Impermanence, anicca in Pali, is the underlying fact of reality upon which the Buddha based his teachings of liberation. Things change. Accepting change and being willing to let go of what was is often seen as a great challenge. But there is a more inspirational aspect of change that the Buddha also taught: Human beings can wake up from their ignorance to see things in a new way. This can happen not only individually, but also culturally. Entrenched conventional ignorance can undergo a paradigm shift and transform into a new, clearer way of understanding. Change based in greater wisdom and compassion can sometimes seem to move at a glacial pace. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "The arc of the moral universe …