Where is the windmill?

Those who would have visited Cape Town's Southern Suburbs might have seen Moster's Windmill, the last working windmill from the colonial era (more than 200 years old). It was destroyed beyond recognition during the 2021 fire. 

It took many years to restore it. A few days back I was passing by and noted that it has been fully restored. What attracted my notice was the year written on it. 1796! Even after getting rebuilt almost 90%, the mill is still the same....from 1796. It reminded me of something I read in a novel by Terry Pratchett. 

"This, milord, is my family's axe. We have owned it for almost nine hundred years, see. Of course, sometimes it needed a new blade. And sometimes it has required a new handle, new designs on the metalwork, a little refreshing of the ornamentation . . . but is this not the nine hundred-year-old axe of my family? And because it has changed gently over time, it is still a pretty good axe, y'know. Pretty good."

By the same logic, the windmill is the same Mosetr's Mill from 1796. And it is still working because it has got a part here and a part there; a small refurbishment here and a major renovation there. Does this not beg the question, "what is Moster's Mill; or, for that matter, what is a windmill?"

As Monk Nagasena asks the Greek sovereign Milinda (in Milinda Panha), "Then, explain sir, what this "chariot" is. Is it the axle? Or the wheels, or the chassis, or reins, or yoke that is the chariot? Is it all of these combined, or is it something apart from them?" Milinda replied, "It is none of these things, venerable sir.". Then they discover, through dialogue, how names and forms are attributes of concepts that we build inside out mind. 

Similarly, Moster's Mill is a concept. It is not the mere summation of some physical parts. Changing a part here or there shall not change the concept. Because the concept is in our minds. Is that not true of humans as well? "Amit" is a concept. Some extra bones here and some less flesh there; some new thoughts here and some loss of biases there does not change the concept of "Amit". Once we see this ever constant nature of a concept amidst ever fleeting nature of physical attributes, it may give rise to fundamental changes in the way we view and interact with people, objects and events of the world.