Impermanence

With spaces of time provided throughout for personal reflection, this guided analytical meditation helps us recognise the truth of impermanence, an essential realisation on our path to enlightenment. Many different approaches to recognising impermanence are provided for the meditator to reflect on their own personal experience.

Transcript

To meditate on impermanence, We start with the breath, Becoming aware of the constant movement and the change of the breath. One breath leading to another, But it's not always the same. Sometimes stronger on the left side, Sometimes on the right, And sometimes equal. Then becoming more aware of the body, How the tiny momentary changes of cellular renewal over time lead to the changes from a tiny baby to the vitality of youth, The strength of maturity, And the declining of age. Because of impermanence, The body is constantly changing. Because of impermanence, The situation of your body changes. You can be healthy, You get sick, You can become healthy again. Good health doesn't last forever, Just like sickness doesn't necessarily last forever. The same with pain in the body, With headaches. This is very easy to see in the body. When you sit down, You can feel comfortable. Then gradually you become uncomfortable. You move, You become comfortable again. This is impermanence. But what about the mind? Isn't the mind also impermanent? Sometimes happy, Sometimes unhappy. We have a range of emotions and thoughts, All because of impermanence. If there were permanence, You'd have one thought over and over. There never would be another thought. So you can think back to this morning, When you woke up, To this present time. How many changes your mind went through in that time? That's impermanence. As if you're watching TV or a film, Watch your mind. Be aware of your thoughts. Don't get attached to them. Don't have aversion for them. But just watch them as they pass by, The changing nature of those thoughts. What you're looking for is the impermanence of the thoughts, To understand that this is the truth. Even if we have very negative thoughts, They're not permanent. Even if we're very sad, It's not permanent. Even if we're depressed, It's not permanent. It can change. Because of impermanence, Anything can change. So for the last few minutes, Just being very aware of the impermanence of the mind, The thoughts. And when space appears in your mind, You also know that space is impermanent, Because then a thought will appear. And then slowly bring your awareness back to the room we're sitting in, The cushion you're sitting on, And the meditation we've just been doing.

Reviews

Loved this talk and practice with a much needed break of silence to explore the meanings