IMPERMANENCE

My BEYOND BORDERS Blog is back from vacation.  I've been busy with adventures here and abroad and will share stories throughout the year, but this season we'll explore journeys of mind and space,  a way to consider how life changes over time. My inner-philosopher/poet is active and I invite you to engage yours and continue the conversation through the comments after each post.  Please join me in creating an interactive blog, a place where we can hear everyone's voice.  

IMPERMANENCE

It is a little over a week since I broke my ankle, only five more weeks until I am cast-free, I hope. BUT, I know that plans are easily broken, often take detours and fall away,  only to be replaced by the energy of Impermanence.  

A friend and I decided to check out the record low water level of Folsom Lake, which is receding rapidly because of drought conditions. Impermanent levels altered by humans and nature.  

When I began my hike, I had no idea that by the end of the day, with only one misstep,  I would end up on crutches and a non-weightbearing cast. I have never had to think about not walking on my two feet. It's automatic, right? I hadn't considered that I could lose some of my independence or that the  kindness of others would be needed to help me with daily tasks. Now I'm taking lessons to learn to graciously give and receive.  

Isn't this how we live? Our identity, beliefs and ideas are constantly challenged. Does Impermanence feel more present in your life, as the time between birthdays seems shorter and shorter? 

I began to think about the meaning of Impermanence and how it connects to the losses and changes we all experience, as I watched the Gaden Shartse Tibetan Buddhist Monks create a stunning sand Mandala and then, in the sweep of a feather, destroy it and toss the colored sand into the currents of the wild river. My friends will laugh (I hope) and agree that I frequently say, "I wrote a poem about ..." for many experiences we share. Here it is, written after the Monks' visit in Northern California, in 2012. 

Impermanence

Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck~Dalai Lama

Six days creating a mandala, a sand

painting colored with healing prayers.

On the seventh morning, a dissolution

ceremony. The Monks destroy

their creation, brush the grains

to the center, pour them into a brass urn

no bigger than a hand. In the blessing,

they ask the deities to heal the earth.

Afternoon at the river, the Geshe

scatters wisdom of non-attachment,

north, south, east, west, releasing

sacred sand to the flowing water.

Witnesses observe, wishing

to reverse so many words

and deeds, as easily as sweeping

them away with a feather and casting

them to the currents.      ~Irene Lipshin 

  

(Previously published on Medusa's Kitchen)

Photos © Irene Lipshin

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