Better than a hundred years of foolishness
is a single day of understanding the truth
that all things are impermanent.
Dhammapada Vs 113
Change is the nature of all phenomena.
A disciple visited his Master who was ill in bed. The disciple respectfully enquired about his Masters health, and the Master replied that he would be surprised if he would still be here in the morning.
The disciple was shocked to hear such a statement, and cried, “No, please don’t say that.”
The Master simply replied, “Buddhas with sun faces, Buddhas with moon faces.”
Zen koan.
The journey to our own Awakening is established upon the neccesary understanding of the reality of impermanence in all phenomena.
Everything else follows from there.
By understanding the reality of impermanence (Anicca) we will understand the reality of the emptiness of an unchanging and permanent ’self’ (Anatta), and by understanding Anatta we will understand the reality of the suffering, difficulties and frustrations we meet (Dukkha) simply by being alive.
It is by the investigation and comprehension of these three characteristics of Dhamma that we will realize our own liberation.
However, language, and over simplified phrases, such as ‘everything changes’ and ‘nothing stays the same’, touches only the surface of any kind of understanding and so, without deep and persistent investigation, we cannot arrive at the truth of the reality of our own existence.
We can speak about two kinds of impermanence, the first being evolution (Parinama). This refers to the appearance of slow change, as we see in the body from birth through life and finally death and beyond.
Even when the image has changed, we still identify with it as being ourself. From birth, naked and soft, with no idea of gender, nationality or social class, to now, bigger, hairier, wrinkled with an identity fully formed. We feel that however slowly it has changed, it is always me!
When my own teacher explained this to me, he used the example of a bottle of milk and its slow transformation from fresh to sour. This is Parinama.
However, behind that slow process of transformation, there is always the rapid and dynamic flow of change, conditioned by the arising and passing away of millions of sub atomic particles of matter ( Kalapas ) in every moment. This, then, is the true understanding of Anicca; that behind everything that manifests in life, from the smallest to the largest, there is always the invisible and endless process of change.
It is only through the deep silence of meditation that we can experience directly this process of change as the flow of sensations (Vedana ) in the body.
So, we have the apparent slow change of an aging process, and the rapid moment to moment change of sensation. Both are arising simultaneously.
This flow of energy is the reality of all phenomena.
And so, it is said that a Buddha with a sun face lasts for one hundred thousand years, and a Buddha with a moon face lasts for only a day and a night. However, whether change appears to be slow or rapid, it cannot be stopped, and on our Dhamma Path, it needs to be fully understood. This is the truth and the reality we all live with.
As one Mater exclaimed, “Nothing is the way it appears to be, nor is it otherwise.”
Whatever arises passes away, and is not what you are.
Work hard to understand this truth.
(The Buddha’s final teaching)
May all beings be happy.
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Teachings
Autumn retreat 2026
8th to 11h October
Kuckucksnest
Details: PureDhamma team
This will be the final weekend retreat with Michael and Pure Dhamma
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Koan:
A monk lived a holy life at the top of the mountain. He was so holy, that every day the birds would bring food for him. One day, completely by accident he became fully Awakened, and from that moment on, the birds no longer came.
Quotation:
In every moment, the opportunity to change our life exists, but to do this we need to be aware. We need to see the mind, understand its reality and let go of our habit to simply empower and act upon each thought, mood, feeling and emotion that arises.
From ‘The Reality of Kamma in daily life’ by Michael Kewley
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