Sunday, December 21, 2025

Finding the Unchanging Self in a World of Change


1. Change as the Basic Condition of Human Life

From the moment a human being becomes aware of life, the most powerful reality they encounter is change. Human existence unfolds within a continuous cycle of birth, growth, decline, and death. We grow older, and so do those around us. Some people leave this world, while new life enters it. Change, therefore, is not an exception to life; it is life’s normal and inevitable condition.

2. A World That Never Stands Still

This constant movement is not limited to individual lives. Societies also change. Ideas once accepted without question are later challenged. Knowledge that once appeared complete is shown to be partial. Values, beliefs, and cultures evolve over time. History moves forward beyond human control, and human beings move within it rather than directing it.

3. The Illusion of Control

Life often feels like sitting in a small boat carried by a strong current. At times, we can row and influence our immediate direction, but we cannot control the river itself. In the same way, human beings can make choices and take decisions, yet the larger movement of life frequently remains beyond their command.

4. The Question That Arises from Uncertainty

Living amid such uncertainty naturally gives rise to a fundamental question: Is there anything that does not change? This is not merely a philosophical question. It emerges from a deep human need for stability. In a world that is constantly shifting, people instinctively seek something firm on which they can stand.

5. Searching for Stability Outside Ourselves

At first, this stability is sought outside the self. To a child, parents appear permanent and unchanging. Later, people place their trust in teachers, spiritual leaders, respected figures, or powerful ideas. Over time, however, it becomes clear that all these too are subject to change. When this realization deepens, the search often moves beyond the visible world, leading to the idea of an eternal, unchanging creator who exists beyond time and history.

6. The Turning Point: Looking Inward

Yet the most decisive turn in this search does not lie outside but within. When a person turns inward, a remarkable truth becomes visible: while the body and mind are in constant change, there is an inner awareness that observes these changes. Emotions rise and fall. Thoughts appear and disappear. Opinions, beliefs, and knowledge evolve. Still, the awareness that says, “This is happening to me,” remains steady.

7. Self-Awareness as Direct Experience

This self-awareness is not a theory or an inherited belief. It is a directly experienced reality. It cannot be borrowed from tradition or accepted secondhand. It must be discovered personally through reflection, attentiveness, and inner examination. When this awareness is clearly recognized, one’s way of seeing life begins to change.

8. Living Freely Amid Change

Once this inner foundation is found, change no longer appears as a threat. Instead, it is experienced as a natural flow of events. Life continues to move, circumstances continue to shift, but the person is no longer shaken at the core.

9. The Unchanging Foundation Within

Thus, the human journey often begins with a search for something unchanging in the outer world, but it ultimately arrives at an unchanging foundation within. This discovery brings inner stability, calm, and clarity of direction. Even while living in a world shaped by constant change, it enables a person to remain grounded, whole, and unbroken.

No comments: