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Showing posts with label anicca. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anicca. Show all posts

Monday, February 24, 2025

'Killing Me Softly' Roberta Flack killed


Should we blame old age for taking celebrities away?
(Quiet Wisdom) Feeling left behind by age? These 5 Buddhist truths will change everything

Who made most influential music in the US?
The headline should maybe read "Roberta Flack killed softly." If one is DOA (dead on arrival) on a hospital gurney, one has been killed by something. Humans don't just die but are killed: knocked out by microbes, murdered by suicide or negligence, undermined by malnutrition from eating gluten in the guise of old age (that strips away intestinal lining, resulting in grey hair and chronic malnourishment), and deficiencies of vital micronutrients like the 65 or more trace minerals needed for life as Dr. Joel Wallach reveals on Coast to Coast AM and criticalhealthnews.com). Though listed as natural causes, what's natural about dying too soon? Humans are meant to live to 120, and that number seems to be growing in the normal fluctuation of the average human lifespan.

Roberta Flack dead at 88

Roberta Cleopatra Flack, 88, is most famous for her fabulous song "Killing Me Softly." In this case, the killer was His Song. The song is so powerful that Lauryn Hill of the Fugees revived it and slayed a whole new generation with it.


Magic Mountain rollercoaster theme park west of Los Angeles (sixflags.com)
.
Wonder Woman (amusementparkwarehouse.com)
When I was a child, my mother took me to Magic Mountain, and we rode the tram over everyone. Down in the square Roberta Flack was singing this song (or a cover band was covering it). It seized me, a boy who could not possibly understand what the song was even about. But I did understand the feeling if not the entire context. And I could hear the words, and I wanted to run to it, to be mesmerized.


Flack ready to sing again (AP)
I tugged at my mom's hand to stop the tram and take me there. But there was no doing, no choice but to be carried away to the tram's destination even as the song carried me away. All I wanted to see was who was making these magic sounds and how. Music always affected me much more than it seemed to affect others. Finally, the tram came to its conclusion with the song, and I desperately ran back to the square in search of the stage and the singer. But there was no finding where that had been. I asked my mom for help: Who was it? Where is it? Where do singers sing? She didn't know. No one knew. No one else seems to have taken notice that the most beautiful song in the world had just been sung. An angelic ET lands on Earth, and no one takes any special notice. Who knew she had been alive all this time up until today?
  • ABC 7 News, 2/24/25; Dhr. Seven, Seth Auberon, Crystal Q., Wisdom Quarterly

Sunday, November 17, 2024

I'd better sit while in the human world


Even Araka knew that much.
"Meditators, once upon a time there was a teacher named Araka [the Bodhisatta himself], a leader free of passion for sensual pleasures.

"He had hundreds, many hundreds, of students, and he taught them the dhamma (truth) in this way: 'Next to nothing, Brahmins, is the life of human beings -- limited, a trifling, of much stress and suffering.

"'One ought to touch this [truth] like a sage, do what is skillful, follow the pure life. For one who is born there is no freedom from death.

"'Just as a dewdrop on the tip of a blade of grass quickly vanishes with the rising of the sun and does not remain, in the same way, Brahmins, the life of human beings is like a dewdrop -- limited, a trifling, of much stress and suffering.

"'One ought to touch this [truth] like a sage, do what is skillful, follow the pure life. For one who is born there is no freedom from death.

"'Just as when the rain-gods (akasha-devas) send rain in fat drops that plop, leaving a bubble on the water that quickly vanishes and does not remain, in the same way, Brahmins, the life of human beings is like a water bubble -- limited, a trifling, of much stress and suffering.

"'One ought to touch this [truth] like a sage, do what is skillful, follow the pure life. For one who is born there is no freedom from death.

"'Just like a line drawn on water with a stick quickly vanishes and does not remain, in the same way, Brahmins, the life of human beings is like a line drawn on water with a stick -- limited, a trifling, of much stress and suffering.

"'One ought to touch this [truth] like a sage, do what is skillful, follow the pure life. For one who is born there is no freedom from death.

