Permanence?

 

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Permanence?

We are just like water which is flowing in the river, it is never the same, and we too will never be the same. We too are changing every moment of our lives - though the change is not visible to the naked eye. That’s why each moment is unique, incomparable. It has never been before and will never be again. This is beautiful! It is not a repetition; it is absolutely fresh. If we have a clinging and possessive mind, we will miss this freshness, it means we are seeking something permanent.

Just imagine what will happen if we gain permanence - we will become rock-like, stationary, unable to move, change. We will not be able to bloom like a flower and give out its beauty and fragrance, our whole existence will become boring, it cannot be a celebration. Celebration is possible only when each moment brings us something new.

When each moment brings us something from the unknown, if each moment is a penetration of the unknown, then life becomes exciting, without expectation. Life becomes a constant movement into the unknown. We will never become frustrated, simply because we are not expecting anything to be the same at all.

Expectation of permanence leads to frustration in the world – and permanence is not in the nature of things. Drop the idea of permanence, grow and embrace the flow of life, become the flow of life, taking change as it comes with all its ups and downs. Don’t become like solid rocks, become like fragile flowers, changing while giving out fragrance.

When 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 onward and onward flowing, and we are being thrown to new shores every moment.

An old person becomes beautiful if he/she has lived life. If he/she has not lived, then such a person wants to cling to some past moment which is there no more. And this is the ugly human: when youth has passed and we are trying to show that we are young; when sex has passed - should have passed if we have lived - and we are still seeking things which are good in their season, which are beautiful in certain moments of life. But an old man is ridiculous falling in love… ridiculous! He is as ridiculous as a young man NOT falling in love - out of season, out of step with life.

That’s why they say “dirty old man.” The saying is good. Whenever an old man thinks about sex, it IS dirty; it shows that he has not grown. Sex was good at its own stage, but an old man now should be getting ready to leave, now should be ready to die, now should make arrangements - because soon his ship will be ready and he will be leaving for the unknown shore. He should make arrangements for it now, and he is behaving like a young man or a child. Nothing is uglier than that: pretending something which has passed, living in the past. This is madness!

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 up, otherwise we will be a mess, and a mess is ugly. 

There is no need to do anything on our part really; we simply have to follow nature. Whatever we do goes wrong. Doing itself is wrong… simply flowing – take life in its stride, ride the waves as they come – up-down.