Welcome to this meditation on impermanence with Peter Radcliffe.
As you sit quietly begin to draw your attention in from the outside world.
Make an effort to stay in the present moment for the length of this meditation as we contemplate impermanence.
Be aware of the body,
Be aware of the shape of the body,
The different parts of the body,
The size of those different parts and the textures of the skin and the hair and become aware of what's going on inside the body.
Be aware of the movement of the body.
Even though you're sitting still the body is in constant motion.
The ebb and flow of the breath,
The beating of the heart,
Even the nervous impulses creating slight movements in the body,
The flow of energy throughout the body.
Become aware of these minute changes in the body and notice that the body is moving all the time,
Blood flowing,
Lymph moving,
Organs working.
The body is not still for even a moment.
And likewise the mind is also changing from moment to moment.
Thoughts,
Emotions,
Beliefs are all coming and going every moment.
Even when we try to abide in stillness nothing remains permanent for even a moment.
Now expand your awareness outside yourselves to the room you're sitting in.
The movement of the air,
The sounds of coming and going,
Perhaps flies or other small creatures moving about the room.
Even the things like the walls which appear solid and unmoving are actually changing all the time at a molecular level.
The atoms of those walls are vibrating and slowly but surely those walls are changing.
Cracks will appear and eventually bricks will even crumble away.
Start to be aware of this constant movement and constant impermanence in all things.
And as you do so expand your mind out throughout the entire universe and try to find anything which does not change.
And you may find that you cannot.
In all the stars and all the planets across the entire universe there is nothing that is not in constant movement and in constant change.
Particles whizzing around going into existence and out of existence.
All having a beginning,
A time of abiding and an end.
Some in the briefest moment of time and others over a geological time scale but nonetheless all impermanent.
If at any time you get a feeling or an insight during this meditation stay with that for a little while before returning back to the body and back to the contemplation.
Now this meditation is very useful if you want to use it in relation to a distraction or a problem that you're having at life at the moment.
Because inevitably the situation,
The people and even the objects of that problem will all completely disappear in the fullness of time.
In just a hundred years chances are that every single person living on this planet today,
All bar perhaps a few,
Will be completely gone.
And any problems you have in the present moment will be long but forgotten.
Notice how contemplating the impermanence of your problems makes you feel about those problems.
Does it leave you feeling more peaceful?
A very famous Zen monk called Master Renzai was famous for not speaking very much and when he did speak the sentence he would mostly say was,
That too will pass.
Whatever it was that you asked him his response would be the same,
That too will pass.
Conclude by seeing how unrealistic it is to cling to things as being permanent and lasting.
Because everything in our life will eventually disappear.
Beautiful things will degrade,
Degrade and become unpleasant.
But then unpleasant things will get better.
Change is the only one constant that we have.
So rather than embrace the clinging,
Embrace the change.
