Facts are not concrete—they’re variable. Persistence is not a fact but merely an idea. The glass is already broken, and it just lays there waiting for the day when it will be seen to be broken. Observing it today and believing it will stay intact is a delusion. It will just seem to remain intact until it meets its bitter end or wears out its good fortune. Thus, reality renders it incapable of retaining its current state of soundness. We usually try to keep it intact until the very end and show surprise when it cracks, and this is because we subconsciously try to preserve something that is already broken. The glass is already broken when you blow upon it.
Life and all that it brings are transitory, variable, and therefore unreliable. Trying to cling to them is no different than trying to build a hut upon a swift river. We cannot pretend that such a building will stay intact and never collapse or suffer damage. If anything, building a hut upon a river means you’ll need to repair and rebuild it over and over to have a permanent home. Otherwise, it will collapse entirely, and you’ll lose it forever.
In an impermanent, variable, and transitory reality, happiness only exists within the preceding unhappiness, and happiness only exists within the preceding happiness. Unhappiness is the prerequisite of happiness, just as happiness is the prerequisite of unhappiness. Unhappiness is happiness from the moment it emerges, and vice versa. Happiness is transitory; it’s called happiness until the conditions that defined it as happy wear out. The same applies to unhappiness.
All things are transitory. Not being able to comprehend them is like not being able to comprehend the basic nature of existence. Not being able to comprehend this basic nature means that everything you comprehend from that point on will be delusional. This reality is the foundation of existence, and to not be able to recognize, comprehend and distinguish it is to not be able to find a good foundation to build a hut upon or even to stand upright. We cannot pretend to build real, concrete facts over something that is delusional. For this reason, everything that is supposedly comprehended by people who cannot comprehend transience will also become delusional and transitory.
Reality is not to linger but rather to flow. The self is not someone—it’s a transitory state of being. To recognize this is to attain a truth that is concrete and enduring.
