Transience & Nature, 101
Today has been a particularly anxious day.
I sat down and opened up my calm.com app to do a 10-minute meditation. It started with the prompt:
“Gently focus your awareness on the breath, resting your attention lightly the way a butterfly rests on a flower.”
After hearing this, my mind floated to butterflies, flowers, nature, and the earth. I pondered how COVID-19 is impacting the earth’s butterflies and all of nature. Though possibly short-term, air pollution is at its lowest in decades, and we are seeing hardly any human or vehicular traffic around the world. Who is benefitting from humans pausing and slowing down? Every. Living. Being.
Today, I want to talk about transience and how it can guide human beings to value and preserve the gifts of nature.
In Jainism, there is an ethical code grounded in three values:
Ahimsa: non-violence
Asteya: non-stealing; transience
Aparigraha: non-possessiveness
Looking closely at the second A, Asteya, I see a direct link between transience and nature. The less we waste, use, abuse, and pollute, the more the earth is able to replenish, survive, and thrive. Humans must be mindful of the transience and brevity of joy we feel from getting a shipment in the mail, driving a [non-electric] car, or going hunting, to name a few, and consider the impact these actions have on the world around us.
The world offers no protection. It is mortal. Everything here is transient.
Another concept I learned about in today’s @calm 10-minute meditation is wabi sabi (侘寂), a Japanese term meaning “to accept impermanence in life by finding beauty in imperfection.”
The guiding philosophy is to take joy in the way things are. If you do this, you will lead a life of appreciation and contentment. Wabi sabi reminds me that we are transient, our joy is transient, and the earth and its resources are transient.
It is up to us how we live and lead — after all, it can all be over in an instant.
Safeness today and always,
Mika
For more on the Japanese concept of wabi sabi, check out Thomas Oppong’s Medium post here.
