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126 Twelve Facets of Reality from going. He can use all his strength to keep it from moving. If he does, what will happen? He will be split. In the same way, you are split inside. You are clinging to things, to shadows, to transient elements, while life is passing by. You are putting yourself into a box by saying, “No, I want this to stay. It must not move. I want it to be permanent.”
You are focusing on the wrong thing. You are trying to make the impermanent permanent instead of seeing that only the permanent is permanent. You have a fear that it will go away. Even if you deny the fear, how can you stop the change? There is no device in the world with which to stop it. That is the main point.
As soon as you try to stop someone or something from changing, you kill its nature. You block its life force. And when you have destroyed its nature, you no longer like it. Why? Because it is not natural, not spontaneous. The life inside departs, and the form starts to dry up and wither. Just like a corpse, its disintegrating form starts to give off an unbearable odor. And when you don't let someone else's nature flow, whose life stops flowing first? Your own.
So one has to stop jumping from point to point; one has to focus. Focus on what? On the limiting structures in one's inner universe. On one's addictions and their source, fear of change. Ask yourself, “How can I stop my fear, my anxiety? How can I stop expecting people to do as I want? How can I stop desiring to have a promise fulfilled?'
If you are truly aware, you will know that no one can promise you anything. From moment to moment, there are so many changes—in situations, in emotions, in the body chemistry. All one can do is to be open and recep
