The Only Thing That Can Ever Change, Is If Something Stayed The Same.

The concept of impermanence is central in Buddhist thought. The transience of all things. It’s all in a state of becoming, rather than ever being. Change is the only constant.

But if everything is always changing, that’s the same as it all being the same and never changing. Because if something changed to something else in ever-changing world, nothing’s actually happened. Because it changed.

With me? No? Two levels theory.

On one level everything is changing. 1 becomes 2 becomes 3 becomes 4 becomes 5.

1 + 1 = 2

2 + 1 = 3

3 + 1 = 4

4 + 1 = 5

You start somewhere different, you end somewhere different. Change. But the change is always +1. So in a sense, it’s the same situation over and over again. Because if I wrote that out a million times, you’d know exactly how that line would go:

1,000,000 + 1 = 1,000,001

You only know that because nothing has changed. You’re adding 1 every time. That stays the same. What appears to be different every single time, is the same.

If everything is changing all the time, the only thing that would be different is the thing that stays the same. If something stayed the same, that would be real change.

If:

1,000,000 + 1 = 1,000,000

Then:

Something has changed, because one million isn’t changing.

If one million changed to one million and one, then nothing has changed. It’s always been like that. But if you add one to one million, and it doesn’t change, for the first ever time something has changed.

Jimi Hendrix said “If a 6 turned out to be a 9, I don’t mind”

Buddhists believe the world is in a constant state of change. 6 is constantly turning out to be 9. And they apply that inwards. It's not just the world. It's you. You're in a constant state of change. You don't have the same hopes and fears you did when you were six years old as you do now. Lego don't hold the same sway. 

And if you're different now to when you were six, and you'll be different in future, what's the you that's the same? The Buddhists say there is no you, there is only ever the change. Because if you had stayed the same in any way at all, well that would be the first thing that has ever changed in the history of the world. Something would have stayed the same.

Nothing stays the same.

You are not the person you think you are. You're so much bigger.

Define yourself, and you define your boundary. Undefine yourself, and you become bigger than it all.