A Buddhist Perspective on Change

Change. According to the dictionary, change denotes the transition that occurs between one state to another. In most cases, change accompanies fear and leads to suffering. Change means that we must step outside of our comfort zone, delve into the unknown, take a risk, and take on a different perspective. Change requires that we take on an internal metamorphosis, and adapt to our new surroundings.

Each and every day our lives change before our eyes. We change schools, jobs, homes, friends, thoughts, activities, habits, and ideals. Each morning when we wake, we are not the person that we were the day before. We have learned new things, forgotten others, met new people, tried something new, and had new thoughts. Our bodies have changed. We have lost old skin cells and gained new ones, our hair and nails have grown, and our body weight has changed. Each and every day, we are a new person, a different person. We are a change from the day before.

Change forces us to accept that nothing ever stays the same. Everything is impermanent. Nothing will last forever. All things, no matter how pleasurable or un-pleasurable will in fact, change and fade. This causes us to suffer.

We, as humans, become so involved with our own lives, so attached to our surroundings, that when they change, we suffer. We get angry when something breaks, and we mourn when someone dies. We place so many expectations on ourselves that we become anxious when we are placed in any situation requiring us to change our normal behavior, thoughts or routine. We get angry, we feel hurt, we get confused and frustrated. We torture ourselves with thoughts of worry, regret, fear, anxiety and hatred.

Change causes such an enormous amount of suffering that it has become the main focal point in Buddhist philosophy. Whether we accept Buddhist religion or not, it is important for us a human beings to understand the nature of change. The more that we understand change, the easier it becomes to accept things and circumstances when they do change.