Permanence is not Natural

 

Photo Credit: Pinterest

Permanence is not Natural

The river keeps flowing and will never be the same again. And we also will never be the same again. That’s why each moment is unique, incomparable. It has been never before and will never be again. This is beautiful! It is not a repetition; it is absolutely fresh. We will miss this freshness if we have a mind that is clinging and possessive and are seeking something permanent.

If each moment brings us something from the unknown, if each moment is a penetration of the unknown into the known, then life is an excitement - without expectation. Then life is a constant movement into the unknown. Nothing can frustrate us because in the first place we never expected that anything was going to be the same for ever.

Why is there so much frustration in the world? — because everybody is expecting permanence. And permanence is not the nature of things. Nothing can be done about it. We have to grow and drop the idea of permanence. We have to grow and become a flow. The state of moksha of Swamiji, His understanding is like a fragile flower, changing. Enjoy it while it lasts, and don’t ask for more.

When we are in love - celebrate while it is there! Don’t start making arrangements so that it is always there; otherwise, we will miss the moment in making arrangements. And by the time arrangements are ready, the flower is dead. By the time we are ready to enjoy, the moment has already gone. And nobody can bring it back, there is no going back. The river is moving ahead, flowing, and we are being thrown to new shores every moment.

This is the problem, the anxiety of man, the anguish, that the mind thinks of the shores that are no more. The mind wants to project the shores that are no more into the future, and every moment the river is reaching to new shores — unknown, unexpected. But this is beautiful. 

Seasons are beautiful, and through seasons every moment we become new - every moment a new mood, every moment a new nuance of being; every moment new eyes and a new face. And who says that an old woman is ugly? The old woman will be ugly if she is still trying to look young; then she will be ugly. Then her face will be painted… and lipstick and this and that, and then she will be ugly. But if an old woman accepts old age as natural, as it should be, then we cannot find a more beautiful face than an old face — wrinkled; wrinkled through many seasons, seasoned; many experiences, mature, grownup.

Everything is beautiful at its moment, and everything has a moment for it. Never be out of step. That’s what is called being religious - never to be out of step. Be true to the moment: when young, be young; when old, be old. And don’t get mixed, otherwise we will be a mess, and a mess is ugly. There is no need for us to do anything really; we simply have to follow nature. Whatever we do, goes wrong. Doing itself is wrong… simply flow.