English
" Thus, assailed by doubt, assailed by perplexity, filled with indecision, they lament, they wail, they grieve, they are weary, they weep, beating their breasts, they fall into confusion – "What shall we be, having passed away from here?" Therefore, the Blessed One said: "Greedy for sensual pleasures, attached, deluded, They are unyielding, settled in wrong views; Afflicted by suffering, they lament, 'What shall we be, having passed away from here?'" 10. Therefore, let a being train here, Whatever one knows to be wrong in the world; For its sake, one should not act wrongly, Short, say the wise, is this life. "Therefore, let a being train here." "Therefore" means for that reason, for that cause, for that condition, for that origin, seeing this danger in sensual pleasures – "therefore." "Should train" means the three trainings – the training in higher virtue, the training in higher mind, the training in higher wisdom. What is the training in higher virtue? Here, a monk is virtuous, he dwells restrained by the restraint of the Pātimokkha, endowed with good conduct and resort, seeing danger in the slightest faults, he undertakes and trains in the training rules. The small collection of virtues, the great collection of virtues, virtue is the foundation, the beginning, the practice, the restraint, the self-control, the liberation, the foremost for the attainment of wholesome states – this is the training in higher virtue. What is the training in higher mind? Here, a monk, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, enters and dwells in the first jhāna, which is accompanied by initial application and sustained application, born of seclusion, filled with rapture and pleasure. With the calming of initial application and sustained application, with internal assurance With the inner assurance of mind, without applied thought, without sustained thought, with rapture and pleasure born of concentration, he enters and abides in the second jhana. And with the fading of rapture, he abides in equanimity, mindful and clearly comprehending, and experiences pleasure with the body, that which the noble ones declare: ‘equanimous, mindful, one who dwells in pleasure’— he enters and abides in the third jhana. And with the abandoning of pleasure and the abandoning of pain, and with the previous passing away of joy and sorrow, he enters and abides in the fourth jhana, which is neither painful nor pleasant, and is purified by equanimity and mindfulness— this is the training in higher mind. What is the training in higher wisdom? Here, a monk is wise, endowed with wisdom that sees rise and fall, noble, penetrative, leading to the right destruction of suffering. He understands ‘This is suffering’ as it really is. He understands ‘This is the origin of suffering’ as it really is. He understands ‘This is the cessation of suffering’ as it really is. He understands ‘This is the path leading to the cessation of suffering’ as it really is. He understands ‘These are the taints’ as it really is. He understands ‘This is the origin of the taints’ as it really is. He understands ‘This is the cessation of the taints’ as it really is. He understands ‘This is the path leading to the cessation of the taints’ as it really is— this is the training in higher wisdom. These three trainings: one should train, reflecting, one should train, knowing, one should train, seeing, one should train, reviewing, one should train, resolving the mind, one should train, being intent with faith, one should train, exerting energy, one should train, establishing mindfulness, one should train, concentrating the mind, one should train, understanding with wisdom, one should train, directly knowing what is to be directly known, one should train, fully understanding what is to be fully understood, one should train, abandoning what is to be abandoned, one should train, developing what is to be developed, one should train, realizing what is to be realized. One should practice, one should fully practice, one should undertake and live by them. Here, with this view, with this patience, with this preference, with this acceptance, this in this Dhamma, in this Vinaya, in this Dhamma-Vinaya, in this teaching, in this holy life, in this Teacher's Dispensation, in this existence, in this human world – therefore it is called "here". "Jantu" means a being, a person... a human – therefore indeed, a being should train right here. "Whatever one knows as uneven in the world." "Whatever" means: all in all, in every way all, without remainder, without residue, this is a word of comprehensive inclusion – "whatever". "Know as uneven" means: uneven bodily action, know as uneven; uneven verbal action, know as uneven; uneven mental action, know as uneven; uneven taking of life, know as uneven; uneven taking what is not given, know as uneven; uneven sexual misconduct, know as uneven; uneven false speech, know as uneven; uneven divisive speech, know as