Life's Momentum

"As long as the conditions of life are not brought to an end, just so long does life exist and proceed. Therefore, there is no escape in any particular form." ( Khun Sobhana Dhammasudi., from Secrets of the Lotus, Swearer, 1971)p.14)


It's interesting to reflect on the idea that life is compounded, not singular or "a thing in itself". I see at least two implications of this view. The first is that every moment is a little bit uncertain; it's subject to all sorts of arising conditions that are changing and combining in so many different ways. The second implication seems quite opposite, and that is there is "no escape in any particular form" as long as life continues. I think this means that because life is made of intermeshing factors, the whole of life continues to exist and cannot be easily curbed. I think this might be considered a kind of "momentum" of life.
    Because all the elements of life are co-mingling in a structure of mutual support, the continuity of life is preserved. I remember seeing a movie recently, Hologram for the King, where the protagonist ends up in the hospital due to a tumorous growth on his back, and is told that he is not in any terminal condition. The term the doctor uses to describe the protagonist's situation is something like "stubborn human life", or something to the effect that human life has this self-sustaining momentum which allows it to exist continuously over a long time, enduring every kind of hardship. In a sense, it would be a disaster if this were not so, because the human body is subject to all kinds of ailments, environmental conditions and other challenges. None of these things are completely controllable, but at the same time, the body seems to have evolved in ways that it faces these challenges quite effortlessly. Without the ability to adapt to change, life forms would not be able to improve their chances for survival. In this way, life is not as fragile as the idea of impermanence might suggest.
    I have found that many Buddhist teachings stress impermanence, because most people struggle with attachment and are unable to accept the reality of change. However, the opposite is also true: because life is compounded and diverse, there is more chance for resilience and adaptation. I saw a nature documentary recently which illustrates this principle: a frog accidentally stumbled into a spider's nest, where a poisonous mother spider was stalking prey to feed her brood. Rather than kill the frog as one would expect, the spider uses her delicate hairs to discern that this frog is poisonous, and would therefore not be a palatable choice for her or her offspring. Rather than reject the frog or chase it out of its den, however, the mother spider leaves it to roam around, perhaps aware on some level that the frog can help control the population of ants, or other threats to the mother spider's eggs. This spider has clearly evolved the ability to separate threats and benefits, and in this manner it survives and helps the frog to survive as well. This is one example where sentient beings benefit from the ability to adapt new ways of facing diverse elements.
   What I am observing in these examples is that 'impermanence' or aggregated life does not mean that life will fall apart. The compounded nature of existence suggests, to the contrary, that life is better able to regulate itself when it consists of intermingling parts that adapt or change over time.


Swearer, Donald K. ed. (1971). Secrets of the Lotus. New York: Macmillan