Hello, today I’m going to talk about the concept of “this too shall pass.” I know I’ve done two back-to-back episodes on change, but I believe it’s crucial to deeply understand the reality of impermanence. As I watch the waves break on the shore, I see the wave come in, form, crash, and disappear. It’s constant change. Nothing remains the same.
I think we often forget that things are impermanent, and that eventually, everything will pass. We don’t know when or how it will happen, but it is inevitable. Unfortunately, many people suffer because they resist change. They want things to stay the same, and they don’t want things to go away. However, the harsh reality is that things will go away. They are impermanent, constantly in motion. Nothing is static.
If something were static, unchanging, and unmoving, it might stay. But nothing is like that. Everything is subject to change, and sometimes, radical and fast changes occur. It is inevitable, but we need to go deeper than just superficially agreeing with this notion.
On a deeper level, we often hide this fact from ourselves. If we truly accept and embrace the reality of impermanence and the notion that “this too shall pass,” we wouldn’t resist it or try to hold onto it a little longer. We wouldn’t lament its passing. It’s like watching one of the waves crashing behind me and, as it disappears, saying, “No, I don’t want it to disappear.” That is suffering. No matter what, the wave will disappear. Its nature is to disappear. All changes are like this.
Changes can be growing old, experiencing sickness and health, facing death, acquiring or losing possessions or responsibilities, depending on how you view it. Nothing stays forever, and most things don’t last for long. However, that doesn’t make it bad. Sometimes, people question the point if everything ends in death and is forgotten. But the point is not to have something that lasts forever. The point is the change itself, experiencing all that is going on. It is fascinating.
Perhaps you have owned a kaleidoscope at some point in your life. You would look through it, turning the tube and observing the changing patterns formed by the pieces of glass and beads inside, reflected by mirrors. If the patterns didn’t change, it wouldn’t entertain us for long. We would glance at the pattern, think it’s cool, and put it down, forgetting about it. However, we can be mesmerized for minutes or even hours by continuously turning the wheel and watching the patterns change randomly. That’s what it’s all about—the show itself. It’s not about the show lasting forever or something in the show lasting forever. It’s about the fact that the show happened in the first place.
