..續本文上一頁pains are still present because the aggregates are still functioning. These things arise in dependence on one another. And it”s the heart that acknowledges and takes responsibility. It knows but doesn”t grasp. You should understand that there are two possible ways in which it can know — either knowing-in-line-with-the-truth or by knowing-and-seizing-hold.
Feelings9 of whatever type or level are present with the aggregates but not in the purified heart. The arahant does not have to bear with the feelings of both aggregate and heart, whereas ”us lot” take up the contract to build the cycle-of-rebirth.10 When this condition of various aggregates tilts and skews, we follow; and when it topples and falls we”re knocked sprawling with it. It”s because of the reliance we put on them. They lead us to tilt and we tilt, to fall over and we fall too. When they lead us to stand in place, we might be able also to hold up to a certain extent but they aren”t willing to stand still. Even if they persist and haven”t yet reached death, we are more upset about dying than they are.
It”s therefore necessary for us to investigate, clearly to see with wisdom, that these things are solely something to abide with. Days... minutes... time steadily consumes everything. If we see the way time and nature eat away, gnaw away at these things, we”ll see that it”s like a dog gnawing away on a meaty bone. There”s no difference at all. It keeps gnawing away, biting and tearing until there”s nothing left to get its teeth into. So, there is the eating away [of the aggregates] in just the same way. They keep disintegrating bit by bit, until they reach their final truth.
Whether we”re sitting, standing, walking, lying down or sleeping soundly, time keeps on eating away, gnawing away. Disintegration, diminishing and decline. The continual gnawing and consuming. So you think that you can oppose and stop this
No, there”s no halting this. It is the [inevitable] course of nature — something of massive proportions. Our assumptions are wrong, and what”s wrong is no match for what”s right and true. Disintegration is quite the correct course; it is following their principle of nature. To resist their essential nature is the heart”s error that must end in suffering.
Start right now with an all-round investigation of these things. When the time comes finally to go, there will then be no trembling because your investigation and understanding are complete and you”ll know that this is the inevitable way of things. There”s just no alternative.
So then, let each thing go its own separate way. Whatever happens, let it occur without trying to resist the truth. Painful feelings burn away at the body and it gradually becomes brittle and ”overdone”. It steadily declines until it breaks apart and disintegrates. However, a heart circled with mindfulness and wisdom won”t be broken, won”t be extinguished and won”t ”hang on”. It is its own self by itself, self-reliant, without needing to depend on anything — and infinitely at ease.
Right here is where we see the importance of investigation, its value for the heart. This is why sages, beginning with the Lord Buddha, teach mindfulness and wisdom as their major point — so that we can take the mind, drag the mind, out of the bonfire and release it from danger.
The Teachings of every Buddha are taught in the same way. This is because the natural principles are the same, and the defilements are always the same. No Buddha will teach differently or perge from this. The practice is always to remove the defilements — whether great or small — from the heart. This follows from the basic principles of Dhamma, which they all teach. If we deviate from these principles, we”ll be the laughing stock of the defilements.
Therefore investigate. No matter ho…
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