Everything is Changeable
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What exists is changeable and what is not changeable does not exist.
Looking at life, we notice how it changes and how it continually moves between extremes and contrasts. We notice rise and fall, success and failure, loss and gain; we experience honor and contempt, praise and blame; and we feel how our hearts respond to all that happiness and sorrow, delight and despair, disappointment and satisfaction, fear and hope. These mighty waves of emotion carry us up, fling us down, and no sooner we find some rest, then we are carried by the power of a new wave again. How can we expect a footing on the crest of the waves? Where shall we erect the building of our life in the midst of this ever-restless ocean of existence?
This is a world where any little joy that is allotted to beings is secured only after many disappointments, failures and defeats. This is a world where scanty joy grows amidst sickness, desperation and death. This is a world where beings who a short while ago were connected with us by sympathetic joy are at the next moment in want of our compassion. Such a world as this needs equanimity. This is the nature of the world where we live with our intimate friends and the next day they become our enemies to harm us.
The Buddha described the world as an unending flux of becoming. All is changeable, continuous transformation, ceaseless mutation, and a moving stream. Everything exists from moment to moment. Everything is a recurring rotation of coming into being and then passing out of existence. Everything is moving from birth to death. The matter or material forms in which life does or does not express itself, are also a continuous movement or change towards decay. This teaching of the impermanent nature of everything is one of the main pivots of Buddhism. Nothing on earth partakes of the character of absolute reality. That there will be no death of what is born is impossible. Whatever is subject to origination is subject also to destruction. Change is the very constituent of reality.
In accepting the law of impermanence or change, the Buddha denies the existence of eternal substance. Matter and spirit are false abstractions that, in reality, are only changing factors (Dhamma) which are connected and which arise in functional dependence on each other.
Today, scientists have accepted the law of change that was discovered by the Buddha. Scientists postulate that there is nothing substantial, solid and tangible in the world. Everything is a vortex of energy, never remaining the same for two consecutive moments. The whole wide world is caught up in this whirl and vortex of change. One of the theories postulated by scientists is the prospect of the ultimate coldness following upon the death or destruction of the sun. Buddhists are not dismayed by this prospect. The Buddha taught that universes or world cycles arise and pass away in endless succession, just as the lives of individuals do. Our world will most certainly come to an end. It has happened before with previous worlds and it will happen again.
'The world is a passing phenomenon. We all belong to the world of time. Every written word, every carved stone, every painted picture, the structure of civilization, every generation of man, vanishes away like the leaves and flowers of forgotten summers. What exists is changeable and what is not changeable does not exist.'
Thus all gods and human beings and animals and material forms?everything in this universe?is subject to the law of impermanence. Buddhism teaches us:
'The body like a lump of foam;
The feelings like a water bubble;
Perception like a mirage;
Volitional activities like a plantain tree;
And Consciousness like jugglery.'(Samyutta Nikaya)
http://www.sinc.sunysb.edu/Clubs/buddhism/dhammananda/85.htm
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(Herakleitos; Heraclitus) of Ephesus (c.535 - 475 BC) Greek philosopher.
Everything flows, nothing stands still.
Quoted by Plato in Cratylus, and by Diogenes Laertius in Lives of the Philosophers Book IX, section 8
Variants: Everything flows and nothing stays.
Everything flows and nothing abides.
Everything gives way and nothing stays fixed.
Everything flows; nothing remains.
All is flux, nothing is stationary.
All is flux, nothing stays still.
Nothing endures but change.
From Lives of the Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius
Variants: There is nothing permanent except change.
The only constant is change.
Change is the only constant.
Change alone is unchanging.
Eternity is a child playing, playing checkers; the kingdom belongs to a child.
Quoted in Hippolytus; Variants: A lifetime is a child playing, playing checkers; the kingdom belongs to a child.
History is a child building a sand-castle by the sea, and that child is the whole majesty of manÂ’s power in the world.
