“Do you think there is anything in this life that is permanent?
“Yes”
“I am serious, what?”
“You yourself”
“Not true, we change constantly”
“But
you're still always with yourself throughout your life. YOU are
permanent, your thought is not. YOU are permanent, your ideas are not.
YOU are permanent, your ideals are not.”
“YOU
Human?
Akanksha?
Body?
Mind?
Soul?”
“Whatever defines YOU.
If it's one of the above, then maybe that.
Whatever defines you at a given stage, is YOU.The YOU stays, the definitions change.
New things keep defining YOU.”
When we talk about permanence, there are essentially two aspects to it: Permanence of Existence and Permanence of Form. While the former is really quite “permanent”, the latter is not. That is, Existence so to say is permanent, while form is mostly not. To elucidate, the existence of a human soul is permanent (if we go by the concept of human souls that move from one body to another at the death of the body inhabited by them) but the form in which a soul exists, is not permanent.
Even for a thinking being, the existence of his/her thoughts is permanent but the form in which they exist is not. One moment you’re thinking about the next big invention that you’ll bring to the world and the other you’re thinking about how it would feel to jump off that scary cliff you see in dreams. Even science reiterates this concept in the Law of Conservation of Energy, when it says “Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. But it can be changed from one form to another.” This essentially means that the Existence of Energy is Permanent while its Form is not.
Having stated this, I cannot help but wonder about the extent to which even Existence is permanent. In the previous example of a soul, the theories that state about the immortality of a soul also state that a soul keeps evolving as it inhabits different bodies and eventually reaches its ultimate Zenith. But what happens after that? Does it cease to exist? Must be, or maybe my naive mind cannot think beyond an ultimate end to the existence of a soul that has reached its zenith. In which case, existence is no longer permanent. In the “thoughts” example, thoughts cease to exist as soon as the mind of a person dies, which by the way is true that the mind eventually always dies.
When I think about what could possibly be permanent, I can’t really come up with a very original answer but the immensely ironic answer that is “Change”. Look around you and you’ll see that perhaps Change is the only Permanent thing around you. Things change, people change, thoughts change, weather changes and the universe in its enormity changes, constantly. There is Change Always. Even though we are unaware of it, change is present all around us like the air we breathe each moment.
But then, if change is the only constant thing around us, what is Reality and what is Truth? They are definitely not entities that are permanent in form. They must vary, change, evolve from time to time. If that be the case, aren’t we then refuting their basic definition of “actually existing”. Or, are they the exceptions in this case?
New things keep defining YOU.”
When we talk about permanence, there are essentially two aspects to it: Permanence of Existence and Permanence of Form. While the former is really quite “permanent”, the latter is not. That is, Existence so to say is permanent, while form is mostly not. To elucidate, the existence of a human soul is permanent (if we go by the concept of human souls that move from one body to another at the death of the body inhabited by them) but the form in which a soul exists, is not permanent.
Even for a thinking being, the existence of his/her thoughts is permanent but the form in which they exist is not. One moment you’re thinking about the next big invention that you’ll bring to the world and the other you’re thinking about how it would feel to jump off that scary cliff you see in dreams. Even science reiterates this concept in the Law of Conservation of Energy, when it says “Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. But it can be changed from one form to another.” This essentially means that the Existence of Energy is Permanent while its Form is not.
Having stated this, I cannot help but wonder about the extent to which even Existence is permanent. In the previous example of a soul, the theories that state about the immortality of a soul also state that a soul keeps evolving as it inhabits different bodies and eventually reaches its ultimate Zenith. But what happens after that? Does it cease to exist? Must be, or maybe my naive mind cannot think beyond an ultimate end to the existence of a soul that has reached its zenith. In which case, existence is no longer permanent. In the “thoughts” example, thoughts cease to exist as soon as the mind of a person dies, which by the way is true that the mind eventually always dies.
When I think about what could possibly be permanent, I can’t really come up with a very original answer but the immensely ironic answer that is “Change”. Look around you and you’ll see that perhaps Change is the only Permanent thing around you. Things change, people change, thoughts change, weather changes and the universe in its enormity changes, constantly. There is Change Always. Even though we are unaware of it, change is present all around us like the air we breathe each moment.
But then, if change is the only constant thing around us, what is Reality and what is Truth? They are definitely not entities that are permanent in form. They must vary, change, evolve from time to time. If that be the case, aren’t we then refuting their basic definition of “actually existing”. Or, are they the exceptions in this case?
P.S. It isn't very unsual for me to be confused when it comes to defining the most basic things like Reality, Truth, etc.
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