"'Just as a river flowing down from the mountains, going far, swiftly carrying everything with it so that there is not a moment, not a second, not an instant when it stands still, but instead it goes, flows, and rushes, in the same way, Brahmins, the life of human beings is like a river flowing down from the mountains -- limited, a trifling, of much stress and suffering.

"'One ought to touch this [truth] like a sage, do what is skillful, follow the pure life. For one who is born there is no freedom from death.

"'Just as a strongman forming a wad of spit on the tip of his tongue would spit it out with very little effort, in the same way, Brahmins, the life of human beings is like a wad of spit — limited, a trifling, of much stress and suffering.

"'One ought to touch this [truth] like a sage, do what is skillful, follow the pure life. For one who is born there is no freedom from death.

"'Just as a sliver of meat dropped onto an iron skillet that has been heated all day quickly vanishes and does not remain, in the same way, Brahmins, the life of human beings is like a sliver of meat -- limited, a trifling, of much stress and suffering.

"'One ought to touch this [truth] like a sage, do what is skillful, follow the pure life. For one who is born there is no freedom from death.

"'Just as a cow on its way to slaughter is led to the abattoir, with every step of its foot closer to slaughter, closer to death, in the same way, Brahmins, the life of human beings is like a cow being led to slaughter — limited, a trifling, of much stress and suffering.

"'One should touch this [truth] like a sage, do what is skillful, follow the pure life. For one who is born there is no freedom from death.'

Reflection
"Now at that time, meditators, the human lifespan was 60,000 years, with girls marriageable at 500 [figuratively, a big number, not actually 500]. And at that time there were [only] six afflictions in this world:
  1. cold,
  2. heat,
  3. hunger,
  4. thirst,
  5. defecation,
  6. urination.
"Yet, even though people were so long-lived, long-lasting, with so few afflictions, that teacher Araka taught the dhamma to his disciples in this way:

"'Next to nothing, Brahmins, is the life of human beings -- limited, a trifling, of much stress and suffering. One ought to touch this [truth] like a sage, do what is skillful, follow the pure life. For one who is born there is no freedom from death.'

"At present, meditators, one speaking rightly could say, 'Next to nothing is the life of human beings -- limited, a trifling, of much stress and suffering. One should touch this [truth] like a sage, do what is skillful, follow the pure life. For one who is born there is no freedom from death.'

"At present, meditators, one who lives a long time is 100 years old or a little older. Living 100 years, one lives for 300 seasons: 100 seasons of cold, 100 seasons of heat, 100 seasons of rain.

"Living for 300 seasons, one lives for 1,200 months: 400 months of cold, 400 months of heat, 400 months of rain.

"Living for 1,200 months, one lives for 2,400 fortnights [two-week periods]: 800 fortnights of cold, 800 fortnights of heat, 800 fortnights of rain.

"Living for 2,400 fortnights, one lives for 36,000 days: 12,000 days of cold, 12,000 days of heat, 12,000 days of rain.

"Living for 36,000 days, one eats 72,000 meals [or many more]: 24,000 meals in the cold, 24,000 meals in the heat, 24,000 meals in the rain -- counting the taking of mother's milk and any obstacles to eating.

"These are the obstacles to eating: when one does not eat while angered, when one does not eat while suffering or stressed, when one does not eat while sick, when one does not eat on the observance [1] day, when one does not eat while poor.

"Therefore, meditators, I have counted the life of a person living for 100 years: I have counted the lifespan, counted the seasons, counted the years [2], counted the months, counted the fortnights, counted the nights, counted the days, counted the meals, counted the obstacles to eating.

"Whatever a teacher should do -- seeking the welfare of students, out of sympathy for them -- that have I done for you.

"There are the roots of trees; there are places to withdraw [to practice]. Practice the absorptions (jhanas), meditators. Be vigilant (not negligent). Be happy, not full of regret. This is the message."

NOTES
  1. 1. The weekly lunar observance of the Eight Precepts, Uposatha, Fasting Day, when one fasts after noon to intensively listen, read, study, and practice the Dhamma for a whole day and into the night.
  2. The actual counting does not mention years between seasons and months; the number of years is implied in the lifespan.

