Impermanence

I appreciate this might tax the old grey matter on a Saturday morning. Which is why I post it now rather then last night otherwise the syndics amongst us would be thinking ‘Here we go, Freedoms on his second bottle of Fleurie again’

I kind of whizzed past this without giving it much thought, other than shit that must smart a bit but on reflection, that’s an interesting choice of statement to make in such a painfully way and I doubt very much the word was picked at random.

A few years ago everything in my world imploded and caused me to lose the plot for a while, whilst off sick for six months and in that dark and withdrawn place I had plenty of time to read stuff that you would not normally give a second thought, to try and get some understanding of what was going on in my head and how I was going to get my old self back and into the real world in one piece. That’s when it dawned on me that the old self has gone, forget it, only the present and what you do with it will affect the future but bear in mind that the present is also a product of the past and every action will cause a reaction.

Now, I am not planning to shave my head, nature is taking care of that quite nicely all on its own, or don an orange robe and attach mini castanets to the ends of my fingers anytime soon but I get their principles, if not always apply them. The world would be a much nicer place if everyone did.

I am interested to hear why you choose that word and what it means to you. If it’s a private matter, I respect that.

I personally would have gone with Nirvana and not just because I love Kurt Cobain’s Smells like teen spirit

 

I think its a touch of genius writing Impermanence, so many ways of writing its
meaning I will be interested to read what comes next.

 

yeah it is, that whole you really own nothing and the person you
are now is not the person you were five minutes ago....thats why
stoned hippies love Buddhism so much, total head F*%k

 

On the nail in one boys, interesting stuff if you have the time to read and digest it. Now where did I put those tinkerly bells, oh, I know, in the same cupboard as the Fleurie.

 

A tad pretentious if you ask me. If you've got to have a tattoo why not be a good citizen and help the authorities by having yor National Insurance number in the form of a bar-code printed on yor forehead.

 

Well, it seems I have a little explaining to do!

Nothing private about it, although thanks for making the exception from the start there Freedom. Always happy to explain these things, and perhaps share some knowledge and learn something new in the process…

Actually, you guys have all hit upon some of the many points as to why I chose this. All of my markings, of which there are many, and are far from limited to tattoos, hold very deep meanings for me. As well as being a rite of passage (as markings like this originated in our species, back when we were still confined to a more tribal way of living), they build a picture of my philosophy on life to date and serve as a reminder to live the way I have learnt best to do so. Even the ones which are far less verbose than this have a deep spiritual meaning to me.

The word is indeed a very fundamental part of Buddhist philosophy kpone, and having spent some very significant time in my life living at a Buddhist monastery, and with Buddhism being the only fixed philosophy in life I have ever been drawn to, it is therefore very deeply rooted in my own philosophy. Surely also it is one of the only truths in existence? That everything, everything that we see and that we do not, is in a constant state of flux. And so attached to that tenet of their philosophy is the lesson that living in the present moment is the only true way to live, and the reason why one 'practices' doing so by frequent meditation. So every time I get caught up thinking how sh*t or how great some particular state that I am in is, I am reminded that it will not last, thus anchoring me back to that present moment and enjoying it all the more for the fact. It helps especially in those times of deep, dark despair that you mentioned Freedom, and actually these days, when I find myself in that place, I managed to break free of it quite quickly. To that I account these learnings and the marks (both visible and invisible) that they have left me with.

Outside of learning from the Buddhist philosophy, lessons very similar to this have come to me in many other ways. In fact my next tattoo will be the words 'This moment is the greatest moment of your life' on the back of my hand, which is a lesson that came to me in the midst of an ayahuasca ceremony, its location being so that I can stay constantly reminded of that fact, cause I'm sure we all know, with so many external distractions in this life, it is so easy to forget this and get tied up in the tiny microcosm of insignificancies which in reality, do not matter at all!

The paradoxical side to it is a reminder to me that viewing existence through human eyes is a very confined way of seeing the world. Time moves very quickly for us, but only because our time here is so very short and as such we are confined to a world in which each minute counts for so much. One could say that this is a permanent mark, but only inasmuch as it will exist for the duration of my lifetime. Very soon after I die, not long from now (in the grand scheme of things), my body will decompose and this mark will cease to exist. And existence will continue on its merry way without me in it. It often separates the free thinkers from the fixed, seeing this mark; as many cannot see past the fact that it is permanent, seeing it only in the human sense, while I know that there are forces far greater than us at work in all 'this'.

On a slightly less spiritual note, it also came about as part of my desire to experience a new experience, simply for the sake of it, as I believe that to taste the full flavour of life one should try everything possible in his own world and existence.

And yes, it did hurt a bit, but not so much more so than some of my more painful tattoos (lower back/armpit being two of the worst). After many years with this stuff though, I've learnt to simply drift off while the work is done. In fact during my last tattoo session it was reported to me that I was snoring mid-way through! I've found I can almost induce a hallucinatory/dream type state while under the influence of such pain. It was actually a f*cking cool experience having this done too - the combination of the shop/artist/company present and surreality of watching someone peel your skin off was a bit of a rush!

Forgive the length of the post guys; I can talk for hours when it comes to contemplating ways in which to live this life to the fullest!! Feel free to bat around anything you've just read - I'm always open to hearing others opinions.

 

You're most welcome

 

I'm sitting here struggling to come to terms with the sudden loss of a young friend in a bike accident on Saturday.

