Happy end of 2024 and a better beginning of 2025!
So, what ends in a year, according to Buddhist thought?
Well, nothing. A year in an arbitrary unit of time.
“All conditioned things are impermanent. When one sees this with wisdom, one becomes dispassionate toward suffering.”Dhammapada, verse 277
In a way, things still go on, unaffected. People still love, and fight, and live and die.
But in another way, the way a phantom fades into view, thing changes.
“All formed things are like a dream, a phantom, a drop of dew, a flash of lightning.”Diamond Sutra, Chapter 32
This change is at the level of illusion. Like the government, the country where you are reading this, the education system or the teachings of the Buddha, this year is empty, illusory and yet, you can talk about it.
Like you and me.“This existence of ours is as transient as autumn clouds. To watch the birth and death of beings is like looking at the movements of a dance.”Lalitavistara Sutra
Therefore, keeping in mind that we’re nothing but a collection of phantoms, speaking in languages used by people long dead and gone, may this illusory year that starts brings you illusory happiness and good news!
And may you quickly gain the determination to help all beings attain the Gates of Shambhala!
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