Candle in the Wind: The Only Constant is Change

By the third sitting, a quiet question often starts to form: What are we actually noticing when we sit like this? This is where impermanence comes in.

In the first sittings, we laid the ground:

Sitting 1 was How we are distracted from being present / mindfulness (The Five Hindrances)

Sitting 2 was How we can stay present and aware / mindful (The Four Foundations of Mindfulness)

Sitting 3 (this one) is about What we see when we are present / aware and pay attention – Impermanence (Anicca)

In yoga philosophy, we learn that there is something eternal underneath everything. Someting consistent and reliably there. A witness, a soul, a consciousness that doesn’t change, and we meditate to observe that.

Zen, however, points us in a different direction: Zen offers us the insight that there is nothing fixed behind any of our experiences. Everything, including awareness itself, comes and goes and is therefore impermanent, and depends on conditions.

Both perspectives offer something to explore. You might find one resonates more, or notice something meaningful in each. There’s no need to choose or prove anything - just see what feels true for you, what opens your attention and what supports your practice.

When we practice mindfulness, whether in formal meditation or simply 'staying present' - with the body, sensations, thoughts and phenomena - we may notice that we don’t find anything fixed or solid. We notice change. Sensations arise and fade. Thoughts come and go. Sounds appear and disappear. Even our sense of “self” shifts moment by moment: we are calm one moment, impatient the next; confident in one situation, uncertain in another; “I love this” turns into “I’ve had enough, I don’t want this anymore.”

In Zen, impermanence isn’t an abstract idea. It’s what reveals itself naturally when we pay attention. And once we really see and understand the idea that everything is constantly changing and in a state of flux, it quietly shapes how we relate to everything around us: our environment, our habits, our reactivity and the dissatisfaction that comes from trying to hold onto what cannot stay.

How is impermanence the same as change?

It isn't. They’re closely related, but not quite the same - and the distinction is important in practice.

Change is descriptive. It says: things are different now compared to what they were before.

Impermanence (anicca) goes deeper. It says: nothing has the capacity to stay the same permanently.

Even that which we usually see as "me", “myself”, "Self" or “I” is a collection of ever-changing processes dependent on conditions: our body changes, our sensations, our mind changes, our thoughts, emotions, perceptions. This is the teaching of anatta, or non-self. And Zen asks us to consider that even our consciousness and our awareness themselves are always changing and not something fixed outside of our direct experience, so therefore there is no Eternal Witness in Zen as we know it in Yoga.

Everything, even consciousness arises dependent on conditions (dependent origination) and passes away in the same way. This is impermanence, or anicca, applied to consciousness. Even awareness or the feeling “I am aware” is temporary and dependent on conditions..

What does it mean when we say 'dependent on conditions'? For example: The flame of a candle only arises because there is a wick, wax, air and spark from a match. Remove one of those conditions (the wick) and it there is no flame. Similarly, “me” arises because of countless conditions: if we had a different mother or father, we may still have been born, but a different “me” would appear. This is dependent origination in action - nothing exists or comes into being independently, nothing is permanent, everything comes into being or exists because of something else and is constantly changing.

In mindfulness or meditation, this is why we practice direct, moment-to-moment noticing rather than looking for a permanent inner observer. Our insight and tranquility comes from seeing clearly that everything, including awareness, is changeable, impermanent - and it is knowing this which teaches us to flow with what life throws at us.

There is a subtle difference between classical yoga and Zen regarding permanence, self and awareness:

Self / Soul

Classical Yoga Philosophy: There is an eternal, unchanging essence (Purusha, true Self) behind our experience.

Zen / Buddhism: There is no permanent self; what we call “I” is a collection of changing processes (body, sensations, thoughts, emotions).

Awareness / Consciousness

Classical Yoga Philosophy: Awareness itself is eternal and unchanging; the mind and body change, but the witness remains.

Zen / Buddhism: Awareness arises dependent on conditions and passes away; even the sense of “I am aware” is impermanent.

Goal / Liberation

Classical Yoga Philosophy: Rest in the eternal Self beyond the flux of changing experience.

Zen / Buddhism: See clearly that all phenomena, including awareness, are impermanent; loosen attachment to grasping.

Emphasis in Practice

Classical Yoga Philosophy: Separate changing mind/body from the eternal observer; cultivate connection to the unchanging Self.

Zen / Buddhism: Moment-to-moment noticing; insight arises from observing impermanence directly, without assuming a fixed witness.

I hope you enjoy thinking about both perspectives and find something meaningful in either or both.

Metta