Reflecting on Impermanence

The Teaching of Impermanence that Completely Tames the Mindstream

Sit in the five-fold posture, or in a casual/regular posture. The five-fold posture is cross legged lotus posture, hands in equipoise mudra, keep the back straight, the tongue touching the upper plate, and eyes focused upwards between the eyebrows.

There are twelve impermanence meditations.

Impermanence Meditation One

Reflect on each of the following: 

• All compounded/conditioned phenomena are impermanent.

• All things change.

• Everything created is destroyed.

• Everything that gathers will be separated.

• Everything that is accumulated will be exhausted.

• Everything that is born will die.

Contemplate impermanence like this for one session.

This is the reality of our nature. 

What does compounded/conditioned phenomena mean? There are two kinds of phenomena. One is the compounded or conditioned phenomena. The other is uncompounded or unconditioned phenomena. All phenomena which have a cause and effect are compounded/conditioned phenomena. Uncompounded phenomena are like the permanent sky or emptiness. Those are unconditioned phenomena. 

Our body is compounded. All the four elements are compounded. All the four aggregates are compounded. All the bodhisattavas are compounded. The objects of the five consciousness are compounded. Why? Because they are born or created by causes and conditions. They are dependent on causes and conditions.

All functioning things change. All that is impermanent are functioning things. All functioning things are impermanent.

Everything created is destroyed. Created by causes and conditions. Destroyed by their own causes and conditions. The cause that created you, a functioning thing is the destroyed cause of itself.

Everything that gathers is separated. Gathered by causes and conditions. Examples are family gathering, four elements gatherings, four aggregates gathering and they will all be separated.

Everything that is accumulated will be exhausted. All accumulated phenomena are exhausted because they are impermanent. It is accumulated by causes and conditions and when those causes and conditions disappear, the phenomena disappear.

Everything born will die. There is no human who lives forever.

You need to reflect on these realities of our nature. Whether you like it or not, this is the nature of reality. We cannot escape our nature – from reality. If we run away from reality, we are not a real practitioner. Real practitioners look directly at reality and its nature. Those who search for the ultimate truth –not relative truth– are the real practitioners.

Impermanence Meditation Two

The body posture is the same as the first meditation. Sit in the five-fold posture, or in a casual/regular posture. The fire-fold posture is cross legged lotus posture, hands in equipoise mudra, keep the back straight, the tongue touching the upper plate, and eyes focused upwards between the eyebrows.

Reflect that for uncountable times in the past we have been wandering in this cyclic existence, yet we are still wandering. We have no regret for our negative actions. We are never satisfied with suffering. The time of death is definitely coming. When the time of death comes, there is nothing you can do to stop it. Yet we hold tightly to the notion that we are permanent. 

Next, reflect that for uncountable times in the past we have been wandering in this cyclic existence, yet we are still wandering. We have no regret for our negative actions. Still we are continually doing negative actions every day. We are never satisfied with suffering. We enjoy our suffering. We do not recognize our suffering is suffering. When we get food, we are satisfied. Yet that is the cause of our suffering. When we do something like working in the garden, we think “Today I made a beautiful garden.” Yet that is our cause of suffering. “Today I got a good lunch.” That is also suffering. All our food comes from the activities of suffering. The time of death is definitely coming. But we forget this. We don’t think when we wake “this may be the day we die.” Instead we think that thinking about death are bad thoughts. When the time of death comes, there is nothing you can do to stop it. Even if you have a lot of security, doctors, and locked away safely, you cannot escape death. Yet we hold tightly to that which is impermanence. 

Contemplate impermanence like this for one session.

Impermanence Meditation Three

Then imagine you are in the center of a very big city and you are staying in a luxurious mansion. You are sitting on beautiful clothes and cushions. You are surrounded by family, servants, food, and wealth. All enjoyable activities and entertainments are perfect and complete. 

Then one day, suddenly all the servants and families are against you. They take all your food and wealth. All your relatives are killed. All the buildings in the cities are destroyed or collapsed. And you are alone, poor, starving, completely naked.

Contemplate impermanence like this for one session.

Some may feel that when they become very rich then they will be happy. But no, everything will change. If we reflect, we have many examples of this in the world and in our life.

Impermanence Meditation Four

Imagine your own body decaying and rotting. Both the upper body and lower body rotting away. You catch a painful disease. All your friends and relatives gather to perform rituals, give you medicine, and do whatever they can to help. Whatever they do to help does not help and you keep getting worse. 

Contemplate impermanence like this for one session.

This will happen. In your home or in the hospital, but realize that this will happen to you. Sit alone and reflect upon this experience.

Impermanence Meditation Five

Imagine all the months you have lived disappear into the sky. All the days dissolve into the Earth. The time of death has arrived. Though you know you are dying, there is no way to reverse it. Many thoughts come to mind at that time of dying. 

Contemplate impermanence like this for one session.

When we are laying in our death bed, consider all the thoughts that arise in your mind. You cannot do anything.

Impermanence Meditation Six

Imagine the strength of the four inner elements diminish and start to dissolve. Even though you are attached to this world there is no power to remain. You are powerless. All the outer objects of the five senses cease and begin to stop working. Your consciousness is slowly coming out of your body. The vision of the bardo begins to arise. Your precious body is left behind. All your possessions and wealth are distributed among your relatives. Your master calls on you from the bardo.

Contemplate impermanence like this for one session.

Impermanence Meditation Seven

Imagine you are empty handed without light. You are wandering alone in unfamiliar and unknown lands. There is no place to stay and no place to go. Even though you remember everything, and many thoughts come to mind you cannot do anything.

Contemplate impermanence like this for one session.

