Buddha sends a postcard home #4 of 7
Dear Gopa,
I hope everyone is happy and well. Do you meditate in the garden? If you do, it will help you be aware all phenomena are impermanent, interconnected and mutually dependent. But what about yourself? It would be a mistake to think you are permanent, separate and self-contained.
You are already aware people are impermanent because you have sat with villagers as they die. I am sure you are also aware that you depend on many things - your parents, the food and drink that is prepared for you, the love and care of the people around you. Without these you would not survive. Each unique and wonderful flower does not have a separate self and nor do you.
If you widen your horizon and see the country around the palace with its mountains, rivers, forests, orchards, animals and people, you will understand you are part of an ever-changing flux in an interconnected whole.
The deluded notion that we are each a separate self brings the mental disturbance of greed, hatred and fear. Then we act as though we were the most important person in the universe. Becoming aware with meditation and contemplation of how we really exist means that we can start to live in tranquillity, showing kindness and generosity to all other beings in our world.
Yours with a joyful mind,
Siddhartha
Peter Limbrick, September 2025
See: A Still Forest Pool: The Insight Meditation of Achaan Chah
