| Should any one say
that he does not wish to lead the holy life under the Blessed One unless the Blessed One
first tells him whether the world is eternal or temporal, finite or infinite; whether the
life principle is identical with the body, or something different; whether the Perfect One
continues after death, etc., such a one would die before the Perfect One could tell him
all this.
It is as if a man were pierced by a poisonous arrow, and his friends, companions, or
relatives called in a surgeon, but instead the man insists, “I will not have this
arrow pulled out until I know who the man is that has wounded me; whether he is a noble, a
prince, a citizen, or a servant; or whether he is tall or short or of medium height.”
Verily, such a man would die, before he could adequately learn all this.
– The Buddha
|
|
With mind far off, not
thinking of death’s coming,
performing these meaningless activities,
returning empty-handed [to the after-death state] now would be complete
confusion;
the need is recognition, holy dharma,
so why not practice dharma at this very moment?
From the mouths of siddhas come these words:
If you do not keep your guru’s teaching in your heart
Will you not become your own deceiver?
— The
Tibetan Book of the Dead
|
