The Passenger Train of Change

“What if, I now asked myself, could enter relationships like we enter a [crowded passenger] train? We know that the train will move, then stop, and move again, through changing landscapes and weather systems. What if we enter relationships knowing that the thrill of new romance, or the excitement of a new business partnership, or the initial encounter with a spiritual mentor will not be the same in the future as it is in the beginning? What if we expected the new positive circumstances to change rather than wished they would stay the same? The train makes many stops. We do not try to prolong them, and we do not expect the train to stay in one place. It passes through places . . . and shows us that everything is always in transition. And whether becoming applies to transitions between mental identifications within this lifetime or over many lifetimes, the challenge remains the same: to liberate ourselves by letting go of grasping on to our self-constructed narratives.

Yongey Mingyur
from In Love with the World