Friday, October 4, 2024

Enlightenment from seeing impermanence


Sometimes the Buddha signaled he was teaching.
What is "enlightenment"? It is awakening (bodhi) to the Truth and thus being set free. Indeed, the ultimate truth sets one free, making it possible to let go and not cling to all of our attachments. That's good. I want that. How do I get that? If one saw the "true nature of reality" (ti-lakkhana), one would let go of all things and be set free. One need not "try" to let go. That doesn't work. The heart/the mind turns away from all things on seeing the Truth. It lets go, like a feather of plastic bag recoils when dropped into a fire. It does it all on its own. We need only find the Truth the Buddha pointed out.

What is impermanence (anicca), that quality which seeing it for even an instant one might gain a tremendous store of merit (punya, kusala-karma) superior to the greatest generosity and giving? What is impermanence, that quality by which perceiving one might be able to finally let go? What is impermanence?

It's saddening that so many people misunderstand the meaning of this Buddhist term and therefore roll their eyes thinking that the Buddha was not saying anything remarkable to talk about impermanence.

What is NOT impermanence (anicca)? There was a newly built house that, after a time, started to deteriorate (fall apart) and decay (turn to dust), until years later there was no trace of it. That's what the Buddha was talking about just so he could say, "we shouldn't be attached or cling to it"? No, no, no.

We are the Three Fates, the Strange Sisters, and it's time to get enlightened with the Buddha.
.
If this were all the Buddha meant, there would little reason to say it. Yawn. He would be uttering a commonplace, a dull observation, a nearly pointless thing to mention. Yet, in one place he says that seeing "impermanence" for an instant, for the duration of a finger snap, generates more merit and skillful karma than heaping gifts and offerings on everyone as a ruler with everything to give.

This one realization (knowing and seeing) is that heavy, that good, that beneficial. We should all strive to see it for it is of great fruit beyond what we can imagine. He is not talking about the realization that eventually a house will collapse, or this body will give out, or a relationship will go sour.

One would generate that tremendous quantity of merit by insight (vipassana) if one penetrated the real meaning of anicca, which is "radical impermanence," knowing it and seeing it. For this, one has to gain a glimpse of reality. What is "reality"? Aren't houses, bodies, and relationships reality? No, all of these are illusory.

Pa Auk Sayadaw taught Susila and Seven edited.
"Reality" is behind all things and means "ultimate materiality" and "ultimate mentality" -- the mundane stuff (what we call reality) at the level of particles (kalapa) and mind-moments (cittas) -- the elements of physics and consciousness -- which are constantly hurtling toward destruction.
  • So important is this to see and realize that the Buddha made it his final utterance, "All things are hurtling towards destruction; work out your liberation with diligence."
Details (Sayalay Susila+Seven)
Sometimes a very strong jolt or shift can so emotionally jar and mentally shake us down to our foundation that, for a precious moment of clarity, there is an opportunity to understand the Three Marks of All Existence -- that every conditioned thing (which is everything other than nirvana, which is known as the amata or "deathless" and asankhata or the "unconditioned") is impermanent (anicca), disappointing (dukkha), and impersonal (anatta).

Seeing how things are constantly liable to change and go even though we wish for them to stay and remain unchanged, we are disappointed, pained, aggrieved, dissatisfied, and it leaves open the possibility that we see they are not ours, not me or mine, not  under our control, not personal.

But no one's interested in philosophical details (Abhidhamma); we want general stories (suttas)!

Dhammapada verses and parables
1. Impermanence (anicca)
無常品第—Samuel Beal (trans. into archaic British English), Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

How Sakka became a stream-enterer

Reborn in Tavatimsa (Realm of the Thirty-Three)
The first parable in this section of the Dhammapada relates that [the person who is now] Sakka, King of the Devas (aka Śakra, Sakka Devanam Indo, Indra, Magdha of Macala, Saint Michael the Archangel), was once reborn in the womb of a mule that lived in the household of a potter. The mule's task as a beast of burden was to turn the potter's mill.

The mother mule, overjoyed at the prospect of becoming pregnant and finally expecting a baby, kicked up her heels in joy and accidentally broke all the potter's pots.

