Everything is impermanent by nature. There's no choice - nothing lasts. What is the definition of impermanence? Any phenomenon - any item, object, thought, place, person, situation, whatever - that is dependent on other causes or phenomena for its existence, is impermanent.
People who are attached to praise, and whose happiness arises from praise, will find that their happiness is fleeting. This is because praise is dependent on many, many things. It is dependent on our actions and on the stability of our actions. It is dependant on getting the praise and having the people around to praise you.
When you don't get praised, you become unhappy. So praise is impermanent. It is not lasting. If we depend on deriving happiness from being praised, we will definitely experience unhappiness again and again and again and again.
It is the same if our happiness is dependent on achieving wealth and only wanting wealth. Wealth and the process of achieving it take up a lot of time. It takes away our youth, our time from our family; it takes away time from everything. On your way to gaining wealth, you have to make lots of sacrifices such as health and mental peace. We might even follow a wrong path in order to make money - carry out negative actions or do things that break the law.
And then when we actually become rich, we find that money is an unstable thing and we can lose it anytime. Achieving it requires so many causes, and the causes themselves are impermanent. Therefore, if we base our happiness on wealth , achieving it and the process of achieving it, we will definitely suffer badly.
Tsem Tulku Rinpoche
http://kechara.com
Fulfilling his previous lives' prayers. His Eminence Tsem Tulku Rinpoche chose to take rebirth amongst difficult circumstances to be close to those who would need him most.
Recognised by H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the 72nd Abbot of Gaden Shartse, Gedun Nyedrak, His Eminence's spiritual lineage actually begins as one of the eight main disciples of Je Tsongkhapa, the founding saint of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Kechara House Buddhist Association Malaysia, affectionately known as Kechara House or KH, is a Buddhist Centre founded in 2000 by His Eminence Tsem Tulku Rinpoche of Gaden Shartse Monastery to avail the ancient wisdom of Buddha's teachings to practitioners in Malaysia and the surrounding regions. Buddha's wisdom has timeless and universal relevance, and can be practised by anyone in any culture, regardless of nationality, gender or age.
