何喜何笑 命常熾燃 深蔽幽冥 不如求燈 見身如沫 幻化不實 折伏花色 不睹後患 老則色衰 病所侵犯 筋力竭盡 死所侵迫
hé xǐ hé xiào mìng cháng chì rán shēn bì yōu míng bù rú qiú dēng jiàn shēn rú mò huàn huà bù shí zhé fú huā sè bù dǔ hòu huàn lǎo zé sè shuāi bìng suǒ qīn fàn jīn lì jié jìn sǐ suǒ qīn pò
Key Message
The body is like foam — unsubstantial, aging, and dying — and it is the direct contemplation of this impermanence that becomes the irreplaceable first step toward awakening.
▸The Jarāvagga (Chapter on Old Age) confronts the practitioner with the inescapable realities of aging, sickness, and death — three of the four sights that, according to tradition, first set the young Siddhattha Gotama on his quest for liberation.
The Jarāvagga (Chapter on Old Age) confronts the practitioner with the inescapable realities of aging, sickness, and death — three of the four sights that, according to tradition, first set the young Siddhattha Gotama on his quest for liberation. 'What is there to rejoice in, what is there to laugh about? Life is always ablaze — and shrouded in deep darkness, would you not seek a lamp?' The body is like sea foam — insubstantial and dissolving. Physical beauty fades; illness invades; strength is exhausted; death presses ever closer. This confrontation with impermanence (anicca) is not intended to produce despair but to awaken the urgency needed to begin and sustain genuine spiritual practice.