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Heraclitus
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by lated K.Sri Dhammananda :
Everything is Changeable
http://www.sinc.sunysb.edu/Clubs/buddhism/dhammananda/85.htm
What exists is changeable and what is not changeable does not exist.
Looking at life, we notice how it changes and how it continually moves between extremes and contrasts. We notice rise and fall, success and failure, loss and gain; we experience honor and contempt, praise and blame; and we feel how our hearts respond to all that happiness and sorrow, delight and despair, disappointment and satisfaction, fear and hope. These mighty waves of emotion carry us up, fling us down, and no sooner we find some rest, then we are carried by the power of a new wave again. How can we expect a footing on the crest of the waves? Where shall we erect the building of our life in the midst of this ever-restless ocean of existence?
This is a world where any little joy that is allotted to beings is secured only after many disappointments, failures and defeats. This is a world where scanty joy grows amidst sickness, desperation and death. This is a world where beings who a short while ago were connected with us by sympathetic joy are at the next moment in want of our compassion. Such a world as this needs equanimity. This is the nature of the world where we live with our intimate friends and the next day they become our enemies to harm us.
The Buddha described the world as an unending flux of becoming. All is changeable, continuous transformation, ceaseless mutation, and a moving stream. Everything exists from moment to moment. Everything is a recurring rotation of coming into being and then passing out of existence. Everything is moving from birth to death. The matter or material forms in which life does or does not express itself, are also a continuous movement or change towards decay. This teaching of the impermanent nature of everything is one of the main pivots of Buddhism. Nothing on earth partakes of the character of absolute reality. That there will be no death of what is born is impossible. Whatever is subject to origination is subject also to destruction. Change is the very constituent of reality.
In accepting the law of impermanence or change, the Buddha denies the existence of eternal substance. Matter and spirit are false abstractions that, in reality, are only changing factors (Dhamma) which are connected and which arise in functional dependence on each other.
Today, scientists have accepted the law of change that was discovered by the Buddha. Scientists postulate that there is nothing substantial, solid and tangible in the world. Everything is a vortex of energy, never remaining the same for two consecutive moments. The whole wide world is caught up in this whirl and vortex of change. One of the theories postulated by scientists is the prospect of the ultimate coldness following upon the death or destruction of the sun. Buddhists are not dismayed by this prospect. The Buddha taught that universes or world cycles arise and pass away in endless succession, just as the lives of individuals do. Our world will most certainly come to an end. It has happened before with previous worlds and it will happen again.
'The world is a passing phenomenon. We all belong to the world of time. Every written word, every carved stone, every painted picture, the structure of civilization, every generation of man, vanishes away like the leaves and flowers of forgotten summers. What exists is changeable and what is not changeable does not exist.'
Thus all gods and human beings and animals and material forms?everything in this universe?is subject to the law of impermanence. Buddhism teaches us:
'The body like a lump of foam;
The feelings like a water bubble;
Perception like a mirage;
Volitional activities like a plantain tree;
And Consciousness like jugglery.'(Samyutta Nikaya)
/\ -
Hmm...a extremely tough question...can change a dead corpse back to a live person?
Since everything is changeable
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the law of kharma works here. you may have a serious or even deadly accident ahead. but before that, if you did a good thing that benefit other/s, you might be able to avoid, or being reduced.
Correct me if i am wrong. this is hearsay, and i agree. -
Originally posted by jacqn:
i agree too. karma is not like fate.
the law of kharma works here. you may have a serious or even deadly accident ahead. but before that, if you did a good thing that benefit other/s, you might be able to avoid, or being reduced.
Correct me if i am wrong. this is hearsay, and i agree.
/\ -
Changeable doesn't equate to reversibleOriginally posted by maggot:Hmm...a extremely tough question...can change a dead corpse back to a live person?
