Speaker: Tina Toriello. Authentic engagement with the Dharma begins with directly acknowledging impermanence, renouncing attachment to it and seeking refuge from it. When we use distraction and denial to avoid confronting the reality of old age, sickness and death, we are shocked when it touches us directly. Resisting the truth of impermanence and clinging to our attachments and addictions only give rise to suffering; recognizing and accepting impermanence is the ground for renunciation and refuge.