Permanence In Buddhism
Permanence of Impermanence
Imagine a snowflake falling down from the heavens, from at least 3,000 feet above the ground to eventually land on some foreign surface unbeknownst to the flake. The plight of this single snowflake depends on many things – will this flake collide with other falling flakes? If they collide, will they stick together and form a larger mass of snow – or will they bounce off each other and maybe alter each other’s form due to the force of the collision? Or, if the flake does not collide then what is to happen? If the region the snowflake enters exceeds 31.999°F, its life as a snowflake is terminated and a new life of being a single water droplet begins; however, if the new destination is just cold enough then maybe the …show more content…
In the Buddha’s Account of the Beginning (which was written by Buddhist disciples well after the fact), Shakyamuni reveals that there are Five Great Considerations one must take into account before choosing the “when-and-where’s” of becoming a buddha. He expresses that these considerations “consist of the time, birth, decay, and death not noticed by other things” (Lopez 134). Therefore, if there are five set aspects of life that are supposedly pre-chosen, it would be inaccurate to say that buddhahood, overall, is an impermanent feat. The conversation in the Buddhist heaven itself is unchanging – everyone who wants to pursue becoming a bodhisattva (or a buddha) must have a similar conversation with him/herself to make sure they grow up the “correct” way. This quality is seen more specifically in context with how the future Buddha makes his decisions; he chooses a time period in which people do not “have defilements to an excessive degree” (Lopez 134), chooses the only continent (out of four) in which buddhas are born, selects a Khattiya family since they were most noble at the time, and picked a mother who was both queen and not destined to live very long after going through childbirth. This whole process seems hypocritical on behalf of the Buddha; he can teach each of his followers that nothing in life is static and unchanging, yet follows the expectation that the path future buddhas travel follows the same unchanging trends. Thus, if any buddha-to-be selects their life by using previous buddhas as a guide, they are actually practicing the realization of permanence through organizational
Imagine a snowflake falling down from the heavens, from at least 3,000 feet above the ground to eventually land on some foreign surface unbeknownst to the flake. The plight of this single snowflake depends on many things – will this flake collide with other falling flakes? If they collide, will they stick together and form a larger mass of snow – or will they bounce off each other and maybe alter each other’s form due to the force of the collision? Or, if the flake does not collide then what is to happen? If the region the snowflake enters exceeds 31.999°F, its life as a snowflake is terminated and a new life of being a single water droplet begins; however, if the new destination is just cold enough then maybe the …show more content…
In the Buddha’s Account of the Beginning (which was written by Buddhist disciples well after the fact), Shakyamuni reveals that there are Five Great Considerations one must take into account before choosing the “when-and-where’s” of becoming a buddha. He expresses that these considerations “consist of the time, birth, decay, and death not noticed by other things” (Lopez 134). Therefore, if there are five set aspects of life that are supposedly pre-chosen, it would be inaccurate to say that buddhahood, overall, is an impermanent feat. The conversation in the Buddhist heaven itself is unchanging – everyone who wants to pursue becoming a bodhisattva (or a buddha) must have a similar conversation with him/herself to make sure they grow up the “correct” way. This quality is seen more specifically in context with how the future Buddha makes his decisions; he chooses a time period in which people do not “have defilements to an excessive degree” (Lopez 134), chooses the only continent (out of four) in which buddhas are born, selects a Khattiya family since they were most noble at the time, and picked a mother who was both queen and not destined to live very long after going through childbirth. This whole process seems hypocritical on behalf of the Buddha; he can teach each of his followers that nothing in life is static and unchanging, yet follows the expectation that the path future buddhas travel follows the same unchanging trends. Thus, if any buddha-to-be selects their life by using previous buddhas as a guide, they are actually practicing the realization of permanence through organizational