Impermanence: There’s Nothing for You to Do

Change is all there is.

All you have to do is accept it.

We’re so used to taking action that, sometimes, we believe we need to take action when there’s no action to be taken. I feel this a lot when thinking about getting older. You realize your age, the passing of time, the fact that life is finite and then you feel like there’s something you need to do about it- often it’s a thought having to do with either extending your life or being more efficient in the lifetime you currently have. When recognizing that their life and lifetime are passing, one might either consider a diet to live longer or plan a big trip to live the short life you have to the fullest.

Of course, the great philosophers of our time knew about human nature. We are all very much alike, after all. They knew that change freaks us out. This mainly has to do with the fact that something different triggers an alert response in the brain because that different thing could be a threat. Most of our anxiety is caused by mismanagement of the natural systems intended to keep us safe. So far as nature goes, what’s most important is that I reproduce and pass down my genes, not that I reproduce and pass down my genes in peace and happiness. An anxious creature is more likely to take more action to stay safe long enough to reproduce. As long as you are not too anxious to find food and a mate, nature doesn’t mind your anxiety too much.

So, it’s up to us to find a remedy for the inevitable upset caused by things changing around us.

Many prominent members of Team Human have offered their help on the topic over the years:

1. “The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” - Alan Watts

2. “Change alone is eternal, perpetual, immortal.” - Arthur Schopenhauer

3. “This too shall pass.” - Persian adage

4. “All is flux, nothing stays still.” - Heraclitus

Alan Watts lived in the 20th century in the United Kingdom and the United States. Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher from the later 1700s. The Persian quote is from an English poet, Edward Fitzgerald, about the Middle East and from the 1800s. And Heraclitus lived in Ancient Greece about 500 BCE. My point is that people in all periods and in all places in the world have been and are anxious about change. It’s a universal dilemma. I have talked about Impermanence myself in a past blog.

Perhaps, nobody has had more to say about change than the Buddha.

1. “Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.”

3. “Nothing is permanent. Everything is subject to change. Being is always becoming.”

4. “All conditioned things are impermanent; when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering.”

The Buddha was born as a sheltered prince, never leaving his pleasant life within the palace walls. Then, when he had to leave the palace one day, he saw the pain and suffering that existed in the world for the first time. He then devoted the rest of his life to finding the end to suffering. One of his principles is the principle of Impermanence, which he introduced as the philosophy of “Anicca.”

The Buddha said that what causes suffering is when we try to “grasp.” In terms of impermanence, we feel pain when we expect things to remain the same forever when we grasp at keeping things the same. According to the Buddha, it is not the change itself that causes suffering, it is when we try to avoid or resist the change that creates pain.

What’s the cure?: Accept the fact that everything changes and expect it to change.

If we follow the principle and truly accept the fact that nothing will remain the same, we won’t be disturbed when the change occurs. This can seem simple and doable at first, as it should. It’s only when we use very serious variables that it becomes a little scary. We’re ok with knowing that a fun night on the town will eventually end. That’s not that important. But, when we think about the most important, life and death, things in life, anxiety bubbles up. For example, to sincerely apply this principle to your life, you would need to accept and be OK with the fact that you will not live in your current home forever. This can be very troubling to people who love their home. When it comes to homeownership, the thought is usually in terms of permanence.

When we plant a new rose garden in front of our home, it’s human nature to assume that the rose garden will grow in that spot forever. Many a gardener would be heartbroken if you told them, “Those roses look great there. I’m sure they’ll be beautiful for a while until something inevitably causes them to be moved or destroyed.” The Buddha would say that we should already know that the rose garden is temporary. He would say that, at any moment when a rose exists, we should enjoy the rose. But, to cling to the thought of that rose being permanent only causes pain.

When it comes to the principle of Impermanence, the pain and suffering are “up front.” A devout Buddhist would know and accept the fact that the rose is temporary as they are planting it into the ground. Whereas, someone who does not take this principle to heart will feel the pain of impermanence not when it is planted but when it is eventually destroyed.

This is the most human challenge. An artificial intelligence machine would have no trouble with the idea of a rose existing in a spot for a finite period of time. It’s logical, after all. But, for us people, we like to think of the things we love as always being there for us forever. Our human expectation is not based on logic. Logic knows about lifespans, the passing of time, death, and decay. It’s only our human emotions that resist natural logic. We all know that everyone will die one day but nobody thinks of their spouse dying when they first start dating.

Another challenge of accepting the principle of Impermanence is in our view of “happily ever after.” The fairy tale seems to use the word “ever” literally, as illogical as that is. Just as we struggle to enjoy a moment for the moment itself, appreciating things for the time they exist, knowing that it will end, bothers us deeply. The Buddha knew this.

The Buddha saw that what we expect (forever) is not possible, and yet every living person expects it and is upset when they cannot have it. Buddhist philosophy is as brilliant as it is simple. Of course, the Buddha was right. Of course, we shouldn't get upset when something that will die dies. There should be a rule about it. There is. It is called the principle of Impermanence.

How do you apply this principle? Simple. Just know it.

The principle of Impermanence is the same as the law of gravity. It exists whether you know it or not. My wife rejecting the principle of Impermanence will not make me live forever. It will only cause her pain when the inevitable happens. So, she should just accept the inevitable from the start. This is what the Buddha was saying.

All you need to do to “practice” the law of gravity is to not step off of a balcony without a parachute. All you need to do to practice the principle of Impermanence is to not expect anything to last forever. Unless you do end up stepping off the balcony without a parachute, in which case you will be proving the principle yourself.

Burak Uzun is an award-winning writer and a Certified Meditation Teacher.

Burak Uzun also co-wrote a feature film called Team Marco, which was featured in over fifty film festivals around the globe and was distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films.

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