September 25, 2024
The Changing & The UnchangingLife brings all sorts of situations from day to day. Some of them are the same old things repeated from time immemorial - hunger, thirst, fear and sleep - some of them are new, and some of them are a mixture of both old and new. How do we deal with them, how do we cope with life, how do we live here?
In a manner of speaking, nothing has ever happened - the same life is carrying on, sometimes stumbling, sometimes falling and then getting up. But life goes on continuously without interruption. What we call death is falling down, lying down, and what we call illness, is stumbling, tripping on a piece of stone. You're tottering, you're not quite steady, and suddenly you fall flat on the ground, lie down for a few minutes, and get up - that's called death and what is known as rebirth.
From one point of view this thing is continuous, without beginning and without end, it goes on and on; it's neither born nor does it die. From another point of view, there is constant change, but this change is change of form; the spirit is unchanging, the form is ever changing.