- IMPERMANENCE -

All matter is impermanent. All beings are impermanent. Whatever arises based on conditions will pass away. Since we are produced from and maintained by conditions, disintegration is inherent to our lives. Death is a certainty for all who are born. Death can arise any time, like a drop of morning dew on a blade of grass. When the circumstances for disintegration and decay will arise is not known. Now is the time to practice dharma.

Contemplate the five truths of impermanence:

1. Nothing lasts. Consider one's own experience. First you were an infant, then a child, then a youth, now in middle age, soon in old age. Fortunes are gathered and then dispersed. This week someone is a friend, next week an enemy, then later a friend again. Each year, month, week, day, and hour brings us closer to death no matter what conditions created our lives. Whether as a long-lived god or an ant, in a hell state or as a well-endowed human, all beings are stepping into a graveyard. Countries, continents, planets, stars, solar systems, galaxies, clusters of galaxies -- everything is unstable, subject to change, moving steadily to dissolution. What should one do? What are one's priorities in the face of death?

2. Many beings have already died. Countless numbers of people who enjoyed a sunrise, fell in love, desired freedom, fed and cared for others, achieved goals, sipped tea, smelled spring flowers, and now dead. They grew old, were subjected to the continuous and unalterable losses of aging, then they died. Most died quickly, with little or not ability to use the circumstances of death for liberation. The dust beneath our feet, upon which our homes and businesses are built, contains what is left of the bones, flesh and skin of innumerable past lives. What did they have to guide them through passing? What can one depend on for refuge at the time of death?

3. Consider the many ways death can occur. Ask "how will I die?" Even in life every cell of one's body is dying. Many cells are replaced, but the wear and tear of maintenance depletes the body's resources. Meanwhile the circumstances that endanger existence constantly surround one. Human life is like a candle burning in a dilapidated cabin. Gusting winds from every direction blow through the gaping holes in the walls. Accidents; poisons, atmospheric, environmental and emotional upsets; diseases; all manner of threats to life surround one. Which wind will snuff out the light?

4. What will happen at the moment of death? Often people who are dying experience great thirst, coldness, and much physical discomfort. As the life energy loses its force, the outer sense doors are unable to function. Gradually the sphere of one's existence shrinks until interest in the immediate environment becomes dull, then fades. the power of what Elizabeth Kubler-Ross has termed "unfinished business," however, does not lose its potency. The conditioned doubts and desires made habitual over a lifetime now attach to mental objects. (One can see this occurring in the very elderly quite often. In nursing homes for the aged, adult humans cry like infants, repeat angry admonishments, sing songs from childhood, carry on repetitive conversations, rock, smile into space, and perform a multitude of actions bearing no relevancy to their surroundings. What involves them, however, is as real to them as are the details of one's own daily life.)

At the moment of death, with one's last rasping breath, the objects previously used to anchor reality fade, leaving nothing to which a sense of self can be secured. Then the winds of past actions, hopes and fears, blow without constraint. Since the thought that occurs at the moment of death is a chief causal factor for rebirth linkage, rather than trusting in some magical power of intervention, take action now. Don't put faith in what is insubstantial; bring the mind into the present moment again and again. Allow doubt and desire to rise and subside rather than being moved to create objects for their continued stimulation. Take refuge in truth.

5. After death, who will you be? What circumstances will inform you? As the essential drives of life turn inward, consciousness that is habituated to outer phenomena is set adrift. Usually the being who is dying feels great anxiety and swoons when connection to the body ceases. Coming out of this swoon, one fails to realize the subtle truth of no inherent self. Even though all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are smiling their acceptance, one panics and begins to search for something with which to relate, some way to feel secure. Unfortunately, there is no outer refuge. With nothing to reflect one's identity (literally), there are no boundaries to enclose the winds rooted in past actions. Lacking control, one is blown first here, then there, wherever doubt and desire surge.

When the physical body is left behind as a corpse, one is reborn into a more subtle body built by motive of both wholesome and unwholesome intent -- "unfinished business." The sense of being one's "self" usually remains. Consequently people do not always immediately realize they are dead. If they desire to see their loved ones or their place of business, they are immediately blown there. Friends, family and associates will be carrying on, perhaps mourning or discussing the deceased, but no one hears, sees or acknowledges the dead person's presence. In such circumstances it is likely that frustration and anger would blow one away again very quickly.

Unless the truth of no inherent self can be grasped, or refuge in the mind of compassion can be held, the winds will continue to buffet and blow the seeming self. Then, rather than being able to choose a suitable future birth (or, indeed, attain liberation from the blind wandering state), one will become exhausted and more and more frightened. The perceived outer world will reflect this confusion and fear, becoming very unfamiliar, filled with loud noise and terrifying apparitions. These arisings are the fruition of unwholesome mental and emotional states. In such a nightmare, one will lose one's focus and be subjected to rebirth in any place that seems remotely likely to offer shelter. Only the practice of non-clinging awareness and the power of wholesome actions can circumvent this outcome.

Think: "Right now I could die. I have only this present moment." Then look at others and think: "Right now they are dying. This is my last moment with them." How painful it is to see human beings refusing the joyous opportunity of the present moment because they desire what is not present.

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