pro re nata

really, gandalf. why would you think that?

bonus:

Me:

by  Saṃsāran

It all fades. It all ends. Our youth, our very lives. The very face of the Earth constantly changes and one thing ends and changes to another. Nothing lasts and this, for we short lived creatures, is the source of much of our suffering. It is as if everything has a time as well as a place. In fact time is change. Without time nothing changes. Without change there is no time. So, we see that change is the nature of time and space. It is the way it is.

Now the question is: how are we going to deal with it?

Most of us deal with change and the inevitable loss which comes of it by simply refusing to think about it. After all we know we are going to grow old and die but why be morbid and worry all the time. This works for awhile when we are young. Then one day we see a gray hair, a wrinkle. We squint to read the fine print. Then it becomes more real to us and the fear sets in. Very few real problems can be solved by ignoring them.

What is the alternative?

Spending our youth worrying about age, disease and death? That hardly seems a resolution to the problem. When it comes right down to it there is but one thing we can do and that is accept and embrace change in a real sense. In this way we can stay flexible. Little children are remarkably resilient when it comes to change and they adapt and this is a hallmark of youth. So we stay young. We accept, we embrace it, we adapt and we stay free of encumberances. We live compassionate lives. We are kind. We are honest. Then, when the reaper comes for his due we can look the old bastard in the eye and say “do your worst” for we will have lived good lives.