They might just change your life…
1.Dukkha: Life is painful and causes suffering.
Many people might say that Buddhism is pessimistic or negative.
But there’s more to this statement.
It’s not just telling us, “Life is tough, so deal with it.”
So what is it telling us?
We actually can create more suffering in our lives by trying to avoid or suppress difficult emotions.
Expect that death, aging, sickness, suffering, and loss are part of life.
Practice acceptance in the face of strife.
Open your heart to uncertainty.
2.Anitya: Life is in constant flux.
Anityaor “impermanence” means that life as we know it is in constant flux.
We can never pull up the moment that just passed, nor can we ever replicate it.
Everything around us is different.
When we are feeling especially uncomfortable, the concept of impermanence can be, paradoxically, comforting.
In other words: if nothing is permanent, we know our pain will pass.
But when we are experiencing joy, the idea of impermanence can be incredibly fear-inducing.
If we accept the idea of impermanence at face-value, it can be incredibly liberating.
All we have is the present moment.
How we can use it in our everyday lives:Celebrate the idea of change.
Accept that everything is constantly changing.
It’s kind of amazing, when you just think about it!
3.Anatma: The self is always changing.
Is it between our heart and liver?
Or somewhere unknown in our brain?
Buddhism, however, assumes there is no fixed, stable “self.”
Sure, we all have personalities (though they can change over time).
But the idea of a constant self is yet another story our culture has told us.
As Thich Nhat Hanh says,“Thanks to impermanence, anything is possible.”
It’s possible for us to be, and feel, different today than we were and felt yesterday.
Being depressed today doesn’t mean we’ll be depressed forever.
We can forgive others.We can forgive ourselves.
In each new moment, we ourselves are new.