The potter, angry, took a stick and beat the mule to such a degree that the newly-formed fetus was destroyed. The prospect of offspring was cut off. On this occasion, the Buddha repeated these lines:

“Whatever exists (samskāra, formations) is without endurance.
Hence, we have the term 'flourishing' and 'decaying.'
A human is born then dies.
Oh, what happiness is escape from this cycle
(this miserable condition of ever arising and perishing)!
For the life of humans is but as clay vessels made in a potter's mill;
formed with such care, they are all destined to break apart.”

Sakka [in an emotional and receptive state remembering that former rebirth], hearing these wise words, was able to enter the first path (magga) of Buddhist enlightenment (called "stream entry") and obtain peace.

The king loses his beloved queen-mother

On a certain occasion the Buddha was residing in Savatthi (Śrāvastī). King Pasenadi (the Rāja Prasenajit) had been celebrating the funerary and cremation rites of the queen-mother, aged more than 90 years.

Returning to his royal city, he visited the forest grove where Buddha was staying and respectfully saluted him.

About this the great teacher said (after inquiring as to the reason for the king's visit): “There are four things, O king, which from the first until now have been the causes of constant anxiety and fear to humans:
  1. the fear of old age,
  2. of disease,
  3. of death, and
  4. of loss (the grief that comes as a consequence of death).
Alas, the life of a human is but as the perishing of things we see all around us: Today they flourish, tomorrow they are gone. Just as the waters of the five rivers are ever flowing on incessantly day and night, such is the case with a human. Life is ever ebbing away.” Then the World-Honored one spoke these words:

“As the waters of a river ever hasten on and flow away and, once gone, never return, so is the life of a human. That which is gone knows not any return.”

The Buddha further expounding on this subject resulted in the king and his attendants dismissing their grief and, filled with great joy, they entered the “Paths.”
  • [These are the supramundane Paths and Fruits, the various stages of enlightenment, usually counted as four, but admitting a few more intermediate degrees in the first two stages. They are contrasted in the earlier Path to Freedom (Vimutti-magga) and the later Path of Purification (Visuddhi-magga), with the former making more sense but the two not really differing except in additional details left out of the latter.]
The cowherd fattens his cattle
On a certain occasion, when the Buddha was abiding in the Bamboo Grove near Rajagaha (Rājagriha, modern Rajgir, India, the Royal City Ringed by Seven Hills), he had been teaching in the city and was returning homewards with his followers when he met a man driving a herd of fatted cattle towards the gates of the city.

On this the World-Honored One took up the subject and said the following:

“As a person with staff in hand goes along tending and pasturing cattle, so are old age and death. They also watch over the life that perishes.

"And of all whom they watch over, there is not one of whatever caste or class, male or female, rich or poor, who shall not in the end decay and disappear.

"Every day and night takes from the little space given to each one born. There is the gradual decay of a few years, and all is gone, as the waters of a pool are cut off (or become exhausted).”

The Buddha, having arrived at the grove, washed his feet, and arranged his robes, sat down. On this occasion, Ānanda respectfully asked the Buddha to explain the inspired verses he had just uttered.

The World-Honored One explained that the oxherd they had just seen sent the cattle forth day by day to feed in the pasture order that, when fattened and conditioned, they might be killed one by one.

“Such,” he explained, “is the fate of all that lives; it flourishes for a moment then dies.” On this utterance, more than 200 of his hearers (in the audience) obtained spiritual powers, let go, and became arhats (fully awakened ones).”

I've lost my precious daughter!

On another occasion, the Buddha was residing in Savatthi, in the garden donated by the multi-millionaire (Anāthapindika) when a certain celibate renunciate (brahmachārin or sannyasin), having lost his only daughter, who was 14 or 15 years of age and very beautiful and much beloved, being nearly deprived of reason because of his grief, came to see him

The celibate man had heard news of how wise this Holy One, the Buddha, was. So he came to see him and state the cause of his great unhappiness. On hearing this the teacher took up a sutra (discourse) by saying: "Brahmachārin, there are four things in the world that cannot permanently endure. What are these four?
  1. Thinking we have obtained something and that it will last, we must find that it will actually not continue.
  2. Being rich for a time, we must find that we will be deprived of it and impoverished again.
  3. Being united and in agreement, there will be division and separation.
  4. Being strong and healthy, there will come death."
Then the World-Honored One added these lines:

“What appears permanent will perish;
what is high will be brought low;
where there is agreement, there will come division;
wherever there is birth, there will be death."

