Discovering The Permanent Amidst Life's Impermanence

Discover the hidden gem within your ever-changing experience. This profound meditation invites you to explore the three fundamental categories of human experience—sense perceptions, thoughts and images, and bodily sensations—and uncover the unchanging background that lies beneath.

By zooming in and slowing down, you'll learn to recognize the impermanent nature of your experiences and the futility of seeking permanence in the transient. Through gentle guidance and insightful inquiries, you'll be led to the fourth aspect of experience: the transparent, nameless, and formless space within which all experiences arise and subside.

Embark on this transformative journey of self-discovery and unveil the unchanging source of peace and happiness that resides within you. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced meditator, this exploration will deepen your understanding of the nature of experience and guide you towards the permanent amidst the impermanent.

Transcript

If we take our human experience,

It can be divided into three main categories and this division is not something we have grown up with.

What we have grown up with is diversity in terms of everything that is happening,

In terms of objects,

In terms of people,

In terms of situations and things.

That's what we know about our human experience.

But if we distill our experience to its bare bones,

Fundamental basic principles,

They will fall into one of the three categories.

The first one being sense perceptions,

That is,

Whatever we perceive through our eyes,

Ears,

Nose,

Tongue,

Skin as sight,

Sounds,

Tastes,

Textures and smells.

So although you might see 50 things around you,

They all get clubbed into sights.

The human bio-computer is getting its input through these five senses,

The input of the external world.

In theory,

There might be an infinite number of things,

People,

Objects,

Situations,

But they all get perceived through these five senses.

So whatever we know about the external world,

We know through these windows of perception.

The second category is of thoughts and images,

That is,

Our internal world.

And this input mechanism,

Still an input mechanism,

Just because it's not of the external doesn't mean that we are not getting information.

This human bio-computer is still getting information about thoughts and images.

And you and I both can agree that you don't need your eyes,

Ears closed for thoughts to be perceived,

Images to be perceived.

You can think with eyes open,

You can think with eyes closed,

You can listen to your thoughts with eyes open and with eyes closed.

The external sense perceptions are not completely ours,

All of us share them,

As my teacher likes to call that there is an inter-subjectivity agreement.

That's why we all can agree that this is an Apple or this is a laptop screen or a phone screen.

But the internal inputs,

Like your thoughts and images,

They are private,

Nobody else has access to them.

Nobody else has access to your thoughts and images and you don't have access to anybody else's thoughts or images.

As a matter of fact,

The only thing you know about the other person is through your sense perceptions.

You can think what the other person might be thinking but you don't have access to their thoughts.

And this is an important understanding,

We often are sure about other people's thoughts or their intentions and whatever else falls in this internal category of beliefs,

Ideas,

Whatever,

Right?

But still,

In the realm of thoughts,

We think that we know it,

But we don't.

Just like you have access to your thoughts,

Your intentions,

Your imaginations,

You don't have access to other people's thoughts and imaginations,

If you are ordinary like me.

And I speak for ordinary human experience.

So there is a clear separation between the external world which has the intersubjectivity agreement that we are sharing with others.

Then there is an internal experience of thoughts and images,

That's category 2.

And then there is something on the border of both,

Namely our bodily sensations and feelings.

Again,

We know range of feelings.

The specifics don't matter in the building blocks,

In the basic principles.

What we are looking at is what does human experience comprise of.

Sense perceptions,

Thoughts and images and bodily sensations.

External,

Internal and at the border or at the intersection.

And what I mean by bodily sensations is the experience of this physical body from the inside.

For instance,

You could touch something and you feel those sensations in your body.

Those also are sensations,

But they have been precipitated by touch,

Which is still a form of external sense perception.

But there is a nuanced difference between sensations from touch and internal bodily sensations.

You don't need to touch anything to feel sadness.

You don't need to touch anything to feel hunger or heat or cold.

They are internal sensations.

And again,

They are private.

Nobody else has access to your bodily sensations.

The way you feel your body,

The way you feel your emotions is private to you.

Just like your thoughts and images are private to you,

This is also private to you.

Yes,

Out of empathy and mirroring neurons,

We can feel sometimes what the other person is feeling.

