While on the surface of it, the Buddhist doctrine of change and impermanence may seem pessimistic, appreciating that everything will change liberates us towards true freedom, peace and happiness.

Impermanence, or anicca in Pali, refers to the transient nature of all things. Everything in this world moves through the rites of birth, maturity and destruction, leaving no trace. Annica, together with suffering (dukkha) and non-self (anatta) are the Three Characteristics of Existence according to the Buddha. Annica is key, as impermanence leads to suffering (dukkha) and annica also explains why there is non-self (anatta).

Suffering (dukkha) arises because, in a state of self-deception, people crave immortality through belief in a soul. There is nothing that endures about sentient beings, both people and animals and no life thereafter.

The Buddha taught that human beings are composed of five aggregates (pañca khandha), which are empty and without self. By meditating on non-self (anatta), we can dissolve the barrier between self and other and appreciate that all beings in the universe are the same. Seeing that all other human beings exist in us and we exist in all other human beings, we are liberated from the cycle of birth and death, no longer held back by fear and self-deception.

Appreciating annica is part of existence, we are liberated from being a slave of emotions, sensations and experiences, knowing that joy and sorrow must change. We are neither living in a fool’s paradise, nor frightened by imaginary fears and sins.

Suffering for permanence
Oftentimes, we equate permanence with happiness. We mourn the loss of beauty as age fades youthful radiance. We mourn the loss of innocence as children grow up into judgmental or jaded adults. Most especially, we mourn the loss of life when our loved ones die.

The Buddha said that it is our self-deception that makes it appear that we are caught up in this world. Suffering (dukkha), the First Noble Truth of Buddhism, has a deeper meaning which includes imperfection and insubstantiality. Our expectation that things should be perfect, unchanging and enduring provokes sadness when they are not.

The world is made up of the four elements – earth, air, water and fire – in countless combinations constantly in flux. Nothing can exist independently and nothing is permanent.

Awareness of suffering leads to liberation
Since all things are impermanent, when we identify with the world, we also suffer from their eventual emptiness. Once we become aware of how suffering works, we begin to practice the way of the realisation. This is the first of the Four Noble Truths – awareness of dukkha reduces our dukkha.

By meditating on dukkha, we uncover its cause, directly confront it, and eliminate it by relinquishing our attachments to the five skandhas, or aggregates which together make up the human condition.

Impermanence and non-self
The five skandas that make up the human and worldly conditions are: matter, feeling, perception, thoughts and consciousness. By examining the five skandhas, we experience the selfless nature of our bodies as they journey through life, from birth to death and emptiness beyond.

“When we no longer are separate from the universe, a completely harmonious existence with the universe is created,” writes Thich Nhat Hanh in Two Treasures: Buddhist Teachings on Awakening and True Happiness. “We see all other human beings exist in us and we exist in all other human beings. We see that the past and the future are contained in the present moment, and we can penetrate and be completely liberated from the cycle of birth and death.”

By Brook McCarthy. This article was written for Restorative Yoga.

“I wish I knew how it would feel to be free” follows the famous Nina Simone lyrics. With the best of intentions, we all get caught up in minutia of daily life. We may become easily frustrated or angry when the results of our actions don’t turn out the way we hoped, or we indulge in self-pride when the results we hoped for, eventuate. We are constantly swinging between highs and lows and dwelling on the intricate details of how best to manipulate actions to get what we want.

Karma yoga is a path to equanimity of mind and enlightenment, where we no longer have these countless frustrations.

Generally, we believe that we are active participants with control over our own destiny, which is why we become dissatisfied when things don’t go the way we planned. A person following the path of karma yoga realises that God is the only true doer. This belief is not unique to Hinduism – in Christianity, it is expressed as: “Not my will but Thine be done, O Lord.”

Karma yoga means that actions are done without any expectation of a personal result or reward. “The mind of the karma yogi grows calm because they are satisfied that they have done their job to the best of their ability and they dedicate the results to God,” explains John Ogilvie, senior teacher and founder of Byron Yoga Centre.

“Karma yoga is different from the law of karma, or cause and effect. The law of karma affects those who believe they are the doer so the results of a karma yogi’s actions have no karmic consequences.”

Karma yogis see themselves as instruments of God’s will and with this comes peace of mind. Patanjali refers to this in the Yoga Sutras as ‘Yoga chitta vritti nirodha’: yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind.

“The karma yogi appreciates that everything in life is transient and that difficulties are opportunities to learn compassion, so they give thanks for everything,” says John. “In the Bhagavad Gita, Krisna defends the ‘right kind of action’ and the importance of dedicating ourselves mindfully and wholeheartedly to one’s dharma, or duty. Krisna says that karma yoga transforms any mundane activity into spiritual practice because it is dedicated to God.”

Dharma, as discussed in the Bhagavad Gita, referred to the professional obligations one had in relation to one’s caste. Although the concept of caste duties is no longer relevant to our modern society, finding one’s life purpose remains a very modern dilemma. So what action is right action?

In modern times, right action has been interpreted to mean that the nature of your work is less important than the attitude of your heart and mind that you bring to it. We can do the same action with either selfish or selfless intent. By freeing our thoughts from selfish motive, anger, greed and hatred, we purify our intent behind an action and the results of the action become liberating rather than binding.

You may have found yourself immersed in a task and noticed how time seems to halt and a sense of unity arises as you no longer feel a separation between you ‘the doer’ and you ‘the thinker’. This sense of immersion, or ‘flow’, has been identified by cognitive scientists as the closest they can identify to an experience of happiness.

Learning to be free
So how do we stop believing we are the doer and that God is in charge? In the Bhagavad Gita Krisna says that your true Divine Self can only be known by controlling your senses with the mind and by devoting yourself to God.

We can devote ourselves to God in whatever form we identify as Divine. We control our senses through the eight limbs of yoga – through pranayama breathing regulation, the fourth limb, through pratyahara, sensory withdrawal, the fifth limb, and through dharana, concentration and dhyana, meditation, the sixth and seventh limbs.

The other limbs of yoga all teach us to think and act mindfully with others, with ourselves and our bodies. Selfless service to God, or seva, is another step towards appreciating the Divine Self in all people.

“Seva is the underlying basis of our Yoga Centre,” says John. “Giving all profits from our $5 classes to charity, being actively involved in our preferred three charities, and making yoga more accessible to more people allows our students, our teachers and our business to be involved in seva.”

Each of us has a tiny spark of divinity within us; a common analogy is that we are all a water droplet in a vast ocean. You may have had a fleeting experience of this during meditation, during yoga class or when looking into the eyes of a loved one or a stranger.

Once your buddhi, or intellect, realises the Divine Self within, these unite and you become enlightened, liberated from the law of karma which sees you reincarnated into countless lifetimes.

We each have a tiny spark of Divinity within us. Recognising this, we need only act selflessly in service to God.

Lokah Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu
Translation: May all beings everywhere be happy and free. And may the thoughts and actions of my own life contribute, in some way, to that happiness and that freedom for all.

By Brook McCarthy. This article was written for Byron Yoga Centre.