Counteraction: Impermanence

My entry for today is based on a brief reflection upon the following:

"Among humans, these things, namely,
Gain, loss, status, disrepute, blame, praise, pleasure, and pain
Naturally are impermanent, uncertain, and liable to change.
The wise, ever mindful, understand these things
And contemplate them as always shifting and changing.
Thus, delightful things cannot oppress their minds,
They have no reaction to disagreeable things,
They have abandoned all liking and disliking (for worldly
concerns).
Further, they know the path of nirvana, dust-free and without
sorrow,
They have reached the other shore of existence and know this
correctly."*


Recently, I found this very helpful, when I was experiencing a great sense of loss. In particular, I considered the question, how could a loss be impermanent? What I found when I looked deeply into this question and deeply into my sense of loss amazed me, and enabled me, first to soften towards it and then to let go of it, at which point it dissolved. For anyone who would like to know what I found, I invite you to try it out for yourselves and see what happens.











*Anguttara Nikaya, Pathamalokadhamma Sutta (Sutta5), Metta Vagga (ch. 1), Atthakanipaata, Cited in Chödrön, Thubten, Chapter 5, Marketing the Dharma, In Hooked! Buddhist Writings on Greed, Desire, and the Urge to Consume, Edited by Stephanie Kaza, Boston & London: Shambhala 2005, p. 74.