But again,

We feel them in our body as our bodily sensations.

We don't have access to their bodily sensations.

So these are the three input categories that comprise of all human experience.

All but one.

But we'll get to that later.

So this human bio-computer gets inputs through sense perceptions,

Through feelings and bodily sensations,

And through thoughts and images.

Even your use of the body,

You acting,

You doing something,

Again falls in sense perceptions,

Bodily sensations and touch,

Which is again sense perception.

The reason I am going into depth of something that is undeniable in our experience,

Because there is nothing outside of these perceptions,

Thoughts and sensations and feelings that we experience.

And the reason is for us to understand what is it that we are pursuing in life.

Because if we zoomed in on any aspect of the three categories that I have mentioned,

Whether it was perceptions,

Thoughts or feelings,

All these categories are constantly evolving and changing.

As somebody beautifully said,

We can only perceive change.

Everything is changing,

Your thoughts are changing,

Your perceptions are changing,

Your feelings,

Your sensations are changing,

Constantly.

There might be an apparent feeling that,

Oh,

This room is not changing.

That's because you are talking of the room,

You are talking about the room.

I am talking about your perceptions.

Every time your attention shifts,

It's a new perception.

Like right now,

I am seeing a button on the wall.

When I blink my eye,

It's a new perception.

It's not the same perception.

As my attention shuttles from the button to the sticky note,

To another sticky note,

To the door handle,

All of these are sense perceptions.

Changing perceptions.

Right now,

I was just talking about my eye movements.

But if we really zoomed in and if we really slowed down,

We will see that in between the perceptions,

There might be thoughts.

So the attention goes to the sticky note,

Back to a thought that I should talk about it,

Then back to another sticky note,

Then to the sensation of my left toe.

The attention keeps moving at such dynamic speed that we don't even recognize that we are perceiving change constantly.

Not as theory,

Not as a quote,

But as a direct experience.

Impermanence.

Impermanence is the fundamental,

Unquestionable fact of the universe,

Which includes the external and the internal.

And because our mind is not good at slowing down and zooming in,

We operate at a level where everything seems permanent.

And again,

I'm not talking about a microscope or anything like that.

No scientific experiment.

Plain,

Simple,

Direct observation of your own experience.

You don't need a tool or a scientist for this.

And it is very important to understand the shuttling nature of our attention,

The perception,

Thought,

Feeling combination that is at work constantly.

And finally,

Because everything is moving,

Everything is shuttling,

Everything is evolving,

Changing,

Impermanence,

That is,

Coming and going,

Appearing,

Disappearing,

Nature of the universe is the fundamental fact of the universe.

Nothing is at rest.

Even that which seems to be at rest is only an idea.

And again,

We are not talking about objects.

We are talking about our experience of those objects.

It's very important to understand this basic difference because all we know about our quote-unquote objects is our experience of it.

So we can only speak of our experience of it,

Which is a perception or a thought or a sensation.

Clinging on anything which is impermanent would be unwise.

And that's the predicament of this human life,

That we go and look for permanence in the impermanent because we have not explored our experience and taken things at face value.

Because,

To be honest,

Whether you believe something is permanent or impermanent,

Whether you believe something is permanent,

When in fact it is impermanent,

Doesn't really affect our day-to-day life,

Our day-to-day practical life.

What it has a profound effect on is our happiness,

Our peace,

Fulfilment aspect of this human experience.

We are not content with merely surviving,

Are we?

We want to be happy.

We want to experience peace,

Prolonged experience of peace,

Joy,

Love.

If that is what we want,

Then we have to zoom in and we have to slow down.

Because,

If we try to find permanence in the impermanent,

Or in other words,

We try to find peace and happiness in the impermanent,

We will be disappointed.

And we are.

That's why we jump from one thing to another,

One woman to another woman,

One man to another,

One achievement to another,

One goal to another.

That is where the society's model of only knowing diversity falls apart,

Because now we have to really try to understand our human experience.

And then navigate through what is impermanent,

What am I basing my contentment,

My fulfilment on,

And is it wise?

Does it even have a chance to deliver what I wanted,

What I expected to deliver?

