Online: The Power of Seeing Impermanence
with Walt Opie
Thursday, November 18th, 2021 | 7:00pm – 9:00pm ET
Not really expecting an answer, an exasperated student once asked the Soto Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki Roshi to please reduce Buddhism to just one phrase. The teacher looked at his student and said, “Everything changes.”
According to the early Buddhist teachings found in the suttas, one of the most liberating insights we can have is a direct perception of impermanence (anicca in Pali). This talk will explore how and why this is such a crucial area for us to attune ourselves to in our practice.
It is said that the very purpose of cultivating mindfulness is to enable us to see the impermanent nature of things–their arising and passing away–directly in our own experience. This leads to the liberating understanding that there really is nothing worth clinging to because everything will inevitably change.
The flip side of that understanding is to value things more than ever precisely because it is all so fleeting by its very nature. So hopefully our practice helps us more deeply appreciate each moment because we realize it is really all there is.
Join meditation teacher Walt Opie for an evening discussion on the powerful and transformative Buddhist teachings on impermanence.
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Teacher(s)
Walk Opie
Walt Opie was introduced to insight meditation in 1993, but didn’t realize its full life-changing potential until sitting his first two residential retreats at Spirit Rock in 2005. He has a strong interest in early Buddhism and serves as a facilitator for online courses based on the work of Bhikkhu Analayo through the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies (BCBS). In addition, he teaches retreats and speaks at insight meditation centers around the country. Walt has also led sitting groups for people in recovery for many years and helps facilitate Buddhist services in a California prison. His most influential teachers include Bhikkhu Analayo, Sayadaw U Tejaniya, Joseph Goldstein, Gil Fronsdal, and Guy Armstrong. He is a graduate of the 2017-2021 IMS Teacher Training Program. Walt received an MFA in Writing from California College of the Arts. His writing appears in the book collection Still, In the City: Creating Peace of Mind in the Midst of Urban Chaos edited by Angela Dews (Skyhorse Publishing, 2018). His website is www.waltopie.com.