To think that death is impermanent is to live in the present.
"Living in the present" means living and practicing according to the four thoughts. The body, mind and law of the past no longer exist, but can only be recalled; The future body, mind and law have not yet arrived, so we can only speculate; We can only observe the present situation of body, mind, mind and law.
There are two kinds of impermanence, one is subtle impermanence, the other is subtle impermanence, which is fleeting. Second, rough and impermanent, easy to detect, continuous destruction. The body is aging and dying all the time, which is the impermanence of the body. The impermanence of the body refers to the death of the body, that is, the end of the first life. Generally speaking, when a person's heartbeat, breathing and brain activity stop irreversibly, it is determined to be physical death. Most people should not object to the impermanence of being in the present, but just think that the impermanence of being in the present, that is, death is a matter of the future and has nothing to do with the present.
In this order, the so-called physical death includes the following three fundamental contents:
One is to decide to die;
Second, the date of death is uncertain;
Third, death and division don't help.
"The impermanence of longing for death" does not mean that the body will die in the distant future, but that a living body is now an impermanent status quo-the date of death is uncertain. Relying on the logic of science and Buddhism, people can't judge whether the present is the midpoint or the end of this life according to their own life. The impermanence of yearning for death means that we can't draw a definite conclusion-whether the present body continues to be a body or becomes a corpse. Therefore, thinking about the impermanence of death is to live in the present, and observing the present situation of the body is impermanence. On the contrary, I believe that the impermanence of death is something that will happen in the future and has nothing to do with the present. This kind of cognition just doesn't live in the present, but in wishful thinking and unfounded speculation about the future.
For example, I once deceived myself like this:
I'm still young and I won't die today. But people younger than themselves die every day on the earth, so this inference is unreasonable; It is unreasonable to infer that you will not die now according to your illness, but there are many examples of sudden death of healthy people. According to the peaceful and comfortable environment I live in now, there are no natural and man-made disasters, so it is speculated that I will not die, but the arrival of natural and man-made disasters is always unexpected, so this inference is unreasonable; According to my years of studying Buddhism, I have accumulated a lot of work to speculate that I will not die now, but my eyes are still killed by outsiders, so this inference is unreasonable; According to his master, he is a very successful man and he is very kind. His old man's house will bless me and I won't die accidentally. However, when the glass king wanted to slaughter Sakyamuni, even Sakyamuni Buddha could only sit on the road of marching and postpone the date of the glass king's slaughter three times, but it could not change the fate of Kapilowei's slaughter.
Life is in the breath.
In Breathing Room, the Buddha used human life to explain that the period of death is uncertain. It is uncertain whether the interval between each breathing transition is the transit point of continuing breathing or the last pause of breathing, so death is impermanent. Buddhism is the middle way. The so-called living in the present is to clearly realize the impermanence of the infinite death of the present body and stay away from the two common opinions. It is common to assume that the current breath will succeed the next breath without foundation, which will lead to blind optimism and worry that you will not know how to practice for the next life and decide to win; Thinking that breathing now must be the end point will lead to blind pessimism, thinking that it is too late to practice anyway, and it is impossible to turn idle people into Taoist priests.
Comparatively speaking, the common harm of the former is more serious: if you think that your body has nothing to do with death at this moment, then you will think that your life will certainly last until the next moment. Because our bodies only live in the present, the past has disappeared, and the future has not yet arrived, so we will live in the illusion that we have nothing to do with death all our lives, and until the last breath, we will decide that we have nothing to do with death. It's self-deception. To say the least, if you think that you have nothing to do with death today, then you will think that your body can live through tomorrow. Because our bodies only live in today, yesterday has disappeared and tomorrow is still in the future, we will live in the illusion that today has nothing to do with death all our lives, and until the end of our lives, we still think that tomorrow will exist.
A collection of methods and sentences says, "It's hard to know which will come first tomorrow or later. Don't plan for tomorrow, but encourage future generations. " It is in exposing this enduring impermanence.
Only by combining the teaching of "living in the present" and "wanting to die is impermanent" can we implement the practice of the four thoughts and stay away from the two views. Not thinking about death "living in the present" is either clinging to the universal fact that there will be no foundation death in the next moment or clinging to the judgment that there will be no foundation death in the next moment. Both of these attitudes regard impermanence as constancy. Only by thinking about death by "living in the present" can we correctly grasp the indefinite impermanence of death, neither blindly optimistic nor blindly pessimistic, truly observe the impermanence of life, cherish leisure time more, and have the determination to rush to Buddhism at present.
When you die, there is nothing but division.
Even if we have an impermanent solution, it is useless not to think about the third content of death-the division of death. It is still impossible to give birth to the heartfelt joy of corporal, sergeant and staff sergeant to abandon this life and practice the law for the benefit of future generations. Thinking about this time tomorrow is the continuation of our present life or the beginning of future generations. We are sure that we can't predict the answer. With such thinking, we have a basis to understand the impermanence of life. Below, we will use eight methods in the world to learn something that is not helpful except the division of death.
If my body has turned into a corpse at this time tomorrow, the health I have been greedy for will disappear with my body. All the evil acts I have done in my life for the love of good health have become debts to future generations, and the good deeds I have done in my life for the love of good health (such as releasing, chanting Buddha, offering sacrifices, keeping precepts, etc.). ) I can't be born because I am stupid enough to know this life and never think about it. Only a good career with the heart of being born can become food for going to the west. At that time, how I would regret not making good use of this precious person who once belonged to me!
Similarly, if my body has turned into a corpse by this time tomorrow, I will hate my physical diseases, all kinds of enjoyment, things outside my body-children, house, savings, poverty, and respected capital-degrees, offices, honors, merits and demerits.
A man of practice will not give up this life unless he can establish a definite solution to the impermanence of his life tomorrow. You haven't seen through it at all in your life, and it's probably hard to be your born this way in this life, so don't be too obsessed with the world. If you can't give up this life, you can't have the idea of practicing the law of life. For us pure scholars, if we look at the three fundamentals, nine causes and three determinations of impermanence of death according to the times, we will naturally have the true meaning of being tired of leaving concubines and wishing for bliss.
The master said, "After receiving this book, you will know how to govern your mind and be diligent and eager to learn.". However, the therapeutic effect has not appeared. What is the reason? Cover it with life and death, but only do this extraordinary, eliminate confusion, achieve net thinking, and do oral work, so it is not effective. " "I have to hang a dead word on my forehead (this word is very good)." (See "Printing Master Paper Money Volume II, Reply to a layman's book in Ningbo") It can be seen that impermanence in outlook on life is the foundation of net achievement.
Text: Tang Hong