The more we hold on to the impermanent,

Pretending as permanent,

The more agony we experience.

I'm sure all of us have experienced in breakups how painful it is to drag on.

The more you hold on,

The more you suffer.

The more you reminisce,

The more you suffer.

The more you imagine,

The more you suffer.

But our human mind wants this permanent,

But is looking for it in the impermanent without knowing,

Or without even wanting to know whether it is permanent or not.

And that is the real problem.

So let me bring you to the fourth type of human experience,

If you can call it human,

That we all are having right now,

But we are all ignoring it.

Every time the attention falls somewhere,

We call it a perception or a thought or a bodily sensation slash feeling.

So the attention is constantly moving from one sense to its sense object to another sense to its sense object,

From the body to the mind,

Constantly moving.

But what if we paused and asked,

What is it moving inside?

Where is it in between two perceptions?

For instance,

If you are seeing something,

Whether your eyes are open or closed,

Doesn't matter.

Now take your attention to your left toe and bring it back to your eyes.

In between these two sensations or perceptions,

Where was your attention?

What did it travel through?

And the reason this question is important is because that's the aspect of life,

That's the aspect of your experience as a matter of fact,

Which is not really changing.

The change is happening in this changeless aspect.

That is the changeless aspect that we withdraw into at night when we slip into deep sleep,

Where all our sense perceptions,

All our thoughts and all our feelings are paused.

But we don't have access to our experience,

To question,

To investigate,

But now we do.

So right now,

Can you find,

In your own experience,

The transparent changeless aspect that doesn't have a name,

Within which your attention moves,

Of which your attention is made of?

Even if you think of listening,

Right now my words are falling on your ears,

But listening is one of the most transparent experiences we can have.

So it's easier to investigate that there is nothing that you can pinpoint at,

Other than this hearing or listening just happening.

Initially we are so used to the changing aspect that it's very hard to even accept that there might be an unchanging aspect within me.

So even if you are not able to find it right now,

I invite you to be at least open to this possibility.

I am sure that you have had this sense once in a while,

Especially on your birthdays,

Or when you are looking at old pictures,

Or when you meet your old friends,

That something hasn't changed.

But that intuition is so soft that it is dismissed,

And the mind goes back in the impermanent,

Looking for the permanent.

Because if we are looking for long-term peace and happiness,

It's important to find the source of it,

Find the permanent aspect within it,

Within us.

Not as an idea,

Not as a concept or the soul,

But as something which is nameless,

Formless,

But still very known,

Very familiar,

Very intimate.

And the question that might help is,

What is my experience made of?

What are my thoughts made of?

What is this sound that I am hearing made of?

When my attention travels between two perceptions,

Two sensations,

In what is it travelling?

What is this space-like aspect within me?

What is this aware space-like aspect within me that knows everything,

That is the substance in which my attention is travelling?

Because once you see it,

You can ask questions to it.

If something is unchanging,

Has never changed,

Maybe it is always full,

Nothing can be added to it,

Nothing can be subtracted from it.

So whatever we are looking to fill this void of unhappiness with,

Is only because of the frustration that we have of not finding it.

Once we find it,

There is nothing to look for.

And all suffering is an attempt for us to explore this.

Without suffering,

There is no need to find the unchanging permanent aspect of our experience,

The divineness within our human experience,

The being aspect of our human being.

And although our experience of impermanence,

Although our experience of the changing thoughts,

Feelings,

Sensations,

Perceptions,

Doesn't feel choppy,

It feels smooth.

How come something that is changing appears smooth?

What is the background of this experience?

Just like in a movie theatre,

Stills are projected onto a screen at a certain speed to give this illusion of smoothness.

Our smoothness experience of our experience is not an illusion.

What is it that provides this smoothness?

What is it,

The unchanging background of it,

That provides a background for this changing,

Impermanent aspect?

This question needs to be deeply contemplated for us to wrestle with truth,

Or wrestle with the hurdles,

The hindrances for the truth to reveal itself.

This exploration can be done with eyes open,

Eyes closed,

Walking,

Driving.

Anytime we have this urge to zoom in,

To slow down,

The secrets are ready to be revealed.

Openness,

Zooming in,

Slowing down.