Dukkha is a a core concept in Buddhism referring to unsatisfactoriness, stress, or suffering, which is an inherent aspect of life and the subject of the First Noble Truth. It is human to want more than what you have, or to want what you have now to last longer than it will.
I have spent much of the past month lamenting the passing of summer, the arrival of fall, and the end of my season for paddling and using my travel trailer. I have also been trying to adopt the Japanese concept of Wabi Sabi as my main philosophical outlook. It teaches me:
- Nothing is perfect.
- Nothing is finished.
- Nothing lasts.
It is important to find joy in the imperfect moment that you are in, because there will never be another like it. Both life and the world around us flow like a river, and you can never enter a river in the same place twice. This is simply the nature of things. It is how I found myself crunching across a dry field contemplating a specific concept known as viparinama-dukkha, the suffering of change, which arises from the impermance of things. And seasons.
No. 4, Alberta, 2025-10-11
Areas No. 4, Alberta, 2025-10-11
It took some effort, but I was able to center myself on the warm breeze, the pleasing crackle of dried crops giving away under my feet, the buzz of the odd surviving insect, and the golden glow of those fall leaves not yet stolen by the wind. It helped.
The challenge for this winter is to dive into the stream as often as I can, realizing it is a gift I should not let pass me by. Rather than lamenting a season that has departed, I should treasure what I have in the moment with what is available to me and not get caught up in the trap of wanting the next thing.
It’s not easy. Lifelong habits are hard to break.
More images from my Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra phone. I may use a “real” camera again some day or I may not. Who knows?