..續本文上一頁l. Whatever it is, it”s inconstant. It”s not for sure. It”s not truthful in any way. It”s like touching a red-hot piece of iron. You don”t know where you can touch it because it”s hot all over. So you just stop touching it. "This is inconstant. That”s inconstant." Nothing at all is for sure.

　　Even our thoughts are inconstant. Why are they inconstant

　　 They”re not-self. They”re not ours. They have to be the way they are. They”re unstable and inconstant. Boil everything down to that. Whatever you like isn”t for sure. No matter how much you like it, it isn”t for sure. Whatever the preoccupation, no matter how much you like it, you have to tell yourself, "This isn”t for sure. This is unstable and inconstant." And keep on watching....

　　Like this glass: It”s really pretty. You want to put it away so that it doesn”t break. But it”s not for sure. One day you put it right next to yourself and then, when you reach for something, you hit it by mistake. It falls to the floor and breaks. It”s not for sure. If it doesn”t break today, it”ll break tomorrow. If it doesn”t break tomorrow, it”ll break the next day — for it”s breakable. We”re taught not to place our trust in things like this, because they”re inconstant.

　　Things that are inconstant: The Buddha taught that they”re the truth. Think about it. If you see that there”s no truth to things, that”s the truth. That”s constant. For sure. When there”s birth, there has to be aging, illness, and death. That”s something constant and for sure.

　　What”s constant comes from things that aren”t constant. We say that things are inconstant and not for sure — and that turns everything around: That”s what”s constant and for sure. It doesn”t change. How is it constant

　　 It”s constant in that that”s the way things keep on being. Even if you try to get in the way, you don”t have an effect. Things just keep on being that way. They arise and then they disband, disband and then arise. That”s the way it is with inconstancy. That”s how it becomes the truth. The Buddha and his noble disciples awakened because of inconstant things.

　　When you see inconstancy, the result is nibbida: disenchantment. Disenchantment isn”t disgust, you know. If you feel disgust, that”s wrong, the wrong kind of disenchantment. Disenchantment isn”t like our normal disgust. For example, if you live with your wife and children to the point where you get sick and tired of them, that”s not disenchantment. It”s actually a big defilement; it squeezes your heart. If you run away from things like that, it”s being sick and tired because of defilement. That”s not nibbida. It”s actually a heavy defilement, but we think it”s disenchantment.

　　Suppose that you”re kind to people. Whatever you have, you want to give to them. You sympathize with them, you see that they”re pretty and lovely and good to you. Your defilements are now coming around from the other side. Watch out! That”s not kindness through the Dhamma; it”s selfish kindness. You want something out of them, which is why you”re kind to them.

　　It”s the same with disenchantment. "I”m sick and tired of this. I”m not going to stay any longer. I”m fed up." That”s not right at all. It”s a big defilement. It”s disenchantment only in name.

　　The Buddha”s disenchantment is something else: leaving things alone, putting them down. You don”t kill them, you don”t beat them, you don”t punish them, you”re not nice to them. You just put them down. Everything. The same with everything. That”s how it has to be. Only then can you say that your mind has let go, that it”s empty: empty of clinging, empty of attachment.

　　Emptiness doesn”t mean nobody exists. Or like this glass: It”s not the case that it has to not exist for us to say that it”s empty. This thermos exists; people exist; everything exists, but those who know fe…

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