A reflection on  impermanence

Opening Reflection
“What does it mean to stay still in a world that never stops moving? This teaching stirred my longing for constancy, and reminded me: the practice is not to hold on, but to let go with love.”

The Teaching: The Unchanging Mind in the Midst
of a Changing World
​
 by Master Thich Bao Thanh

Friends!

The theme sounds beautiful, doesn’t it? “The Unchanging Mind in the Midst of a Changing World.” It’s poetic, elegant, and deeply moving. Everyone longs for that—an unshakable heart, a mind that remains calm and constant even as life changes around us. Wouldn’t that be ideal? To have a heart that never falters, whether meeting someone for the first time or parting ways forever?

But we must ask honestly: has anyone truly achieved such a state? In reality, our minds are like strings of pearls floating on water. When rain falls from the eaves and forms delicate bubbles, it appears beautiful—yet those bubbles burst in moments. Just like that, our dreams of a stable, unchanging mind are fragile illusions. The truth is, no one is exempt from change. Even those who seem steadfast shift with time. Life is a constant flux, and people—ourselves included—change by the moment.

There's an old saying: “Mountains may move, but the human heart is hard to change.” Yes, change is difficult. But it is not impossible. People change their hearts just as they change their clothes. And so, life is filled with sorrow, disappointment, and surprise, simply because we keep expecting people to stay the same.

The word “immutable” means never changing. Some might try to romanticize this idea in literature or philosophy, stringing it together in poetic verses. But Bảo Thành reminds us—this idea of an unchanging mind may sound nice, but it doesn’t reflect reality. His elders, teachers, and the Master before him taught, “Stay the same—don’t change.” It was an aspiration to live with a steadfast heart, unmoved by circumstances or people. But even so, we must understand: everything in life changes.

The Buddha taught a single word—simple yet profound—that holds more truth than any ornate phrase: impermanence. All things are impermanent. This includes not just the world around us (the conditioned phenomena), but even our own minds and emotions (the unconditioned). If we truly follow the Buddha’s teachings, then we must accept this: the mind is impermanent.

To believe in an unchanging mind—as though the heart could remain forever constant—is to contradict the very foundation of Buddhist wisdom. No mind is unchanging. No emotion is fixed. The belief in an immutable heart is a poetic fantasy, but it is not truth. As the Buddha said: contemplate the impermanent mind.

We might admire such phrases, find them embroidered into verses or carved into statues. But if we attach to them, we mistake the beautiful illusion for the reality beneath. They are flowers woven from garbage. They smell sweet from afar, but up close, they rot. If we don’t realize this in time, it might take a lifetime to understand.

So, what does the Buddha actually teach us? That the mind is like a painter using an infinite palette—always changing, always creating new forms. The mind arises and falls with every moment. To demand constancy—from ourselves or from others—is to go against the truth of impermanence. That’s why we suffer. We expect people to love us the same forever, to treat us as they once did. But feelings change. Expectations shift. Desires grow and fade. And when they do, we hurt—because we clung to the fantasy.

Let’s be honest with ourselves. Even we have changed, many times over. Once, we said we were calm, compassionate, wise. But under pressure, we get angry. When faced with hardship, we become small and reactive. If we look deeply, we will see: the person we once thought we were is not the person we are today.

The Buddha was right. The mind of an ordinary person is impermanent, fleeting, shifting with circumstances. But there is another mind: the Buddha mind—unchanging, beyond birth and death, not tainted by emotion, untouched by craving or clinging. This is the true unchanging mind. Not the sentimental ideal we dream of, but the awakened mind rooted in compassion, wisdom, and awareness.

To reach this mind, we must practice. We must cultivate. It does not arise through wishing, but through diligent effort. This is the heart of Buddhist practice: to awaken the unchanging Buddha mind by letting go of the ever-shifting ordinary mind.

We must stop clinging to the outer form of Buddhism while failing to practice its essence. Memorizing teachings, reciting mantras, dressing the part—these are not enough. True practice requires us to sit, to breathe, to transform ourselves from within. And even when we fall—and we all do—the Buddha offers his hand and says, “Stand up. Keep going.”

So let us return to the breath.
Let us contemplate the body and mind.
Let us recite together:
Mu A Mu Sa – Namo Ta Mo Ta Mo Da Ra Hoang – Ma Sa Op Ue
Let us enter the unchanging mind—not the poetic dream, but the true Buddha mind:
The mind of Compassion,
The mind of Wisdom,
The mind of Awareness.
In this mind, we can live joyfully, even in a world of constant change.

🎼 **Lyrics: The Buddha Mind Remains
(Verse 1)
We dream of hearts that never change,
Through storm and sun, through joy and pain.
But life, it moves like ocean tides,
And even love can shift with time.
(Pre-Chorus)
We chase a phrase we think is true--
“A mind that stays while life breaks through.”
But every thought, each breath, each flame,
Will rise and fall, then fade again.
(Chorus)
🌿 The human mind will come and go,
Like blossoms drifting in the snow.
But deep within, beyond the strife,
The Buddha Mind is full of life.
Compassion, Wisdom, shining bright,
Awareness like the morning light.
Though all the world may rearrange,
The Buddha Mind remains.
(Verse 2)
We suffer when we try to hold,
The fleeting dreams, the hands gone cold.
But change is truth, the Buddha said,
We’re born anew with each tear shed.
(Bridge)
So let us breathe and let things be,
Release the grip, set others free.
For when we let illusion fall,
We touch the mind that changes not at all.
(Chorus)
🌿 The human mind will come and go,
Like lanterns swaying in the glow.
But deep within, beyond all name,
The Buddha Mind is not the same.
It does not cling, it does not bind,
It’s love and truth and peace combined.
Though all the world may shift and strain,
The Buddha Mind remains.
(Outro)
Mu A Mu Sa, we now recite,
With breath and stillness in the night.
We walk the path and light the way.
Though all may fade and pass like rain--
The Buddha Mind… remains.
**

 Closing Invitation
​
“What part of me still seeks permanence?”
“Can I release that with breath?”





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