Since everything is changeable -
If can pls let me know i want to bring back my uncle who juz died, and my friends mum who passed away yesterdayOriginally posted by maggot:Hmm...a extremely tough question...can change a dead corpse back to a live person?
Since everything is changeable 
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hhmm... your question is interesting & also it is not uncommon.Originally posted by maggot:Hmm...a extremely tough question...can change a dead corpse back to a live person?
Since everything is changeable
everything is ever-changing & changeable. death is one of the changes & is an ever-changing state. you cannot bring back the few seconds after you read these words, can u? -
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/hecker/wheel292.html#kisaOriginally posted by snobbish:If can pls let me know i want to bring back my uncle who juz died, and my friends mum who passed away yesterday
Kisagotami:
The Mother With The Dead Child
There lived in Savatthi a girl called Gotami, in poor circumstances, belonging to the lowest caste. Because she was very thin and haggard, a real bean-pole, everyone called her the haggard (kisa) Gotami. When one saw her walking around, tall and thin, one could not fathom her inner riches. One could truly say about her:
Her beauty was an inner one
One could not see its spark outside.
She was despondent because due to her poverty and lack of attractiveness, she was unable to find a husband. But one day it suddenly happened that a rich merchant who appreciated her inner wealth and considered that more important than her outer appearance, married her. However, the husband's family despised her because of her caste, her poverty and her looks. This animosity caused her great unhappiness, especially because of her beloved husband, who found himself in conflict between love for his parents and love for his wife.
But when Kisagotami gave birth to a baby boy, the husband's whole clan finally accepted her as the mother of the son and heir. Her relief about this changed attitude was immense and a great burden was taken from her. Now she was totally happy and contented. The boy grew up and soon started playing outside, full of energy and joy. However, one day her happiness showed itself to be based on an illusion. Her little son died suddenly. She did not know how to bear this tragedy. Beyond the usual love of a mother for her child, she had been especially attached to this child, because he was the guarantee for her marital bliss and her peace of mind.
His death made her fear that her husband's family would despise her again and that they would blame her, saying she was karmically unable to have a son. "Kisagotami must have done some very despicable deeds, to have this happen to her," people would say. And even her husband might reject her now. All such ideas and imaginings revolved in her mind and a dark cloud descended upon her. She simply refused to accept the fact that the child was dead, and became obsessed with the fantasy that her child was only sick and that she had to get medicine for him.
With the dead child in her arms, she ran away from her home and went from house to house asking for medicine for her little son. At every door she begged: "Please give me some medicine for my child," but the people replied that medicine would not help any more, the child was dead. But she did not understand what they were saying to her, because in her mind she had resolved that the child was not dead. Others laughed at her without compassion. But amongst the many selfish and unsympathetic people, she also met a wise and kind person who recognized that her mind was deranged because of grief. He advised her to visit the best physician, namely the Buddha of the ten powers, who would know the right remedy.
She immediately followed this advice and ran to Prince Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's Monastery, where the Buddha was staying. She arrived in the middle of a discourse being given by the Buddha to a large congregation. Totally despairing and in tears, with the corpse of the child in her arms, she begged the Buddha, "Master, give me medicine for my son." The Awakened One interrupted his teaching and replied kindly that he knew of a medicine. Hopefully she inquired what that could be.
"Mustard seeds," the Enlightened One replied, astounding everyone present.
Joyfully, Kisagotami inquired where she should go to obtain them and what kind to get. The Buddha replied that she need only bring a very small quantity from any house where no one had died. She trusted the Blessed One's words and went to the town. At the first house, she asked whether any mustard seeds were available. "Certainly," was the reply. "Could I have a few seeds?" she inquired. "Of course," she was told, and some seeds were brought to her. But then she asked the second question, which she had not deemed quite as important: whether anyone had died in this house. "But of course," the people told her. And so it went everywhere. In one house someone; had died recently, in another house some time ago. She could not find any house where no one had died. The dead ones are more numerous than the living ones, she was told.
