Whatever IS will be WAS. — Bhikkhu Ñanamoli

I've been reading about the truth of impermanence recently. It all started from an article I read on Huffington Post about what we could learn from the Japanese earthquakes. I have obviously learned through personal experience that absolutely nothing is as it was or as it will be. I'm certain I'm expert on at least that half of what Buddhists call "anicca"; it's how I am accepting this truth in it's ever changing form that I'm treading water. 

There have been a number of impacting moments in my life that have left me in a place I will call "not religious", at least for this impermanent moment. The last year has definitely led me to take a hard look at what I believe spiritually and existentially. I am what my sister believes to be a contradiction of terms: how can I be non-religious and so heartily believe in ghosts? :)

I'm intrigued by the ideas that follow my readings. One point that seems so simple but was one of my Oprah-guru's Aha moments for me was that suffering is the direct result of clinging to an impermanent status quo... of any sort, whether it be fluctuation of things, ideas, relationships, position, etc. The appropriate response would then be to recognize that nothing is as it was or as it will be, and so enjoy and revel in the present as it is one moment that will cease to be.

I can't decide if that is brilliant or a bit defeatist... maybe even cold.

I will admit, however, that I do believe there is a bit of that realized truth buried inside of me, even before I knew it had a name, and I think that understanding that, even on a subconscious level, has kept me sane, perhaps more sane than those that are still praying and hoping for a reason or a purpose.

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I did my own round of Ashtanga on my patio last night. It was both refreshing and mosquito attended.

Afterward I had Round 2 of Backyard Photo Safari! I call this one "View from Savasana" (my favorite yoga position hehehe).










The following could be a study in Impermanence via my new rose bush that replaced the one that melted. Several of these pictures came from what I'm going to call Chance Photography. For those, I set my camera to auto-focus, zoomed in close enough to get my potential subject where I might want it, and then held the camera away from my body, sometimes in really awkward positions like underneath the rose bush itself.

Click on photos for a better look. The one with the bud got an interesting focus. That one was a planned shot.

This one is neat as you can see the entire life cycle of a rose by looking right to left. :) 

Both of these shots were taken with my camera held underneath
the plant, away from my face ala auto-focus. Both came out
really cool, but I love how the fencing in the photo above
seems to make the image have movement.