Yesterday was the Ides of the March, the anniversary of the violent fall of Julius Ceasar. The Buddhist scripture below came to mind today when thinking about the date.

Caesar, of course, had “gathered” absolute power and “built up” an empire, yet in a single afternoon, that height was brought low. The transition from the zenith of Roman authority to a cold stone floor is a reminder that no amount of worldly accumulation can stall the inevitable cycle of death and decay. It’s a sobering reminder: even the most monumental human achievements are ultimately subject to the same laws of exhaustion and dispersal as the smallest flower.

Indeed, ‘there is nothing you can hold for very long."