Trying to Establish Permanence

Consider how much of one’s thinking is about trying to establish permanence.

How much of one’s planning sees a future with certainty? How many activities are supposed to sort things out so that we never have to deal with them again—and how much of our disappointment is because we thought we had something solid and then it changed?

All that breeds an unwillingness to enter into something unknown, even a fear of it. The immediate emotional reaction can be that we will be unable to cope with something unknown. This is why so much of our lives can be taken up with the need for reassurance and security—and this takes away the authority that would give us authentic stability.

We seek stability in something that can never be stable, security in something that can never be secure, permanence in something that can never be permanent.

This reflection by Ajahn Sucitto is from the book, Kalyana, (pdf) pp. 105-106.