09/27/2026
✍️ Aloka the Peace Dog has also learned the lesson of IMPERMANENCE. What about you?
As Venerable Tue Nhan once said:
“We need to learn to accept and understand all the encounters in our lives. One day, every encounter will eventually come to an end. That ending is separation.”
All conditioned phenomena arise through causes and conditions, and through conditions, they also change.
Countless conditions come together for one being to meet another, and one day, the journey they shared becomes a part of each other’s memories.
From walking together to parting ways, this too is a lesson in impermanence.
The story of Aloka and So is meaningful not simply because these two dogs once walked alongside Venerable Tue Nhan, but because even the most beautiful encounters must eventually face separation.
The day they met was a condition.
The days they walked side by side were conditions.
The affection that grew through those days of companionship was also a condition.
And the day they had to say goodbye was another part of that very same chain of conditions.
Separation does not make an encounter incomplete or something to regret.
It is precisely because we have loved that we feel the pain of loss.
The Buddha’s teaching does not ask us to become cold so that we will never suffer. Rather, it teaches us to look directly at the impermanent nature of the things we cherish, so that our love does not become attachment and clinging.
Impermanence is not found only in old age, illness, or death.
It is unfolding in every moment of our lives.
The body changes.
Feelings change.
Thoughts change.
Relationships change.
Those who walk beside us today may one day no longer be there to continue the journey with us.
That is why Venerable Tue Nhan often reminds us to prepare our minds while the people we love are still with us.
When separation truly comes, we may still feel pain, but we may suffer less because we have understood and accepted the nature of impermanence.
Understanding impermanence does not mean loving less. It means learning to love while we still can.
To cherish one another while we still have the chance to meet.
To offer a kind word while the other person can still hear it.
To notice the footsteps walking beside us and understand that they may not remain beside us forever.
Venerable Tue Nhan walked on.
Aloka walked on.
So walked on.
Three different presences, yet for a time, they shared the same stretch of road.
No one knew how long that road would be, nor how their encounter would eventually end.
Until impermanence spoke for itself.
And in that moment, we may realize that the Buddha’s teaching on impermanence is not something found only in the scriptures.
It can be found right there, on a road we once walked.
If we knew that one day we would have to part, how would we treat one another today?
If we knew that the person beside us would one day leave, would we still hold on to anger over the little things?
If we knew that an encounter would not last forever, would we cherish each day we are given to walk together?
And when the day comes to say goodbye, may we still be able to smile through our tears and quietly know:
We were once brought together by conditions.
We were once given the chance to walk together.
We once cared for one another along a small stretch of this life.
And perhaps, that alone was already a beautiful connection.
Aloka and So.
THE FOOTSTEPS OF A BUDDHIST MONK
