Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Ven Sangye Khadro offers a four-layered meditation on impermanence in this 30-minute session, moving systematically from breath awareness (each breath unique and fresh) through the body (a mass of particles whizzing around in space, changing every moment), the mind (thoughts and emotions continuously arising and passing), and the outer world (people, animals, buildings, all composed of particles in constant change). When a clear experience of impermanence arises, she teaches practitioners to rest in that insight directly rather than continue analyzing. The practice concludes with its practical application: clinging to impermanent things as permanent generates suffering through attachment and loss, while accepting impermanence brings a calm, even, balanced state of mind.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1.08 Meditation 1_Impermanence.mp3
UUID: 7f91d268-935e-4ec2-b6a6-bca8974d65c0
Teacher: Ven Sanghy Khandro aka Kathleen McDonald
Collection: Heart advice (Ven Sanghy Khandro aka Kathleen McDonald)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 30.4 minutes
Words: ~1,506
At this point in time, let’s stop and do a meditation on impermanence. So before beginning the meditation, make sure that you’re sitting comfortably. Whether you’re sitting cross legged in a meditation position or sitting in a chair. It’s very important if you can keep your back straight. But other than your back being straight, let the other parts of your body be relaxed.
Try not to have any tension or tightness in any part of your body. Let all your muscles relax. Let go of any tension in your body. And let your breathing be natural. Just let your breath come in and go out in a natural, steady rhythm.
And let your mind settle down in the present, the here and now. Put aside or let go of any thoughts about the past or the future, or your work, or problems, other places, people. Just put aside all other thoughts and just let your mind be right here, right now, in this present moment, present place. And now generate a positive motivation for doing the meditation. So you might think, may this meditation help bring about greater peace and happiness for all beings?
Or May this meditation be a cause for me to become enlightened so that I can help all beings be free of suffering and become enlightened as well. Or whatever positive motivation you wish to develop that will put your mind into a good state of a positive intention for doing the meditation. Now begin the meditation on impermanence by observing your breathing. And slowly become aware of the impermanence of your breathing. Each breath that we take is different from the one that came before it and different from the one that comes after it.
So each breath is new and unique. The air that you breathe in with each breath is different than other breaths. And also there are changes taking place in your body with each breath. There are different sensations around your nose, inside the nostrils. Your lungs expand and contract.
Your abdomen rises and falls. And there are other sensations taking place in other parts of your body. Just silently be aware of these changes that are taking place in each moment with each breath, each inhalation and exhalation of your breath. Be aware of the impermanence. Then think about other changes that are taking place in your body in each moment.
Think of how your body is made up of different parts. It isn’t just one whole solid thing but it’s made up of grosser parts such as arms, legs, head, and skin, blood, bones, organs, nerves, muscles, many, many different parts that make up our body. And all of these grosser parts that we can see easily, they themselves are made up of yet smaller parts such as cells, billions of cells making up our body. And think about or be aware of the changes, the movement that is taking place each moment. The beating of your heart, the flow of blood through veins and arteries, the energy of your nerve impulses, the firing of neurons and cells being born, disintegrating and dying.
So think about, be aware of these changes taking place each moment, each nanosecond in your body. Be aware of the impermanent nature of your body and all its parts. And then on an even more subtle level, all the parts, including the cells of your body, are made of molecules, atoms, and subatomic particles. And these extremely minute particles are in constant motion, moving about changing every moment. So really try to get a feeling for these changes taking place every moment, every nanosecond in your body.
Your body doesn’t remain the same from one moment to the next. And then turn your attention to your mind. Your mind is also made of parts, thoughts, memories, perceptions such as hearing, seeing, smelling, feeling sensations in your body. Emotions, happiness, unhappiness, anger, love, and so on. Images, fantasies about the future, and so on.
So all these different experiences come and go following one after the other unceasingly. So spend a few minutes observing your mind, taking a step back from this unceasing flow of different mental experiences and just observe them coming and going. Don’t get caught up in any of them. Try not to react to any of them, liking or disliking or judging. Just observe them as if you were looking out a window onto a street watching people and bicycles and cars going by, just coming and going.
So try to stay in this neutral state of an observer of the experiences in your mind to get a feeling for the ever changing, impermanent nature of your mind. Now, after looking at the impermanence of your inner world your own body and mind extend your awareness to the outer world. First, think about your immediate surroundings. What it is you’re sitting on, whether it’s a cushion or mat or chair. And the things around you, the floor, the walls, the ceiling, the windows of the room that you’re sitting in.
And then things inside the room, furniture, other objects. Just get an awareness of those objects and understand that each of these things, even though they may appear solid, whole, static, Each of these things is actually a mass of tiny particles whizzing around in space. Changing every moment, not staying the same from one moment to the next. And then let your awareness travel further out beyond the walls of your room, your house. Think about other people in the environment around you and how, just like you, they have a body and a mind, each of which is made up of parts and changing every moment, not staying the same from one moment to the next.
And the same is true for other kinds of beings, animals, birds, insects. So they’re all made up of parts, changing moment by moment. And then think of all the inanimate objects in the world and in the universe. Houses, buildings, cars, roads, things in nature like trees and mountains, oceans, rivers, and the very earth itself. And the other bodies that lie out in space such as the sun, moon, stars, other planets.
So all of these things, as they are composed of atoms and other particles, are constantly changing every moment, every nanosecond. Nothing stays the same without changing. So while you are meditating, if at any point you experience a clear, strong feeling of impermanence, the ever changing nature of things, you can stop thinking and analyzing and just hold your attention on that feeling. Concentrate your mind on it. Hold it in your mind as long as you can without thinking about anything else, not letting your mind be distracted.
Just concentrating on that experience of impermanence. So even if it’s only for a few seconds or a few minutes, just keep your mind concentrated on that experience. And then when it fades or your mind becomes distracted, you can go back to the thinking, the analyzing process. So now, conclude the meditation by understanding that all of these things yourself, your body, your mind, other people, beings, their bodies and minds, and all the physical things, the material things around you, both the things in nature and the things produced by human beings. All of these things are impermanent, changing moment by moment, not staying the same from one moment to the next.
And see if you can understand how it is unrealistic and even self defeating to deny the impermanent nature of things and instead cling to things as if they were permanent, as if they didn’t change and that they would be there forever. Having that kind of attitude just leads to problems, such as feeling a great sense of loss and grief and even completely falling apart when someone or something that we like, that we’re attracted to, changes or goes away or disappears or dies. So having excessive attachment to things which are impermanent by nature. And also, the things, people, and other objects that we find unpleasant, difficult, or disturbing, because they don’t last forever, they are changing, subject to change, and will go out of existence one day. There’s no need for us to get overly upset by, depressed about, or angry at, these objects because they too are impermanent by nature.
So becoming more aware of, understanding of, and accepting of the impermanent nature of things can help us to have a more calm, even, balanced state of mind. Whatever happens to us in life, whether good experiences or bad experiences, whether we are dealing with pleasant people and objects or unpleasant ones. It helps us to be more balanced and stable. And then finally, dedicate the positive energy from doing this meditation that it will bring benefit, peace and happiness to yourself and to all other beings And eventually enable us all to become free of suffering and to reach the peace and happiness of enlightenment.