Towards evening she finally realized that not only she was stricken by the death of a loved one, but this was the common human fate. What no words had been able to convey to her, her own experience — going from door to door — made clear to her. She understood the law of existence, the being fettered to the always re-occurring deaths. In this way, the Buddha was able to heal her obsession and bring her to an acceptance of reality. Kisagotami no longer refused to believe that her child was dead, but understood that death is the destiny of all beings.
Such were the means by which the Buddha could heal grief-stricken people and bring them out of their overpowering delusion, in which the whole world was perceived only in the perspective of their loss. Once, when someone was lamenting the death of his father, the Buddha asked him which father he meant: the father of this life, or the last life, or the one before that. Because if one wanted to grieve, then it would be just as well not only to feel sorrow for the one father. (Pv 8, J 352).
Another time a grief-stricken person was able to see reality when the Buddha pointed out to him that his son would be reborn and that he was only lamenting for an empty shell. (Pv 12, J 354).
After Kisagotami had come to her senses, she took the child's lifeless body to the cemetery and returned to the Enlightened One. He asked her whether she had brought any mustard seed. She gratefully explained how she had been cured by the Blessed One. Thereupon the Master spoke the following verse to her:
In flocks and children finding delight,
with a mind clinging — just such a man
death seizes and carries away,
as a great flood, a sleeping village.
(Dhp 287)
Because her mind had matured and she had won insight into reality, it was possible for her to become a stream-winner after hearing the Buddha proclaim just that one verse. She asked for admittance into the Order of Nuns.
After having spent some time as a nun, practicing and studying Dhamma, she watched her lamp one evening and compared the restlessly hissing flames with the ups and downs of life and death. Thereupon the Blessed One came to her and again spoke a short verse:
Though one should live a hundred years
not seeing the Deathless State,
yet better is life for a single day,
seeing the Deathless State.
(Dhp 114)
When she heard these lines, she was able to shed all fetters and became one of the arahants, the fully Enlightened Ones.
[continued in the website] -
of coz can, why not.Originally posted by maggot:Hmm...a extremely tough question...can change a dead corpse back to a live person?
Since everything is changeable 
If the dead person has the karma and the cause meets the right condition at that moment, things will happen automatically.
You might have done many good deeds in past life like do donation, but if you don't have the right condition for example working hard, the effect of the cause will not appear.
If I remember correctly, the teacher of the great saint in tibetan buddhism Milarepa, ever used psychic power to turn corpses of dead sparrows back to life again. -
On the condition that the consciousness has not left the body yet, that is possible. But I think it is quite pointless because eventually those beings still have to die, it is not possible to make them live forever.Originally posted by justdoit77:of coz can, why not.
If the dead person has the karma and the cause meets the right condition at that moment, things will happen automatically.
You might have done many good deeds in past life like do donation, but if you don't have the right condition for example working hard, the effect of the cause will not appear.
If I remember correctly, the teacher of the great saint in tibetan buddhism Milarepa, ever used psychic power to turn corpses of dead sparrows back to life again. -
Originally posted by sinweiy:
Then may I ask, does the philosophy of the Buddha change throughout time? Next may I ask, does the philosophy of the Buddha even exist?
by lated K.Sri Dhammananda :
Everything is Changeable
http://www.sinc.sunysb.edu/Clubs/buddhism/dhammananda/85.htm
[b]What exists is changeable and what is not changeable does not exist.
Looking at life, we notice how it changes and how it continually moves between extremes and contrasts. We notice rise and fall, success and failure, loss and gain; we experience honor and contempt, praise and blame; and we feel how our hearts respond to all that happiness and sorrow, delight and despair, disappointment and satisfaction, fear and hope. These mighty waves of emotion carry us up, fling us down, and no sooner we find some rest, then we are carried by the power of a new wave again. How can we expect a footing on the crest of the waves? Where shall we erect the building of our life in the midst of this ever-restless ocean of existence?
