Eternal Change

Abstract close-up of beige shells with spiral patterns. Shiny, pearly texture. Quiet, natural atmosphere.

To live is to change, as nature constantly shows us. Change is natural and can lead to incredible transformations, like the caterpillar becoming a butterfly. We ourselves are nature and therefore we too are constantly changing. We notice it in our health or in our aging, and we notice it in our changing interests or in the softening of our opinions. That's the way it should be, because that's maturation. And apart from the fact that maturation means the passing of the years, it also means getting to know the earth and our humanity better and feeling more at home in it.

But for many this is not so obvious because feeling at home in your humanity on earth feels counterintuitive to moving closer to the finality of that same life. After all, spring is destined to end in winter. But do not fear your attachment to life, or the pain of detachment that the end may bring, for life gives you plenty of time to let go if you are willing. For it would be a pity if the apple did not dare to ripen for fear of falling from the tree.

Green plant with a winding sprout in the foreground. Dark, blurry background. Fresh, natural look.

Change is natural and cannot be stopped. Change is made especially for you to help you not to become attached to your temporary human identity, but to feel more deeply that which remains ever present in the midst of all change. How grateful you would be for death if you could experience that it only helps you to get in touch with the true meaning and depth of life and to reconnect with the essence that is present in it.

If death did not exist, people would be even more attached to their identity and therefore even less open to their soul or the spiritual value of life and its source. Continuous change is a blessing. Continuous change is a form of grace. Continuous change is like the breath that allows you to experience this wisdom hundreds of times a day, because only by letting go of the breath each time can you can breathe again, can you participate again, can you be renewed and remain alive.

In a world where everything is continuously changing, it is hard to resist all this change, and yet many people do. They are not so much consciously resisting change as they are clinging to what they know, what they believe, what they think they are, or what they are used to. If the apple were to cling to its belief that it is a flower, it would never become the fruit called an apple. If we were to pin the sun to its yellow color, it could never set red.

In close-up a rolled up green fern against a soft, blurry green background. Sunlight emphasizes the fine hairs on the fern.

Everything is constantly changing, but people seek security in what is known. This is an impossible and therefore exhausting situation that only creates more superficiality and the anxiety that goes with it. When people experience the pain of this hopelessness, they are signaling that it is time for change, that it is time to wake up from the habits of resisting change, and clinging to and maintaining the familiar.

However, this is not to say that people are willing to allow change to happen. On the contrary, most people want to determine and direct those changes. They want to become or remain the masters of change and determine how and where they want to change. The only thing that does not change is their desire to remain in control. Whereas before they wanted to hold on to the known, now they want to hold on to the hilt. But the hilt ís the known.

Real change goes beyond the willingness to feel yourself in the hope that changes will begin to occur that will bring you in touch with your essence. Wanting to change is an act of the ego, which wants to determine for itself how everything should change toward its preconceived goal. True, spiritual change is a change that goes beyond yourself and helps you to let go of your identifications, so that you can discover, from openness, the essential ground beneath all attachments.

Close-up van een levendige groene varenblad dat zich ontvouwt, met zijn delicate, krullende bladeren. De wazige achtergrond is zachtgroen, wat de ingewikkelde details van de textuur en vorm van de varen benadrukt.

That is why it is very difficult, even impossible, to consciously change yourself. No matter how many attempts you have made and no matter what has changed in form, one important thing has not changed through all the attempts, and that is that the ego, what you identify with, what you think of as yourself, is still completely in charge, the authority, the pivot.

If there is one thing that should be allowed to change, it is that for once you give life itself, by experiencing it, the space for changes to become true within you. Consciously trying to do things differently, to work on yourself, to change yourself, are impossible tasks because the ego, not life itself, is still the architect.

Only one major change is needed and that is for you to get so deeply in touch with life and its essence that through that relationship and encounter so much energy and love is released within you that the way it touches you will create the changes. It doesn't happen when you stand next to it and say "well then do it" because then the "I" is outside of it and the way you feel touched is not able to come into contact with the aspect that is holding back real change.

Close-up of young fern leaves that unfold and show complicated spiral shapes. The bright green leaves stand out against a blurry green background and give a feeling of natural growth and vitality.

But when you open yourself completely, without holding on, to the meetings you have with the living reality that you are together with life, you will naturally become sensitive and attuned to the peace of your presence, because that is the only power that remains. This sensitive presence gives you the inner peace and the loving, alert energy that helps you to better understand, from your essence, what is touching you and what it is asking of you.

These touches create insights that pierce through your illusions, awaken you in areas that are still dormant, and give you the energy you need to adequately engage with reality. The resulting life energy and the love you experience will then change you, but not in the direction you wished or imagined, but away from your illusions and identifications and toward the true and harmonious. You may no longer know your familiar path, but that is not so important, for when insight and love have been allowed to change you, you live in more peace, compassion and harmony than you ever imagined.

Close-up of a curled fern blade, known as a fiddlehead, with vibrant green leaves unfolding. The leaves are blurry with delicate fine hairs and the background is softly faded, emphasizing the texture and spiral shape of the plant.

Please know that I am writing this as a friend who is involved in your difficulties with all the pain as well as the blessings that life has laid out for you. Therefore, as a friend, I invite you to feel the distinction between -wanting to change- as your ego keeps trying to do, and naturally -allowing yourself to change- as a result of understanding and loving life from your relationship with the Essence within you.

By living so directly in touch with the Essence within you, you are living on the banks of the river of love, being warmed by the sun of insight, and allowing those touches to guide you to what is real, what is fitting, and what is true. The greatest change, however, is that you no longer are or need to be an architect, and your ego is allowed to rest in the harmony of your being.

* Translated from Dutch using DeepL (AI)

Book cover 'Bezieling door Inzicht - 200 levensthema's voor innerlijke groei' by Anandajay

Translation of the text: Bezieling door Inzicht - 200 levensthema's voor innerlijke groei, thema: 133. Het eeuwige veranderen. (Only available in Dutch.)

Anandajay dressed in white, sitting on a reed braided chair with white pillow

Anandajay (which means “blessing from the heart”) has been dedicated to integrating the spiritual essence into daily life for over 50 years. He has developed twelve teachings (spiritual practices), 50 music albums (mantras, pujas and ragas) and twenty books (written in Dutch) to bring you closer to the natural basis of your existence, your spiritual authenticity, and its wholesome, joyful essence, so that it can also be your shining, spiritual guide in your life. He expresses the core value of his work as: The Light of Being.