Bodhicharyavatara Chapter 8, Stanzas 5-8

Ringu Tulku Rinpoche
Teachings on Bodhicharyavatara
Chapter 8: Meditation
Session 6
Stanzas 5-8

Here we contemplate impermanence and attachment. We are all impermanent, we have no idea when life will end, either our own or that of those we are close to, and yet we attach ourselves to each other as if we will never be separated, we fully invest in a temporary situation, without contemplating the possibility of change, we try to control it, to hold on to what we have or believe in, and this brings suffering.

In fact, the pain we experience at separation, will mirror the intensity of our attachment if we don’t understand the truth of impermanence and the nature of phenomena.

Even if I have some sense of renunciation of samsara, this will be destroyed if I become too attached. In fact, by becoming too attached, we can bring ourselves to a point where we lose our dharma practice, and life will become meaningless.

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