Chapter 49 The world is impermanent, all in the powder puff blooming and fading (47)

Powder puff flowers bloom on the top of the mountain. Every time I see it, I feel a little shocked—it’s not that the branches are in full bloom, and a few plants are slightly red, which is so beautiful that people can’t hold their breath; I can't bear to see a beauty show off her face, and see her twilight again in a blink of an eye.Since ancient times, heroes are not allowed to see their white heads, and beauties are not allowed to see their old age, but "leave the green mound alone to the dusk" is the common ending for heroes and beauties. Puff, tell the world about impermanence!

Impermanence is subtle and difficult to know. When we are alert, it is often a drastic change in life.Just like "still flowing water", it looks calm and waveless on the surface, but it is actually flowing slowly. Aging is a kind of impermanence. Although it is said that "people start to go to the grave from birth", but usually few people are clearly aware that they have been aging. It is only when they are sick and physically weak that they realize that aging has passed away. , youth is no longer. People who are together every day often disagree over small things, and the pain seems to last forever. Who would have thought that maybe "the two of us have no tomorrow"?How can a person who rushes forward at work every day, wishing to have forty-eight hours a day, think that his days may be numbered?In the usual situation, few people can notice the changes of "birth, residence, change, and death" in the cause and condition, and they will regret it when they find out.

Zen Master Wenyi of the Tang Dynasty once wrote a poem: "Crowds and clumps have different origins and interests; the hair is white today, and the flowers are red last year. Yanye follows the morning dew, and the fragrance comes in the evening breeze. Why wait for it to fall, and then you will know the emptiness. "In the morning dew and evening wind, the flowers have quietly changed.Impermanence exists all the time, the falling of flowers is impermanent, the blooming of flowers is also impermanent, and any change is impermanent. The pace of time has never stopped for anyone, and impermanence follows us like a shadow.And we are often at a loss in impermanence, or regret and chagrin, or blame others.

If we can learn to observe the changes between ourselves and the external environment in our lives, and learn to let go of every attachment and trouble, bit by bit, then when we face the changes in life, we can look at them with a more stable heart. .Life is impermanence, we can't get rid of it, we can only let ourselves cherish every moment, learn not to be hurt by it, and grasp the cause and condition from it to increase. In midsummer, there are always thunderstorms in the afternoon, and there is only a haze in the distance.The powder puff flowers in the mountains are suffering from the wind and rain at the moment, right?

In Nantou Mountain, we used to discuss Buddhism with friends under the powder puff flowers; on Fobaosi Mountain, "mountain friends" also stood together and lingered under the flowers.Now, in a blink of an eye, it becomes a memory again. Impermanence really exists all the time! (This picture is provided by Wu Xiaodan)