"We
know that all is impermanent; we know that everything wears out.
Although we can buy this truth intellectually, emotionally we have a
deep-rooted aversion to it. We want permanence; we expect permanence.
Our natural tendency is to seek security; we believe we can find it. We
experience impermanence at the everyday level as frustration. We use our
daily activity as a shield against the fundame...ntal
ambiguity of our situation, expending tremendous energy trying to ward
off impermanence and death. We don't like it that our bodies change
shape. We don't like it that we age. We are afraid of wrinkles and
sagging skin. We use health products as if we actually believe that OUR
skin, OUR hair, OUR eyes and teeth, might somehow miraculously escape
the truth of impermanence".
-Pema Chodron
