Impermanence All things that appear eventually fade. Death of a loved one, a ten foot slap, to remind us of the truth, we're so eager to forget. We prefer our fantasies of eternal youth, to the reality of aging, the eventuality of death. The acceptance of death a key to the joyous life. Clearly seeing: we die every moment and use conceptual mind to tie the moments together, to give the appearance of solid continuity, and assuage our fears. There's no end around the truth of life and death, and to the degree it's accepted, taken to the bones, that much more the life will be flush with fullness. The feelings of sorrow in the loss of a favorable, the feelings of relief in the ending of painful times, two sides of the same coin. Impermanence cuts both ways, all things just temporary, in the licks and bites of conditional existence. To feel it fully without trying to change, to mollify, to remove, not budging an inch in the gaze of awareness, one day you'll notice you stand free and always have. April 22, 2001 (9 of 9)