This is a world where any little joy that is allotted to beings is secured only after many disappointments, failures and defeats. This is a world where scanty joy grows amidst sickness, desperation and death. This is a world where beings who a short while ago were connected with us by sympathetic joy are at the next moment in want of our compassion. Such a world as this needs equanimity. This is the nature of the world where we live with our intimate friends and the next day they become our enemies to harm us.
The Buddha described the world as an unending flux of becoming. All is changeable, continuous transformation, ceaseless mutation, and a moving stream. Everything exists from moment to moment. Everything is a recurring rotation of coming into being and then passing out of existence. Everything is moving from birth to death. The matter or material forms in which life does or does not express itself, are also a continuous movement or change towards decay. This teaching of the impermanent nature of everything is one of the main pivots of Buddhism. Nothing on earth partakes of the character of absolute reality. That there will be no death of what is born is impossible. Whatever is subject to origination is subject also to destruction. Change is the very constituent of reality.
In accepting the law of impermanence or change, the Buddha denies the existence of eternal substance. Matter and spirit are false abstractions that, in reality, are only changing factors (Dhamma) which are connected and which arise in functional dependence on each other.
Today, scientists have accepted the law of change that was discovered by the Buddha. Scientists postulate that there is nothing substantial, solid and tangible in the world. Everything is a vortex of energy, never remaining the same for two consecutive moments. The whole wide world is caught up in this whirl and vortex of change. One of the theories postulated by scientists is the prospect of the ultimate coldness following upon the death or destruction of the sun. Buddhists are not dismayed by this prospect. The Buddha taught that universes or world cycles arise and pass away in endless succession, just as the lives of individuals do. Our world will most certainly come to an end. It has happened before with previous worlds and it will happen again.
'The world is a passing phenomenon. We all belong to the world of time. Every written word, every carved stone, every painted picture, the structure of civilization, every generation of man, vanishes away like the leaves and flowers of forgotten summers. What exists is changeable and what is not changeable does not exist.'
Thus all gods and human beings and animals and material forms?everything in this universe?is subject to the law of impermanence. Buddhism teaches us:
'The body like a lump of foam;
The feelings like a water bubble;
Perception like a mirage;
Volitional activities like a plantain tree;
And Consciousness like jugglery.'(Samyutta Nikaya)
/\
[/b] -
No, because change is constant, the truth 'change is constant' will not change.Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:Then may I ask, does the philosophy of the Buddha change throughout time? Next may I ask, does the philosophy of the Buddha even exist?
Buddha's philosophy is not theory but based on direct insight. This insight is re-producable in everyone as long as one cultivates according to the Buddhadharma.
You can also say that Buddha's truth is not philosophy, because philosophy is sometimes based on theory and logic, while Buddha's truth is beyond theory and logic and even thoughts.Originally posted by An Eternal Now:The Perfect One is free from any theory, for the Perfect One has understood what the body is, and how it arises, and passes away. He has understood what feeling is, and how it arises, and passes away. He has understood what perception is, and how it arises, and passes away. He has understood what the mental formations are, and how they arise, and pass away. He has understood what consciousness is, and how it arises, and passes away.
Therefore, I say, the Perfect One has won complete deliverance through the extinction, fading away, disappearance, rejection, and getting rid of all opinions and conjectures, of all inclination to the vainglory of I and mine.
- Majjhima Nikaya, 72 -
Buddha teach people based on each individual's talent and level of cultivation.Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:Then may I ask, does the philosophy of the Buddha change throughout time? Next may I ask, does the philosophy of the Buddha even exist?
So, if your level of cultivation doesn't change throughout time, then the philosophy of the Buddha will not change throughout time. -
Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:
can say change, can say no change. what Budha discovered is Truth(aka BuddhaDharma) itself, rather than mere philosophy. what change is ppl's misinterpretation of dharma, hence it will slowly become distorted and disappear. but Truth is Truth. so change is also the unchanging Truth of Existence. Truth can't be explain with simple words. eventually, it's neither change non not change wan, ie outside form aspect changes, essence remain.
