When we find ourselves unable to take our study of the dharma seriously, meditating on impermanence will make us realise that we need to practice the dharma. Even after we have started practicing the dharma, sometimes we get lazy and are unable to focus on the practice. Meditating on impermanence will then encourage us to become very diligent.

Are human beings capable of practicing the dharma? Yes, we are, because we have gained a precious human birth. Within the six realms of existence — (1) gods, (2) demigods, (3) humans, (4) animals, (5) hungry ghosts, and (6) hell beings — only humans are able to truly practice the dharma. This is due to our precious human birth with all its freedoms and endowments. Other sentient beings, such as animals, do not enjoy the same excellent opportunity as we do. Not only are we able to practice the dharma, our everyday life is also of a higher quality than beings in other realms.

Although we do need to work hard at our worldly affairs, life will become meaningless if we are overly attached to them. They are of no benefit whatsoever after we die and become a corpse. Billionaires are unable to take any possessions with them when they die; kings, ministers, and officials have no power at all when facing death.

Therefore, we should practice the dharma. Out of all the realms of beings, only humans are able to practice, so we really need to put some effort into it. In this way, we will be able to benefit both ourselves and all other sentient beings. We must not waste this life. Doing so would mean wasting a precious human birth that is incredibly difficult to obtain; this opportunity is not something we can obtain with ease, so we really need to cherish it.

Impermanence as Inspiration

The Buddhist texts say that, “In the beginning, impermanence helps us to enter the gates of dharma. In the middle, it is the whip that makes us practice with diligence.” Although meditating on impermanence is not necessarily enjoyable or delightful, it is extremely beneficial towards our dharma practice.

When we find ourselves unable to take our study of the dharma seriously, meditating on impermanence will make us realise that we need to practice the dharma. Even after we have started practicing the dharma, sometimes we get lazy and are unable to focus on the practice. Meditating on impermanence will then encourage us to become very diligent.

What benefits can we expect to get at the end if we continue with this practice? As the text continues, “In the end, meditating on impermanence is the companion for attaining the result.” We will eventually realise that meditating on impermanence will help us obtain the result of our practice. This is why we need to meditate on impermanence often.

Observing Impermanence in Daily Life

The great Milarepa once said, “I have not read the words of the teachings, because all phenomena are the teachings.” To meditate on impermanence, we do not have to solely rely on the study of texts and treatises. We can actually do so by observing the changes in exterior phenomena.

Let us take the example of the changing seasons: winter turns into spring, spring turns into summer, summer turns into autumn, and autumn turns into winter. 

We can also observe impermanence when day becomes night. 

We see it in plants, as they blossom and eventually wither away. 

We can also experience impermanence when natural disasters of the four elements occur, such as earthquakes, floods, fires, and storms.

I think that the best way to experience impermanence nowadays is to turn on the television. The daily news constantly reports various disasters unfolding around the world, persistently reminding us of impermanence. 

These are all examples of ways we can meditate on impermanence.

Change Is the Only Constant in Life

Impermanence can be classified in two ways: the impermanence of the external world and the environment, and the impermanence of its inhabitants. 

The way to meditate on the impermanence of the external world is mentioned above, by observing changes in outer phenomena like the changing seasons. 

We can meditate on the impermanence of the sentient beings within it through our experience of family and friends passing away. For example, some people die in childhood or in their youth. There is also the process of aging, as we grow up into adulthood and beyond. 

These are all events happening in our own lives, through which we can experience impermanence.

Impermanence pervades the external world and the sentient beings within it. Everything is gradually changing. This is something we can see and experience all the time. 

Impermanence of the outer world refers to the changes that all phenomena undergo without exception.

Impermanence of sentient beings is the process of birth, aging, sickness, and death. We can look around us to see how many people are ill, getting older, dying, and being born. Whether human or animal, existence is preserved through the cycle of birth and death in every generation. This is the situation of the world that we live in.

Life Is like a Bubble

There is a verse from the four preliminary practices that states:

Second, the world and its sentient inhabitants are all transient.

Especially, beings’ lives are like water bubbles —

Who knows when I will die and become a corpse?

Since dharma will help then, I’ll practice diligently.

Impermanence can also be split into gross and subtle impermanence. 

Subtle impermanence refers to the process of infinitesimal changes that all phenomena undergo. For example, the earth and our bodies change from moment to moment. A newborn baby slowly grows into a child, and gradually blossoms into adulthood. Eventually, they turn into a grey-haired old person. These changes don’t occur in a day; they happen gradually, second by second, day by day, and month by month. The Southern tradition of Buddhism utilises this concept to meditate on impermanence.

Even though all phenomena change from moment to moment, the main method of meditating on impermanence in Tibetan Buddhism is to reflect on gross impermanence — the changes which are immediately obvious. 

This method helps to decrease our attachment to this life. The primary reason that we are unable to practice with diligence is because we are overly preoccupied with this life. We believe that this particular life is extremely important, so we are unable to abandon non-virtues and practice virtues. 

If we want to be free from afflictions and suffering, we need to meditate on gross impermanence. As mentioned in the verse “Second, the world and its sentient inhabitants are all transient,” we need to meditate on both the impermanence of the world and sentient beings.

A human life is like a water bubble, which might burst and disappear at any moment. Some people might still be talking in one moment, but gone in the next. We might also meet with fatal accidents at work. Some people pass away after struggling for months with an illness, while others die of old age. There are also those who die in childhood and so forth. This is why the verse likens our life-force to a bubble; our lives really are as fragile as a water bubble.

“Who knows when I will die and become a corpse?” means that it is difficult to predict when we will die. It could be months or years away; we can’t know for sure. When we die, the body just becomes a lifeless corpse. We really take such good care of our bodies while alive, adorning them with beautiful clothing and feeding them delicious food. But when we die, they merely become corpses. At the time of death, dharma is the only thing that benefits us.

The last line says, “Since dharma will help then, I’ll practice diligently.” The only thing that benefits this life is the dharma. If we practice well in this life, it will help us to obtain a rebirth in the higher realms, allowing us to encounter the dharma once again, or we can take rebirth in a pure realm. All of this depends on being diligent in our practice. The dharma is something that benefits both ourselves and others, so we should practice its teachings diligently.

When Impermanence Manifests

As humans, we are actually more capable of understanding impermanence due to our shorter life spans. It is also difficult to predict when we will fall sick or die. We often spend our time worrying about things like getting sick, dying, or our family members dying. Nevertheless, it is through these worries that we can develop a deeper understanding of impermanence.

Even though we encounter many instances of impermanence in our lives, it can still be hard to remember impermanence, even as we grow older. It would be helpful to our dharma practice if we could meditate on it frequently. This is why we need to constantly remind ourselves that we are unable to take with us anything from this world, including our possessions, family, and friends.

Impermanence is not something that only older people have to meditate on. Every single person in the world has to face it, so we all need to meditate on impermanence. By thinking in this way, we won’t feel alone because we are not the only ones facing it.

Source: Based on Rinpoche, Thrangu. A Life of Happiness: A Practice Guide for Older Practitioners. Translated by Jamyang Woser. https://dharmaebooks.org/

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