On [penetrating the truth of] this, that celibate man awakened [to the first stage of enlightenment], and asking for and receiving the saffron robes of a wandering ascetic (bhikshu), he in no long time became an arhat.

The sexy courtesan wishes to be a nun

Once when the Buddha was residing on Vulture's Peak (Gridhrakūta Hill), near the City of Rājagaha, there was a certain famous courtesan in the city called “Lotus" (Pundarī, Padma, Lien-hwa).

She was most beautiful in form and incomparable in grace. This woman, wearing of her way of life, resolved to join the Buddha and become a female wandering ascetic (bhikshunī). Accordingly, she proceeded towards the place where he was on the peak, having half ascended the hill, she halted awhile at a fountain of water to drink.

While lifting the drink to her hips, she saw her beautiful face reflected in the fountain. She could not help but notice her incomparable beauty, the brightness of her complexion, her glossy hair, her graceful figure. Seeing herself, she changed her mind and said:

"Shall one born so beautiful as I was leave the world to become a recluse? — No! I'd rather have my fill of pleasure and be satisfied."

Making her new resolution — she was ready to turn around and go home.

Meanwhile, the Buddha, perceiving what was happening and knowing that Lotus was ready (possessed the necessary and sufficient causes and conditions) to realize the truth that would set her free, magically transformed himself into a beautiful female, infinitely more attractive and charming than Lotus.

Passing her on the road as they walked in the same direction, Lotus the courtesan was astounded by the beauty of the stranger. So she asked her, “Where do come from, fair lady? Where is your family from? Why are you traveling alone without attendants?”

How did you get so beautiful?
Hearing this, the stranger replied, “I am returning to that great city over there, and although we are unacquainted, let us join company and walk together.”

Accepting the offer, they went on their way until they came to a spot along the road, where they sat down to rest. At length, after a long and charming conversation, the beautiful stranger rested herself on Lotus' knees and fell asleep.

Girl, you've changed, no longer hot like before.
After a time Lotus the courtesan, while gazing at her companion in admiration, was amazed to behold her form entirely changed. She had become as loathsome and repugnant as a corpse. Her face was pallid, her teeth had fallen out, hair had dropped from her head, and insects had begun feeding on her squalid flesh.

Aghast at the sight and frightened, Lotus ran away, heading toward the Buddha exclaiming, “How transient is human beauty!” She hurried back in the direction of the hill, where the Buddha was dwelling, and having arrived, she cast herself at his feet. She related to him all that she had just seen. The Buddha addressed her:

"Lotus, there are four things that will always cause disappointment and sadness.
  1. That someone, however beautiful, must age;
  2. that one, however firmly established in life, must die;
  3. that one bound by the closest ties of a relationship and affection, must nevertheless be separated from those one loves; and
  4. that wealth, heaped up in profusion, must nevertheless scatter and be lost.”
Then the World-Honored One added:

“Old age brings with it loss of bodily attraction;
through decay and disease a person perishes;
with body bent and flesh withered,
this is the end of life.

What use is this body when it lies rotting
beside the flowing river Ganges?
It is but the prison-house of disease
and of the pains of old age and death.

To delight in sensual pleasures,
greedy and self-indulgent,
is but to increase the load of unskillful karma,
forgetting the great change that must come:

The inconstancy of human life.
With no son to depend upon,
without father or brother,
Death presses at the door — 

without a friend (or relation)
to look toward for aid.”

The courtesan hearing these words was able to see that life dwindles like a flower, that there is nothing permanent but nirvāna [the deathless, unconditioned element beyond all things]. So she requested permission to become a female wandering ascetic. It was readily granted, and she donned the saffron robes and soon became an arhat.

And all the rest [devas and humans] who heard the words of the Buddha were filled with inexpressible joy.

Four yogis vow to seek and destroy the Demon of Impermanence

In days of old when the Buddha was dwelling in the Bamboo Grove near Rājagaha, teaching the Dharma, there was a certain celibate renunciate (brahmachārin) and his three brothers who had obtained some spiritual perception. They thereby knew that after seven days they would die.

Realizing this they said, "By our spiritual power we can overturn heaven and earth, touch the sun and moon, move mountains, and stop the flowing torrent; yet, for all that, we cannot stop death.”

Then one said, “I will seek out in the depths of the ocean this Demon of Impermanence and destroy him!”

Another said, “I will tear Mt. Sumeru in half and enter it to seek out this Demon of Impermanence to destroy him.”

Another said, “I will mount [a flying transport] into remotest space to seek the Demon of Impermanence and destroy him!”

Another said, “I will enter the bowels of this earth [enter the hollow realm of Agartha] to seek and destroy him!”

The king of the land, having heard of these men, went to the Buddha to inquire with respect to this.

The World-Honored One explained that there are four things which, while we are in the world, cannot be escaped:
  1. It is impossible to avoid rebirth in some form or other;
  2. Having been reborn, it is impossible to escape aging;
  3. When old, it is impossible to escape infirmity and disease;
  4. Under these circumstances, it is impossible to escape death.
Then he added these verses:

“Neither in space, nor in the depths of ocean,
nor in the hidden caverns of the mountain,
nor in any other place can death be escaped.
It is by knowing this and reflecting upon it
that a wandering ascetic (Buddhist monastic)
is able to overthrow all of Māra's Army
and obtain liberation from rebirth and death.”

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Sutra: Life is illusory, all foam and bubbles

Behold, as I disappear and vanish! Is it magic or an illusion! Ouch!!! What the h? (TikTok)
 
This Dharma is to be verified.
What is "life"? It's not what is seen going on out there. It is what is seen going on and the one who wonders what it is out there, in here. Who or what is watching is more important than the stimuli seen.

Behold, a bubble, foam on a great river, a magic trick, empty, not at all what it seems -- misleading (appearing permanent when it's only change hurtling toward destruction, promising satisfying pleasure and fulfillment when all that arises is disappointment).

Foam on sacred river Ganges (pinterest.com)
It seems so real, so personal when it's all impersonal and devoid of self, bringing about a world of hurt and pain. Better to awaken from the dream than to keep spinning and spiraling in the continued wandering on that is samsara. What is awake? Bodhi (enlightenment). What is it be to be free? Nirvana.

SUTRA: "Discourse on Bubbles and Foam"
泡沫—Bhikkhu Anālayo (trans.), Saṁyuktāgama 201-300, "Discourse on Bubbles and Foam" (SA 265), suttacentral.net); edited and expanded by Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly

Thus have I heard. At one time the Blessed One was staying in Ayojjhā, on the banks of the river Ganges.

At that time the Buddha said: “Meditators, it is just as if a mass of foam were to drift on a great wave that has arisen on the river Ganges and a clear-sighted person were to carefully examine and analyze it.


“At the time of carefully examining and analyzing, one finds that there is nothing to it, nothing stable, nothing substantial, nothing solid. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial to a mass of foam.

Life, formless, gains form that comes to naught.
“In the same way, on carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing form [this body, materiality, the four great elements] of the past, present, or future, internal or external, gross or subtle, sublime or repugnant, far or near, a meditator finds that there is nothing to it, nothing stable, nothing substantial, it has no solidity.

“It is like a disease, like a carbuncle, like a thorn, like a killer. It is impermanent, disappointing (dukkha), empty (sunnata), and not-self. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in bodily form.

Brownian motion inside cell, a bubble with tinier bubbles in it, like atoms full of kalapas
Carbuncles are by definition a painful impurity of the body, a dangerous blemish (fity.club)
.
The formless taking form fascinates for a while.
“Meditators, it is just as when during a great rain there are bubbles on the surface of water, arising and ceasing one after another, and a clear-sighted person carefully examines, attends to, and analyzes them. At the time of carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing them, one finds that there is nothing in them, nothing stable, nothing substantial, they have no solidity. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in water bubbles.

“In the same way, a meditator carefully examines, attends to, and analyzes whatever feeling, past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, sublime or repugnant, far or near. When carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing it, the meditator finds that there is nothing in it, nothing stable, nothing substantial, it has no solidity; it is like a disease, like a carbuncle, like a thorn, like a killer, it is impermanent, disappointing, empty, and not self. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in feeling.

A mirage exists but is not what it seems.
“Meditators, it is just as when towards the end of spring or the beginning of summer, in the middle of the day when the sun is strong and there are no clouds and no rain, a shimmering mirage appears, and a clear-sighted person carefully examines, attends to, and analyzes it. At the time of carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing it, one finds that there is nothing in it, nothing stable, nothing substantial, it has no solidity. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in a mirage.

“In the same way, a meditator carefully examines, attends to, and analyzes whatever perception, past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, sublime or repugnant, far or near. When carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing it, the meditator finds that there is nothing in it, nothing stable, nothing substantial, it has no solidity; it is like a disease, like a carbuncle, like a thorn, like a killer, it is impermanent, disappointing, empty, and not self. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in perception.

Like an onion, there's no core in a plantain trunk
“Meditators, it is just as if a clear-sighted person in need of heartwood takes hold of a sharp axe and enters a mountain forest, where one sees a large plantain tree that is thick, straight, and tall. One cuts it down at the root, chops off the treetop, and gradually takes off sheath after sheath, all of which are without a solid core. And one carefully examines, attends to, and analyzes them. At the time of carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing them, one finds that there is nothing in them, nothing stable, nothing substantial, they have no solidity. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in a plantain tree.

Heartwood is the pith, the core, the essence.
“In the same way, a meditator carefully examines, attends to, and analyzes whatever formations, past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, sublime or repugnant, far or near. When carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing formations, the meditator finds that there is nothing in them, nothing stable, nothing substantial, they have no solidity; they are like a disease, like a carbuncle, like a thorn, like a killer, they are impermanent, disappointing, empty, and not self. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in formations.

Behold, nothing! It was all just an illusion.
“Meditators, it is just as if a master magician or the disciple of a master magician at a crossroads creates the magical illusion of an elephant troop, a horse troop, a chariot troop, and an infantry troop, and a clear-sighted person carefully examines, attends to, and analyzes it. At the time of carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing it, one finds that there is nothing in it, nothing stable, nothing substantial, it has no solidity. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in a magical illusion.

The self = Five Aggregates clung to as "self"
“In the same way, a meditator carefully examines, attends to, and analyzes whatever consciousness, past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, sublime or repugnant, far or near. When carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing it, the meditator finds that there is nothing in it, nothing stable, nothing substantial, it has no solidity; it is like a disease, like a carbuncle, like a thorn, like a killer, it is impermanent, disappointing, empty, and not self. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in consciousness.”

Illusion begets misery. Awaken
to unending peace of wisdom.
At that time the Blessed One, to emphasize the significance of what he had just declared to be true, uttered these stanzas:

“Contemplate bodily form as a mass of foam,
Feelings as bubbles on water,
Perceptions as the glare in spring,
Formations as sheaths of a plantain,
And the nature of any consciousness like a magical illusion,
As the Kinsman of the Sun [the Scythian of the solar race] has explained.

“Carefully attending to it from all sides
With right mindfulness, examining it well,
It is found to be insubstantial and without solidity,
There is no self nor anything that belongs to a self
In this bodily aggregate, which is disappointing.

“The Great Wise One has analyzed and explained that,
Bereft of three things,
The body will be abandoned:
Vitality, heat, and consciousness of every kind,
Bereft of these, the remaining form falls apart
And is forever abandoned in a tomb,
A discarded log, without conscious perceptions.

“This body is always in this way
Illusory and deceptive, enticing foolish beings.
It is like a killer, a poison-tip thorn,
Being without solidity.

“For a meditator who energetically cultivates
Contemplation of this body, this aggregate of form,
Day and night constantly engaging it
With right view, with mindfulness well established,
Conditioned formations will cease
And one attains the deathless, the cool peace.”

Then the monastics, hearing what the Buddha had said, rejoiced and approved of what he had said.
  • 泡沫—Bhikkhu Anālayo (trans.), Saṁyuktāgama 201-300, "Discourse on Bubbles and Foam" (SA 265), from the Connected or Linked Discourses (Samyutta Nikaya) 201-300, preserved in the Agamassuttacentral.net)
  • What are the Āgamas in Buddhism?