Impermanence in Plain English

July 3, 2023
“Change is all-pervading and unrelenting... reality has always been this way,” according to this lucid exploration of the Buddhist notion of impermanence. Monk Gunaratana (Loving-Kindness in Plain English) and Harris invite readers to “turn attention inward” to “our own mind and hearts” and observe how “thoughts, phrases, sentences, discussions, sounds” continually arise and slip away. Once one stops fearing impermanence, one can begin to cherish it as “the truth” and a “pleasure.” And because “something or another is happening in us,” practitioners have the opportunity to recognize impermanence in every waking moment. While the lack of concrete meditation techniques and liberal quotation of the Buddha’s Pali discourses might turn away some casual readers, Gunaratana and Harris are compassionate and articulate teachers who streamline thorny Buddhist concepts with ease (“In this ephemeral body and mind, you cannot find a single fixed point.... What you thought to be true in the same instance becomes untrue”). It’s a worthy resource.