Differences Between Ordinary People from the Learned Noble Disciples (Part 2/3)

 

Majjhima Nikāya, Volume 3:

“Ordinary people [They] do not honor the noble ones, do not know the Dharma of the noble ones, and are not guided by the Dharma of the noble ones; [they] do not honor true persons, do not know the Dharma of true persons, and are not guided by the Dharma of true persons. Bhikkhus! The learned noble disciples honor the noble ones, know the Dharma of the noble ones, and are guided by the Dharma of the noble ones. [They] honor true persons, know the Dharma of true persons, and are guided by the Dharma of true persons. They heard the correct Dharma and understood its meaning see clearly: ‘My body, feelings, thoughts, actions, and consciousness―I am none of these, nor do they belong to me.’

“Thus, they do not become anxious or troubled over illusory things. Why? Because all these things change—happy today, sad tomorrow; the body ages, and thoughts transform. How could things that change possibly be the eternal ‘I’?

“You don’t grieve when fallen leaves in a park are swept away because you know they aren’t yours. Similarly, if you understand that the five aggregates (form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness) don’t belong to you, you won’t become anxious, sad, or angry over the changes they may undergo.”

A bhikkhu asked, “World-Honored One! Do people really become troubled over things that don’t exist?”

The Buddha answered, “Certainly! For example, someone might think, ‘Alas, that should have been mine, but now it’s gone! What a pity!’ So they grieve and weep, beating their chests and stomping their feet. This is suffering over external nonexistent things.

“Wise people don’t cling to these external possessions. Thus, even when they lose them, they feel neither worried nor distressed.

“Likewise, some people cling to the notion that they will exist eternally after they die. When they hear the Buddha’s teaching that all views must be cut off, they become afraid, saying to themselves, ‘It’s over! I will be completely annihilated!’ So, they suffer immensely. This is suffering over the internal non-existent I.

“But those who truly comprehend non-self feel no fear upon hearing the Dharma of liberation. Instead, they rejoice.”

The Buddha pressed further, “Have you ever seen anything in this world that is permanent, unchanging, and eternally existing?”

The bhikkhus answered, “No, World-Honored One.”

The Buddha said, “Neither have I because all phenomena are impermanent and subject to change. One should not cling to the idea that ‘this is I, this belongs to me, or this is my true self.’”

The Buddha taught, “One should treat all form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness—past, present, and future and whether internal or external, gross or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near—with the correct wisdom: ‘These are not I, they do not belong to me, and they are not my true self.’ When noble disciples do this in accordance with reality, they become disenchanted with the five aggregates and abandon desire and attain liberation. Once they are liberated, the wisdom of liberation arises in them: ‘The practitioner has completely severed the affliction of ignorance, will no longer take rebirth in the cycle of birth and death, and has attained the pure liberated state of nirvana.’” 

#Buddha #Dharma #suffeing #transmigration #samsara #karma #Buddhistwisdom