Then may I ask, does the philosophy of the Buddha change throughout time? Next may I ask, does the philosophy of the Buddha even exist?
another form of saying is dharma is not fix (fa wu ting fa) and that it's selfless/empty (fa wu wo).
http://www.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=210106that mean there's no fix anwser to everything. it all depend on which angle u asking.
like the analogy of a few blind people touching an elephant. each felt the different part of the elephant, but in actual fact it's the same elephant per se.
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Hmm...possible from ashes back to a live person?Originally posted by justdoit77:of coz can, why not.
If the dead person has the karma and the cause meets the right condition at that moment, things will happen automatically.
You might have done many good deeds in past life like do donation, but if you don't have the right condition for example working hard, the effect of the cause will not appear.
If I remember correctly, the teacher of the great saint in tibetan buddhism Milarepa, ever used psychic power to turn corpses of dead sparrows back to life again.
I know this sounds impossible
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YupOriginally posted by sinweiy:eventually, it's neither change non not change wan Neither eternal nor non eternal
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from ashes back to life, I don't think so.Originally posted by maggot:Hmm...possible from ashes back to a live person?
I know this sounds impossible
Even if one manage to turn a dead corpse back to life again, he already suffer a lot during the dying process. because of his condition that leads to his previous death, he will soon die again, then another time to suffer, wah. -
When a person dies
the four elements of Earth ,water , fire and air disperse ...so how issit possible to revive that person ?
Read the Tibetan book of the dead to understand more
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"Firewood becomes ash and does not become firewood again.Originally posted by maggot:Hmm...possible from ashes back to a live person?
I know this sounds impossible
In just the same way you do not return to birth after death
Death is an expression complete in this moment
Birth is an expression complete in this moment." -
Ah so, thus the philosophy of Buddha does change according to how a person percieve.Originally posted by justdoit77:Buddha teach people based on each individual's talent and level of cultivation.
So, if your level of cultivation doesn't change throughout time, then the philosophy of the Buddha will not change throughout time. -
The facts is still there, but it will extend further and gives different perspective from the practitioner point of view, which may contradict with the old thinking. This is what I meant by change.Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:Ah so, thus the philosophy of Buddha does change according to how a person percieve.
When one reach the highest level, he has to even let go of dharma, meaning give up attachment of both dharma and self.
We are far away from reaching this state, so for now, stick to the basic buddhism teaching first.
The diamond sutra states that
"yi4 qie4 you3 wei2 fa3, ru2 meng4 huan4 pao4 ying3, ru2 lu4 yi4 ru2 dian4"
I am not able to translate this to english, go and read the sutra if you are interested. -
Nope, the pointers change, the truth remainsOriginally posted by Herzog_Zwei:Ah so, thus the philosophy of Buddha does change according to how a person percieve.
Many fingers can point to the Moon, you have to walk your way there and see for yourself. The Moon is the same for everyone, but their own path may not be, and will not be. -
Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:
one thing for sure is Buddha wants us to see things as they are (empty) and so as to sever our attachment, so as to cure our suffering and be more zhizai(ease).
Ah so, thus the philosophy of Buddha does change according to how a person percieve.
there can be different medicines(ie methods), but the cure remain the same.
like in saha world, our hearing faculties are better then other faculties, (ie ppl can get enlightened more easily thru listening) then there's a set of teachings suitable for us. within the teachings there may have ch'an/zen, pureland, tiantai, mizhong etcs. but the aim is the same, to sever attachment, dualism and wandering thoughts.
thus i hear from MCK, there are other world system where their best faculties are thru the mouth for example, ie these ppl can get enlightened more easily thru tasting
, and so on. in that case, perhaps the Buddha might come up with addition set of teachings for them per se.
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