Impermanence isn’t just about death, it has many refreshing and positive aspects. For example, understanding the philosophy of impermanence is an antidote to afflicting emotions because it dispels ignorance. Since our mind is constantly changing, we can see that anger, arrogance, jealousy, pride, attachment, and so forth are just momentary mental defilement. Application of this knowledge reduces the power of these thoughts and eventually leads us to eliminate them completely. When truly we know that everything passes with time, we won’t need to hold onto resentment and can learn forgiveness. Impermanence teaches us to endure hardships while we’re developing good qualities, because hardship, too, will eventually disappear. Without an awareness of impermanence, we tend to waste our lives thinking that there will be time for Dharma practice later. These are just a few of the great qualities and strengths we can build from reflecting on impermanence.

-- Khenchen Konchok Gyaltsen Rinpoche