uneven; uneven harsh speech, know as uneven; uneven idle chatter, know as uneven; uneven covetousness, know as uneven; uneven ill-will, know as uneven; uneven wrong view, know as uneven; uneven formations, know as uneven; uneven five sense pleasures, know as uneven; uneven five hindrances, know as uneven; know, understand, fully understand, penetrate, pierce. "World" means: world of suffering... world of sense bases – "whatever one knows as uneven in the world." "For that reason, one should not act unevenly." For the reason of uneven bodily action, one should not act unevenly. For the reason of uneven verbal action, one should not act unevenly. For the reason of uneven mental action, one should not act unevenly. For the reason of uneven taking of life, one should not act unevenly. For the reason of uneven taking what is not given, one should not act unevenly. For the reason of uneven sexual misconduct, one should not act unevenly. For the reason of uneven false speech, one should not act unevenly. For the reason of uneven divisive speech, one should not act unevenly. For the reason of uneven harsh speech For which reason one should not act unevenly, For the reason of uneven frivolous talk, one should not act unevenly, For the reason of uneven covetousness, one should not act unevenly, For the reason of uneven ill-will, one should not act unevenly, For the reason of uneven wrong view, one should not act unevenly, For the reason of uneven formations, one should not act unevenly, For the reason of uneven five sense pleasures, one should not act unevenly, For the reason of uneven five hindrances, one should not act unevenly, For the reason of uneven intention, one should not act unevenly, For the reason of uneven aspiration, one should not act unevenly, For the reason of uneven resolution, one should not act unevenly, nor conduct oneself, nor behave, nor maintain such a course – For that reason, one should not act unevenly. "This life is short," say the wise. Life means: age, duration, carrying on, sustaining, moving, existing, maintaining, life, life-faculty. Moreover, life is short for two reasons: Life is short due to its brevity of duration, Or life is short due to its brevity of essence. How is life short due to brevity of duration? In the past moment of consciousness, it lived, it does not live, it will not live; In the future moment of consciousness, it will live, it does not live, it did not live; In the present moment of consciousness, it lives, it did not live, it will not live. Life and self-existence, And all joys and sorrows; United with a single mind, The moment passes swiftly. Eighty-four thousand Aeons stand, those devas; Yet even they do not live United with two minds. Those ceased for one who dies, Or for one who stands here; All aggregates are alike, Gone without rebirth-linking. And those broken immediately, And those broken in the future; For those ceased in between, There is no difference in characteristic. By what is not yet arisen, one is not born; By what is present, one lives; The world dies by the breaking of mind, A designation in ultimate reality. As streams flow, Transformed by desire; Unbroken currents flow, The six sense bases Not by conditions. Unstored, broken, No heap in the future; And those that have arisen, They stand like a mustard seed on an awl's point. For things that have arisen, Dissolution is their front; They stand, subject to decay, Unmixed with the old ones. From not being seen, they come, Their breaking goes to being seen; Like lightning's flash in the sky, They arise and they vanish. Thus, life is short due to its brief duration. How is life short due to the brevity of its essence? Life is dependent on in-breathing, Life is dependent on out-breathing, Life is dependent on in-breathing and out-breathing, Life is dependent on the great elements, Life is dependent on physical food, Life is dependent on heat, Life is dependent on consciousness. Even their root is weak, Even their prior causes are weak. Whatever conditions, those too are weak, Whatever producers, those too are weak. Their co-existence is weak, Even their associations are weak, Even their co-arising is weak, Whatever brings them about, that too is weak. These are always weak for each other, These are unstable for each other. These cause each other to fall, Indeed, there is no protector for each other, Nor do these establish each other. Even that which brings them forth is not found. And by no one is anyone diminished, And these are gandhabbas in every way; These are produced by the former ones, And those producers, they died before; Both the former and the latter, Never did they see each other. Thus, life is short due to the brevity of its essence. Moreover, compared to the life of the Devas of the Four Great Kings, The life of humans is little life, Brief life, Short life, Momentary life, Swift life, Fleeting life, Not long-lasting life, Not of long duration life.