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When I was in college back in the 1980s, one of my favorite songs was by David Bowie called “Changes”. Little did I know that this song would help propel me into a deep philosophical quest for spiritual truth and understanding in future years.

Change is not easy to deal with. Change arrives at our doorstep and says “you have to follow me”. We all resist change in some way or another because the inherent nature of the human being is to get used to a pattern of living and develop basic attachments. In fact, one might even conclude that attachment is what really helps us define ourselves and what we are all about. So, to let go of attachments and move on to experiences of higher awareness is not easy - because we have to let go and leave things behind.

Buddhism, which I studied intensely for about ten (10) years, including receiving two empowerments from Tibetan Buddhist Lamas, is one of the greatest religions to really understand change. Buddhism maintains the philosophy of “no-self” or “anatta” in Sanskrit. So, the idea of a permanent being or permanent concept of self in Buddhism is a fallacy. Simply, permanence in Buddhism is an illusion.

So, in my quest for truth, I finally arrived at the great teachings of Vedanta Philosophy from ancient India, which also has alot to say about change. Vedanta asserts that change is like the ocean - on the surface, there is alot of change. But, as you go deep to the bottom of the ocean, there is immense stillness and non-change, or a sense of permanence. This is what happens when you meditate on the Sacred Syllable OM, you are experiencing deeper and deeper levels of being away from the superficial and surface lives that so many people experience.

Change is healthy because like water - movement keeps things “fresh”. When water moves, it does not stagnate and go bad. It remains drinkable. So it is with life. Change keeps us healthy and vibrant - so we should always exercise, read, work, travel, and flow with the changes of the universe in which we live. At the same time, we should take breaks to dive deep into meditation and contemplation to experience the permanent Self that is at the heart of all existence, as the sages of Vedanta have taught us over the millenia. Such is the greatness of the Sacred Syllable OM.

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