A Little Light Buddhism

I was grazing at the internet buffet today and came across a blog that featured something titled “The Five Remembrances.” Attributed to Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nat Hanh, they go something like this:

• I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.
• I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape ill health.
• I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.
• All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.
• My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

Really profound, but pretty basic Buddhism. Buddhism 101, if you will. Everything changes, nobody is free from the law of cause and effect, nothing to hold on to, you are what you do, no-one gets out of here alive. Basic stuff, but it bears repeating now and again, because it is our nature to forget such things. Sometimes we consciously forget, and sometimes they forget us. They are universally true; both my experience and the marrow in my bones tell me that, but they are uncomfortable truths that don't sit well within our culture. We prefer afterlife to oblivion and prefer to excuse, rather than own, our behavior. 

I just had a birthday last week, so I have been especially cognizant of the first and third Remembrances this week. At different points in my life I've wrestled with the others. They are useful meditations when things get hairy, and things are almost always hairy.

Meditating on the transient nature of the universe may help you to understand how the pieces fit together, but that knowledge is cold comfort when disaster strikes. Understanding the nature of change and accepting it doesn't stop you from feeling the pain, but it helps you soldier on. I think a really deep understanding of change and loss inevitably leads to a much greater empathy for our friends and loved ones who are walking their own path and shouldering their own burdens. In the end, we're all in this together.