Change
an examination of impermanence in experience
by Samanera Bodhesako
This is one of the very few books available to present an examination of Impermanence in the Buddha's Teaching that even begins to be adequate to the nature, profundity, and vital personal relevance of its subject.
Change is a study of the Buddhist teaching of impermanence. Impermanence can be understood only in terms of personal experience. The discourses of the Buddha describe experience in terms of its fundamentals. Change uses that base in a modern idiom, ranging widely among concepts that are in the forefront of contemporary thought. Does impermanence mean that all is in flux? The hierarchical structure of experience is explored, as is the nature of time. Because craving and self-deception are recursive they must be understood holistically. Searching for stability, but ever confronted by the impermanence of the world, we come repeatedly to grief. The way in which the Buddha resolves this basic dilemma is examined. Craving can be ended by abandonment. Self-deception can be ended by self-perception. This is the change the essay points to as being important above all else.
The 'four noble truths' that lie at the heart of the Buddha's Teaching are discussed in terms of our contemporary outlook. Discussion of key passages from the Pali Nikayas demonstrates that this outlook is fully compatible with the Buddha's Teaching, as it has come down to us over twenty-five centuries. Numerous examples illustrate the relevance of Change to everyday experience as well as to that special experience of inner reflexion towards which Buddhist meditation is directed.
The book is here available as a downloadable Adobe Acrobat (= "electronic book") file, specially optimized for printing, though suitable also for on-screen reading. To view or print the file, you need to have the freeware Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your system (-- if you don't already have the Reader, you can download it from any of the major software download sites on the Web, or from http://www.adobe.com).
Download the book, "Change", compressed into a zip file, change.zip (518KB), by clicking here.
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