Everything in samsara 

exists in a constant state of flux, 

ever-changing, continuously moving. 

In our comfort with the known and our worries over the unknown, we often wish things, even though far from ideal, would just stay the way they are. But life has no pause button. We cannot stop things from changing.

For example, take in a deep breath and hold it. Do not let it out, do not exhale. How do you feel? In a matter of seconds, holding our breath becomes alarmingly uncomfortable. At some point, we need to exhale and take our next breath.

Just as we cannot stop our breathing, there is no stopping change.

Change is as natural as our inhaling and exhaling. It might be helpful here to remind ourselves that Albert Einstein is widely credited with saying “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.”

Also, change can be for the better. We can stop our usual harmful reactions and replace them with good ones. Thus, change can be positive.

You know your cultivation is working when . . . 

you laugh! 

Laughter! Surely, before Buddhism that would not have been your answer.

Imagine the following in your kitchen:

Wanting to add another smidgen of almond milk to a dish, you vigorously shake the bottle. And with that, the lid flies off. You immediately remember that after the last pour you did not cap it properly. The loosely placed cap cannot hold back the excited milk. Liberated at last from its plastic prison, the milk jubilantly makes a run for it! And in the briefest instant of time imaginable, you have almond milk on you, your clothes, the counter, and both upper and lower cabinets. Also, the milk’s mad dash for freedom has landed it on an impressively extensive area of the kitchen floor (washed the day before) and, finally, down the front of the stove across the floor.

Surveying the scene, you do the only logical thing—you laugh. It’s heartening that test moments like these assure us that—yes—those years of cultivation are indeed paying off.