By nature, the act of assembly is bound by time—a beginning, a middle, and an end. This book did not exist before, it appears to exist now, and eventually it will fall apart. Similarly, the self that existed yesterday—that is, you—is different from the self that exists today. Your bad mood has become good, you may have learned something, you have new memories, the scrape on your knee has healed a little. Our seemingly continuous existence is a series of beginnings and endings bound by time. Even the very act of creation requires time: a time before existing, a time of coming into existence, and an end to the act of creation.
Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche
from the book What Makes You Not a Buddhist
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Further quotes from the book What Makes You Not a Buddhist:
- Not a buddha yet
- Bound by practicality
- Understanding the nature of enlightenment
- Corrosion begins as soon as creation begins
- What is life?
- Like a child at the cinema
- Fearlessness
- Change is inevitable
- Where will they scatter my ashes
- Being a Buddhist
- Pride and pity
- Eventually we are disappointed
- Our true nature is like a wineglass
- The cup that holds the teachings
- Enlightened beings may seem insane
- Happily ever after
- The habit of self
- Clinging to our hopes and fears
- Today is the death of yesterday
- Appreciating the whole cycle of impermanence