The Ebbs and Flows of Experience (BN - 2009)

Performed at Bodhi Nite 2009 – “Impermanence: it comes, it stays, it goes – what is forever?”

Composer: Edward Gubbay                                                  Lyrics: Tina Ng

It comes, it stays, it gives, it goes
Ebbs and flows of experience

Like the flowers of spring after the fall of autumn
Like the flicking candle against the gentle breeze
Like the morning dew that vanishes into the sky
This too will pass

Just as you can’t step into the same river twice
Nor stop the turning tides of change
Each moment is unique,
And never stays the same.

It comes, it stays, it gives, it goes
What then ex-ists for all of time?

If we live each day as if it’s our last,
If we care for others as if they’ll go now,
If we use things as if there’s no more,
How different would our life be?

We wouldn’t take anyone for granted,
Nor waste a single moment of our life.
We wouldn’t be discouraged by difficulties
For we know

With every hurdle jumped,
that’s another leap forward.
With every mountain climbed,
that’s another peak conquered.
With every river crossed,
that’s another drift closer to the great ocean.

This is the miracle of impermanence.
This is why I can laugh even if today was my very last day.