Jasmin Lee Cori, M.S. - Author, Mind, Body & Spirit

The basic teaching of impermanence is that you can never step into the same river twice. With each step the river has changed, and so have you.

On this journey down the River of Life, the landmarks keep changing. This is true in both our outer and inner worlds. Our bodies, our environments, our work, our relationships, where we live and what we do—it all keeps changing. And who we are keeps changing, along with our beliefs, our reactions to things, even our identity.

Often you don’t notice things as they fade, until suddenly you notice something is gone. “Oh, I’m not young anymore! The world I grew up in no longer exists!”

When something you have oriented to for decades is no longer there, you can feel a little lost. It will take some getting used to, and in the meantime, there will be grief. Let yourself be with that grief. At some point you look up again. You notice that beneath you the river is still flowing.



The world of form is impermanent. All forms come to an end. What does not end is this flow of life in the material world, and the larger metaphysical world it is part of.