How Long Will It Last? - by Kee

Thanks to all of you, BE, Dan, MINH, nitecrew, Pery, Rithirong, and SN, for sharing your thoughts on the poem of the Buddha I posted earlier. There seemed to be a misinterpretation of this four-line saying. It is true that a glass of water sitting on a table can be interpreted in different ways by different observers. Words may also be interpreted in different ways as well. It’s a relative truth.

The poem:
“All composed things are like a dream,
A phantom, a drop of dew, a flash of lightning.
That is how to meditate on them,
That is how to observe them.”

What it is telling us is that nothing lasts in this world. We should keep in mind that all things are impermanent. All things are in constant change, and the rate of change is as fast as a “flash of lightning.” Regardless of who you are, endowed with physical beauty, or mental agility, you will come to a point of great disappointment. Your body now is not the same as it was ten years ago. Ten years from now your beauty will disappear, like “a drop of dew” evaporating into the atmosphere. In due time, your physical form will become a “phantom,” the shadow of death.
It is not a message of hopelessness as our friend Dan said. It is a message of seeing the true nature things.

It is a message of accepting things the way they are. And what is the benefit of seeing the true nature of things? It is fearlessness. We won't fear change. For our friend SN, you are right that we should not meditate on perishable things. That is what the poem is telling you. It is telling you and me to not worry about and grasp things that don’t last. Can we hold on to an ice cube?

When you see a drop of dew, keep in mind that you are not different from it. Eventually, you will disappear. So live life today, not yesterday or tomorrow. Breathe this breath, not the next or the previous one. Be content.

The source of this article

Parinibbana of Lord Buddha

Je ne parle France

English version: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/samyutta/sn06-015.html
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Mara the Evil One said to the Buddha: ‘Lord, may the Blessed Lord now attain final Nibbana, may the Well-Farer now attain final Nibbana. Now is the time for the Blessed Lord’s final Nibbana.’

The Buddha replied: ‘You need not worry, Evil One. The Tathagata’s final passing will not be long delayed. Three months from now, the Tathagata will take final Nibbana.’
Ananda cried knowing that Tathagata was about to pass away. The Buddha then uttered:
“Enough, Ananda, do not weep and wail! Have I not already told you that all things that are pleasant and delightful are changeable, subject to separation and becoming other?”
The Buddha spoke his last words, “Now, monks, I declare to you: all conditioned things are of a nature to decay-strive on untiringly.”

Then the Lord entered the first jhana. And leaving that he entered the second, the third, the fourth jhana. Then leaving the fourth jhana he entered the Sphere of Infinite Space, then the Sphere of Infinite Consciousness, then the Sphere of No-Thingness, then the Sphere of Neither-Perception-Nor-Non-Perception, and leaving that he attained the Cessation of Feeling and Perception.

Then the Venerable Ananda said to the Venerable Anuruddha: ‘Venerable Anuruddha, the Lord has passed away.’ ‘No, friend Ananda, the Lord has not passed away, he has attained the Cessation of Feeling and Perception.’

‘Then the Lord, leaving the attainment of the Cessation of Feeling and Perception, entered the Sphere of Neither-Perception-Nor-Non-Perception, from that he entered the Sphere of No-Thingness, the Sphere of Infinite Consciousness, the Sphere of Infinite Space. From the Sphere of Infinite Space he entered the fourth jhana, from there the third, the second and the first jhana. Leaving the first jhana, he entered the second, the third, the fourth jhana. And, leaving the fourth jhana, the Lord finally passed away.’

Source: The Long Discourses of the Buddha. A Translation of the Digha Nikaya. By Maurice Walshe, 1995. [Photo-Kee (taken from a poster)]

Like A Dream ! - by Kee

“All composed things are like a dream, A phantom, a drop of dew, a flash of lightning. That is how to meditate on them, That is how to observe them.”
--The Buddha

“All composed things are like a dream, A phantom, a drop of dew, a flash of lightning. That is how to meditate on them, That is how to observe them.”
--The Buddha

Source of this Message