get the tattoo joke..."You won't find the same person twice, not even in the same person."...heads to printer, prints picture of self, scrawls missing atop it, posts on 2 week old milk carton at the right of my desk...
Hahaha he said something about his flesh eventually disintegrating and I said fair enough man then probably changed the topic.
Got a good laugh out of this. Thank you my friend. Hope your weekend was lovely (:
Your reflections on impermanence are very relatable to me. Being fully aware of it brings out a sense of peace in me. In those moments, life’s fleeting nature isn’t a source of fear but rather a profound truth that is remembered. Deep meditation brings me closer to total acceptance of the unknown, and it’s like the entire world’s burden just melts away. It’s liberating, like breathing fresh air into every part of my being.
Thank you!! 🙏
Danique, thank you for reading & leaving such a thoughtful note. Made my night (:
You’re so right about it bringing a sense of peace. Being okay with things coming and going, not clinging, surrendering to the flow of events. Love it.
Thank you again. Hope you had a lovely weekend
Wonderful!! Thank you!!
"The only thing permanent in life is change."
Thank you An (: really appreciate you reading
Hope your weekend was lovely
Thank you! It was and i hope your's was a good one too!
Wishing you a great week!
To me impermanence sounds like losing something- even tho that’s what it IS - impermanence - in life. I like the word “change” because we have the option, the free will, to choose to move with it or against it. To embrace it or to pretend it’s not happening. Or to hang on tight to a moment and lose it anyway and suffer, or to remain in the moment with gratitude and know it’s ok right now until the moment changes into another moment.
And somehow we have changed with it because we were in the moment as it changed. Key words for me: change, acceptance, in the moment, awareness, personal responsibility, growth, love, gratitude.
And Einstein’s quote: “You cannot solve a problem with the same mind that created it.”
Because that difference and/or change in consciousness applies to more than just problems. I would hope I perceive that impermanence/change as growth when it happens.
Kim, it’s so good to hear from you. Thank you for reading & taking the time to write such a beautiful reflection.
I totally agree with you on embracing change. Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Hope you had a lovely weekend (: