The changing of the seasons—spring in the southern hemisphere, autumn in the north—reminds us, through nature, that nothing remains the same. This insight is not new: around 500 B.C., in geographically distant places, two thinkers reached the same conclusion. Heraclitus, in Ephesus, asserted that “nothing is permanent except change.” More than four thousand kilometers away, in northern India, the historical Buddha taught that impermanence is a natural law.
These teachings have a direct impact on our identity. If nature operates through continuous processes, and we are part of it, then what we call “I” is also in constant transformation. There is no fixed identity—it is processual, relational, and interdependent.
The Buddha also taught that “the mind creates reality.” Contemporary science accumulates evidence in this direction: we perceive the world through mental filters shaped by conditioning. This means that our response to facts can change, even when the facts remain the same.
Two practical implications stand out:
. Possible freedoms: if identity is not fixed, we are not bound by immutable standards. Change is always possible.
. Systemic effect: acting on one's own consciousness is acting on the whole. The entry point for transforming perceived reality is within us.
In everyday life, this means that the level of contentment we experience depends less on circumstances and more on the attitude we adopt toward them. The same event—such as spending time in silence and alone—can be experienced as a conscious choice or as isolation, depending on the internal state of the person experiencing it.
Learning from nature involves cultivating flexibility and openness. If science states that most of what we perceive as solid is, in fact, space, it makes sense to leave spaces—both on the material and conceptual levels. In the realm of concepts, it is important to maintain a willingness to continually learn from new perspectives on reality; in the body, change is possible when we respect our current limits and remain consistent in forming new habits.
Understanding these principles does not eliminate the challenges of the processes of change, but it offers a clearer foundation for carrying them out.
English (UK)