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Post by spinynorman on Aug 16, 2014 12:56:38 GMT 1
Impermanence is an important theme in Buddhist teaching, being one of the 3 characteristics and one of the 4 dharma seals. We can talk about gross and subtle impermanence.
In the Pali it's anicca. Nicca means constant, continuous and permanent, and the prefix a- has the same negating affect as in English, so anicca means not constant, not continuous and not permanent. I think "inconstant" is a good translation because it evokes the quality of unreliability. "Transience" also gives a good feel for the meaning.
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Post by spinynorman on Aug 17, 2014 12:53:19 GMT 1
Anyway, so maybe we could look at approaches to realising impermanence?
Something I do is "rise and fall", which basically involves calming the mind and then observing the rise and fall of the breath, sensations, thoughts, moods, feelings - whatever comes up.
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matt
Senior Member
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Post by matt on Aug 17, 2014 18:41:14 GMT 1
Well, it is an important theme in my art work. I made sculptures out of bronze and other materials for many years. In the 90's I began a series on the interconnectedness of life. Then I went back to school to pursue a Masters of Fine Art degree in 2001, and the Graduate Faculty wanted to see more complexity in the concepts of my work. At the same time I began studying with my current Buddhist Teacher. These two things led to a kind of break through in my understanding of interdependence. I realized that impermanence was key to inter-dependence and began making sculptures of people and animals out of mud, top-soil and water. They would crack while they dried, and often I leave them outside and photograph them as they decay. I wrote about it in the written part of my thesis, and continued the work after grad school, and have gotten a few public commissions for them.
A couple times a year I teach mud-sculpting workshops at a near-by environmental education center. I tell the students that mud as a medium is meant to convey our impermanent nature. This does not just mean we will all die, which of course we will, but that we live in impermanence. There is no static moment. We must breath every few moments, eat to survive, and no human can survive more than 3 or 4 days without water. Our cells die and are replaced constantly. Because of this we are utterly dependent on other living things, and if you follow the logic far enough and deeply enough, all phenomena. To a few Buddhist friends I have also explained why this means that our bodies, what seems to be our most substantial aspect, have no inherent existence.
Buddha said that just as the foot print of the elephant is the greatest of any animal's, so his teachings on impermanence are the greatest of his teachings. To me all the wisdom teachings, from dependent arising to emptiness can be discovered through contemplation of transience.
I uploaded one of the mud sculptures, a meditating figure, to use as my avatar. There were two I brought out into the desert near Boise and left one winter many years ago. This image is of the female, there was a male and a female in robes. She had been out about 3 months during a winter when we had record rain and snow when I took that photo.
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Post by spinynorman on Aug 17, 2014 20:09:12 GMT 1
I uploaded one of the mud sculptures, a meditating figure, to use as my avatar. There were two I brought out into the desert near Boise and left one winter many years ago. This image is of the female, there was a male and a female in robes. She had been out about 3 months during a winter when we had record rain and snow when I took that photo. Fascinating - I wondered what that avatar was! I find nature to be a great teacher, and am fascinated by the elements and all the cyclical patterns. I live near the sea and regularly take my binoculars to do some porpoise and seal spotting - though sometimes I just soak up the rhythm of the breaking waves.
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dude
New Member
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Post by dude on Aug 18, 2014 0:54:30 GMT 1
Impermanence is the and one of the most important things I ever learned. "Everything changes. Change is the only constant."
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matt
Senior Member
Posts: 425
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Post by matt on Aug 18, 2014 16:31:29 GMT 1
Impermanence is the and one of the most important things I ever learned. "Everything changes. Change is the only constant." Very true, and welcome to the forum, Dude. I know from experience Rudy will also say this to all you new folks when he comes here next. Nice to see that there are good people visiting and posting.
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dude
New Member
Posts: 7
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Post by dude on Aug 19, 2014 2:07:45 GMT 1
thank you very much
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Post by Will on Aug 19, 2014 19:29:45 GMT 1
The relation to dependent origination is also valuable, for it means that human nature is flexible and thus we can change for the better on the path to some form of bodhi.
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Post by noessentialnature on Aug 23, 2014 0:37:27 GMT 1
These two things led to a kind of break through in my understanding of interdependence. I realized that impermanence was key to inter-dependence and began making sculptures of people and animals out of mud, top-soil and water. They would crack while they dried, and often I leave them outside and photograph them as they decay. That is great. Very interesting and inspiring. I wonder about using this medium as a mould for casting bronze or aluminium? Perhaps you could bring the circle round.
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matt
Senior Member
Posts: 425
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Post by matt on Aug 24, 2014 17:32:27 GMT 1
These two things led to a kind of break through in my understanding of interdependence. I realized that impermanence was key to inter-dependence and began making sculptures of people and animals out of mud, top-soil and water. They would crack while they dried, and often I leave them outside and photograph them as they decay. That is great. Very interesting and inspiring. I wonder about using this medium as a mould for casting bronze or aluminium? Perhaps you could bring the circle round. Thank you. I have thought about casting them, but haven't done it yet.
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