“Without light” means without any knowledge of the bardo. You do not know how to recognize the natural state of mind in the bardo. “Without light” means you have no light of virtue, no light of love and compassion. “Empty hand” means that you have nothing with you, nothing prepared for traveling to the next life. Everything is left behind. We are not prepared for death – for the next life.

Impermanence Meditation Eight

Furthermore, reflect on those you have seen or heard who have died. Think that they once they could speak and understand just like you. But now they are no more in this world. Only their name remains.

Contemplate impermanence like this for one session.

Impermanence Meditation Nine

Moreover, reflect on the changing nature of worldly happiness. Think of the changing nature of suffering. Reflect on the changing impermanence of wealth and poverty, enemies and friends, good and bad, strong and weak. Reflect on the way all these things change. Nothing is permanent, everything is changing.

Contemplate impermanence like this for one session.

Everything is impermanent. All the objects of the five sense consciousness are impermanent and changing. No thing and no one is permanent. 

Impermanence Meditation Ten

Contemplate the changing of the eons of time and the changing of the days, weeks, and years. Everything is changing second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour.

Contemplate impermanence like this for one session.

Impermanence Meditation Eleven

Furthermore, the place, time, and circumstances of death are uncertain. What is certain is that we are going to die. But there is no certainty when it will occur. Now we might feel strong, but remember at the time of death no one and nothing will be helpful at that time. People may try to help, but they cannot prevent death.

Contemplate impermanence like this for one session.

Even the best medicine and technology can’t prevent death, only postpone its arrival. 

Impermanence Meditation Twelve

There was no one who did not die in the past. And in the present it is impossible not to die. Consider that everyone is going to die sooner or later and that no one will be left permanently.

Contemplate impermanence like this for one session.

Meditate on each of these twelve session of impermanence with the three doors of the body, speech, and mind together.

Your body is sitting in stillness on the meditation. Your speech is silent and on the meditation. And your mind is not thinking about todo lists but is focused on the reflections and contemplation, in an alive and vibrant way.

How to Reflect

So sit in the five-fold posture and reflect on these five lines. Try to get the experience of the meaning, line by line and word by word. Try to realize the beauty of impermanence. 

Try to understand how everything is changing. Try to understand how everything created is destroyed. Destroyed by whom? Not destroyed by something else, but by it’s own causes and conditions. Everything that gathers separates. Do I know this experience? When your were young perhaps your whole family gathered together including your grandmother and grandfather. But now these days, they are missing. Where did they go? What happened? Separating is not a bad word, it’s the natural world – this beauty of impermanence. Everything that is accumulated exhausts. We see people struggle to get so much in this life. But is it ever really theirs? We say “this is mine, this belongs to me.” But that is such a joke in reality. How does it belong to you in reality? Can you take it to the next life? Feel that everything can be used while you are alive, but not belonging to you. You can share everything, because it never was yours to begin with. This is the real experience of Dru Gyalwa Yungdrung and all the Dzogchen masters. Everything that is born will die. If we don’t accept these words, we don’t accept reality. That is Dzogchen. To look directly at reality and understand it’s nature. Emptiness means reality. If you don’t like these words, then why practice Dzogchen?

If you want to practice Dzogchen, it’s not about going off into physical isolation and forgetting your family. No. There are a lot of masters who lived with their family and practiced. Because they reflected and looked into the nature of emptiness and impermanence in all their life.

What are the characteristics of impermanence?

The definition of impermanence is momentariness. Everything is just momentary. Everything here means functioning things, and every functioning thing is momentary. Permanent phenomena like the sky and emptiness are not momentary, and are not functioning things.

Phenomena here means existing. Existing has two kinds of meanings: functioning things and nonfunctioning things. Nonfunctioning things are permanent. Functioning things are impermanent. 

What means functioning things? Functioning things are that which are able to perform a function. What function? Capable of bringing its own fruit. There are three categories of functioning things: matter, consciousness and nonassociated composition factors. These three are what we call “functioning things.” Nonassociated composition factors are phenomena which are neither matter nor consciousness. Matter is all the material “stuff.” Consciousness is all the mind “stuff.” Examples of nonassociated composition factors include human beings and sentient beings. All impermanent phenomena are divided into these three categories.

So check and analyze and see if these are all without essence. Material things, consciousness, and sentient beings appear like they have essence, but we need to check! Whatever we check and analyze will be found to be without essence, yet we still hold to it as certainty, truth, permanent, and real. How pitiful we are. Contemplate impermanence like this for one session.

We don't recognize the face of impermanence. That's why we are very busy. We build houses. We build roads, we build aeroplanes, we build lots of things because we feel that we are permanent. But when we are ready to go from this life, our eyes roll up, we cannot speak, our breathing becomes difficult. That is the reality.

To practice like this is to receive the blessing of impermanence which will reduce the desire for worldly things. Just practice the best you can. When the time of death comes, we need to go alone. That is why we need to prepare now. We may not have the time to do the big advanced practices. But we can always be thinking about impermanence. This is the first teaching of Dzogchen. 

Why is everything impermanent? Why do we die? Why does everything change? This is the main question. The answer is because of karma. Because we come from causes and conditions. We are born by causes and conditions. That is why things die, get destroyed, separate, and change.

Results

There will become a point when your mind will naturally turn away from cyclic existence. Your desire and attachment to samsara will reduce. Impermanence will generate in the mindstream. All appearing phenomena will arise as illusions. Attachment to things as being real will be cut. When the grasping at self is cut, whatever arises will be your object of meditation. Any future followers who remembers impermanence and death will be successful.

If we forget impermanence of ourself, our perceptions, our objects of the five senses, our consciousness, of all phenomena then we will not be successful in the practice.

But if we remember impermanence and death at all times, we will be successful in our path.