Tricycle's Daily Dharma: September 3, 2007
All is flux
The Buddha stressed the dynamic
nature of existence. This resonates with the ideas of some early Greek
philosophers, such as Heraclitus, who maintained that, "All is flux" and
"You can't step into the same river twice." Now, all this sounds like
common sense. Yest there is something in our minds and emotions that
kicks back at the idea of change. We are forever trying to break the
dynamic world-dance, which is a unity, into separate "things," which we
then freeze in the ice of thought. But the world-dance doggedly refuses
to remain fragmented and frozen. It swirls on, changing from moment to
moment. laughing at all our pitiful attempts to organize and control it.
In order to live skillfully, in harmony with the dynamic Universe, it is
essential to accept the reality of change and impermanence. The wise
person therefore travels lightly, with a minimum of clutter, maintaining
the proverbial "open mind" in all situations, for he or she knows hat
tomorrow's reality will not be the same as today's. He or she will also
have learned the divine art of letting go -- which means not being
attached to people and possessions and situations, but rather, when the
time for parting comes, allowing that to happen graciously.
- John
Snelling, Elements of Buddhism From Everyday Mind, a
Tricycle book edited by Jean Smith
