There’s a common idea in many spiritual traditions that just because something is temporary, it is therefore unreal — an illusion, a dreamlike appearance, something to transcend or dismiss.
I see it differently.
To me, the temporary nature of things is not what makes them less real. It is precisely what makes them sacred.
A flower that blooms and wilts within a day is not less real because it will soon die — it is precious because it is temporary. Our bodies are real while we are alive, even though one day they will pass away. Our emotions are real while we are feeling them. A sunset is real, even though it lasts only a short time. This moment is real, even though it won’t last forever. The Earth is real, even though one day it will turn into cosmic dust.
If we lived forever, nothing would matter.
It is the very fact that nothing lasts that makes everything precious.
Positive regard toward impermanence wasn’t something I chose in the sense of selecting a comforting belief. It wasn’t a preference. It was the natural outcome of my five realizations. Once I realized the Iself, the Allself, the Godself, the Noself, and finally Amness, the “everything is an illusion” worldview simply collapsed. Impermanence revealed itself as inherently meaningful – a truth I could no longer unsee. And yet it is still a worldview in the sense that every human being relates to impermanence through some lens. My realizations made this particular lens unavoidable for me, but it remains a way of seeing, a stance toward life.
Reality is not defined by permanence. Reality is defined by presence.
The “everything is an illusion” worldview, when taken literally, pulls people out of the present moment. It encourages a subtle dissociation — a hovering above life instead of participating in it. When we label everything unreal, we stop tasting, touching, grieving, celebrating, loving. We stop being here.
And that’s the cost of seeing everything as unreal: it doesn’t just detach us from pain, it detaches us from joy. It categorizes love, happiness, connection, beauty, meaning, and even presence itself as illusions. It trains us to withdraw from life instead of participating in it.
Seeing impermanence as sacred does the opposite.
It brings us into life.
It makes us more present, more appreciative, more awake to the fleeting beauty of each passing moment. It is a life‑affirming stance, not an escape. It honors the world instead of dismissing it. It teaches us to meet each moment with reverence, not detachment.
Because nothing lasts, everything is sacred.
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