Change & Life

These thoughts kept racing through my mind the last couple of weeks and on top of that I found this interesting video with another philosophy of Alan Watts. His philosophies always captivate me (…well, most of the time at least). It is a gentle reminder to all who are struggling with changes or non-changes in life ♥

This is a lot of text so I’ll just put it behind the ‘’read more’’ mark.

…“So we are living, as it were, on many, many levels of rhythm. This is the nature of change. If you resist it, you have duhkha, you have frustration and suffering. But on the other hand, if you understand change, you don’t cling to it, and you let it flow, then it’s no problem. It becomes positively beautiful, which is why in poetry, the theme of the evanescence of the world is beautiful.”

…“See, it’s always the image of change that really makes the poem.”

…“The Japanese have a word ‘yugen’, which has no English equivalent whatsoever. Yugen, is in a way, "digging change”. It’s described poetically, you have the feeling of yugen when you see out in the distant water some ships hidden behind a far-off island. You have the feeling of yugen when you watch wild geese suddenly seen and then lost in the clouds.“

…"You have the feeling of yugen when you look across Mt Tamalpais, and you’ve never been to the other side, and you see the sky beyond. You don’t go over there to look and see what’s on the other side, that wouldn’t be yugen. You let the other side be the other side, and it invokes something in your imagination, but you don’t attempt to define it to pin it down. Yugen.”

…“So in the same way, the coming and going of things in the world is marvellous. They go. Where do they go? Don’t answer, because that would spoil the mystery."

– Alan Watts
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqHVB6bDWzg


To all those who are struggling with changes in life, personal issues/dramas, or on the contrary feel like nothing is changing at all and feeling as if they’re stuck in the same web of events, be patient and listen to the rhythm of these occurrences. The manifestation of change does not take place when you force it to, it happens when you let yourself slide down the waterfall and let the river take you to your next destination.

Change somewhat feels like slow diving or simply falling down a waterfall. The beginning is scary, it’s dangerous, hell… you might probably even think that you’ll fall to your death. As you rapidly slide down the water you start to realize there is nothing to be scared of in the end, the water will catch your fall and lead you safely to an open lake where you can decide where you’ll get out. Naturally, some waterfalls are bigger and more dangerous than others.

For example; occasionally there are rocks beneath the waterfall, or there are old trees that stick their branches through the water. Whatever it is, you name it. Sure enough that could be your death if you fall down. Don’t think about the obstacles, trust the water. You see, the water doesn’t crash or fall into the rocks, it slides past the rocks. If you want to land safely, be like water, don’t start floundering against the stream, you will drown.

If this waterfall was too big of a challenge after all then sure you’ll get some bruises, perhaps some serious wounds even. It’s no shame to turn around and go back.  Screw that waterfall, you’ve got better things to do than worrying about something that is clearly not meant for you (yet). As has been said before, change happens if you can be in the rhythm. Crashing into a bunch of stones does not really seem like a balanced or natural flow. On the other hand, these kind of situations some may call ’'mistakes”, I’d rather call them lessons, may simply be an event that was trying to teach you something. Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn

It is said that one of the hardest decisions you’ll face in life is choosing whether to walk away or try harder. Remember that it doesn’t matter which one you choose, because there is no wrong path~ It matters that in the end you’re aware of the fact that you’re free to make your own choices and to keep going. Don’t worry, the things that are important to you will find their way back to you as well

Hmhhm. There is so much going on, looking at all the people running around like headless chickens. Where are we going? Does it even matter? Life is so exhausting right now. I feel dead-tired, my soul is tired. I just want to go home and never come back to this planet again T_T

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