Reading this has helped a little.

Thank you.

 

Thank you Jokeshop, I was guessing this could have gone either way, with a 'I was pissed and it sounded cool' or for much deeper reasons. I am glad it was the later and understand perfectly what you’re saying. For those that didn’t get it. Open your minds for a moment and read about it. It helped me in my darkest moments and I am still here, all be it, in the scheme of things, not for long.

 

Too deep for me boys. Stay shallow. Ignorance is Bliss.

 

Most welcome Freedom, and thanks for being interested enough to ask about it.

You're right el-nicko, it really, really is. I remember that place. But once you start down that path of investigation, there's simply no way back.

As one of the monks used to tell me, so many people start down the path to enlightenment thinking that it's gonna be all flowers and roses, only to find out that there is more pain, suffering and difficulty that you could ever imagine when coming truly face to face with yourself. Definitely not something for everyone.

 

all very deep and interesting .i know what you mean when you talk about zoneing out i have to do this when i go to the dentist ,just stare at the light and let my mind go somewhere else i suppose its just my way of copeing with an uncomfortable situation,i think i know what freedom is meaning about "finding yourself" i went through a bad time a few years back and had to take a real good look at myself didnt like everything i found and came out of it a slightly different person better in my opinion.
im sorry if this sound trivial compaired to how deep you guys have studied this
just thought i would share it with you

 

Not in the slightest Steve! In fact I think it is extremely relevant when you say:

That, right there, is the true essence of it all!!! Exactly why I think Freedom started this thread and IMO, one of the most beautiful, wise and worthy achievements in this life. If we don't look to push ourselves through pain in order to come out a better person on the other side, then I believe we are wasting our valuable and precious time in this world. A quote from the man himself, Soichiro Honda, who brought us all in a roundabout way to this forum, springs to mind here:

"The value of life can be measured by how many times your soul has been deeply stirred."

If experiences like that don't stir your soul, I don't know what will!!

Appreciate you sharing.

 

I can’t say I am a better person, a different person yes, and for the third time in my life, everything changed. The first, when my first son was born, things that were important one split second before he was born became irrelevant. The second, my divorce and becoming very ill, again all priority’s and what was important changed again. The third that happened during the darkest moments of the second, studying and learning about Buddhism which put the first and more so the second into context. I didn’t carry out what was nagging at me every waking moment as it would have been a pointless act and only hurt the people I love the most, plus it would have seriously pissed off the rush hour commuters on the central line.
I had a very interesting conversation with one of my children yesterday evening over dinner, brought about by him telling me his mother (my ex wife) has given him a load of old photographs of me, and me with him and his brother. I am not sure how this got around to what we believe in, but, it turns out he also studied Buddhism and came to the same conclusions as me, and at about the same time as me. How strange is that? Turns out he was looking for answers about what was happening to us all and how best to cope with it.
Very deep I know, but I make no apologies about that. It is what it is. You will get what I am saying, or you will shrug your shoulders and think what a tosser, neither of us are wrong.

 

Freedom, there are those that know and those that don't want to know.I have followed a similar path but not in Buddhism but arrived at probably the same conclusion.We are all here for reasons toexperience..Probably the wrong place to talk about it in detailt.pm me anybody I like a spiritual chat.Fascinating what different paths take you on.j

 

I'm not sure why this topic seems to be surrounded by this air of discomfort and pre-preparation for the fact that others might/will judge you for what's being said. This stuff is real. All the Fireblades in the world mean f*ck all when it comes down to it if you've taken no time in your life to really analyse what it's all about. Sure, they're a nice distraction along the way and a rewarding thing to focus your energies on, but it's all fleeting. The stuff being talked about here is what you take to your grave with you and what you pass on to those close to you. The stuff of real substance and the means to a happier and more rewarding existence.

Please, lets keep this out there rather than taking it offline. Sure, people will judge, but that's their problem, and is only a manifestation of their unhappiness in their own lives. I, for one, am truly interested in what's being said by all here.

Or maybe it's me that's in the wrong place?

 

JSB, yes it is a personal thing because it happens to people in different ways.Some people prefer to dip their toes in the water first.I will share some with you all.
From the age of 3 I saw things as a boy that other people didn't see.Firstly images then sounds then both together.At 4yrs old I had mumps that gave me hearing loss.The sounds with the images dissapeared.When things came through it was like a bolt of lightening seeing images but no sound.These images became real like.Lets just say I was frightened because what I was seeing could appear out of the blue.It was not real in my parents eyes.The only time my parents took me seriously was when I went beserk at school and was put under a shrink.The shrink told my parents what I told him.I predicted that they were to split in the coming months and that I found it very hard to come to terms with.
Throughout my life I have seen extraordinary things that people ridicule,even my own wife sometimes questions.She is slowly coming to terms with these insights even after 18yrs of marriage.She knows I'm not fooling around.I can even read her mind if u meet her ask her.
For those of you who think we are the intelligent race on this planet think again.We are not alone.My family witnessed a UFO.100yds away.
For those that think this is only one life think again, there are more lives you will lead.I know some of my past lives.I can read but don't
I will leave it there for now.

 

I am not sure it’s got anything to do with any unhappiness in anyone’s lives, we believe in what we believe in, and if it works for the one it might not work for another, why would anyone want to judge. Live and let live.