English
How are they distinguished by stage, due to their manifestation here and there? 1524. Or preceded by form, or likewise preceded by name; Internally or externally, according to the manifest phenomena. 1525. The grasping of phenomena by way of name-and-form and so on; Is called purification of view, from the abandonment of self-view. 1526. And seeing wisely that formations arise from conditions; And likewise, that they exist due to that existence, and thus continue. 1527. The wisdom that grasps conditions, for the arising of name-and-form; By that, doubts are crossed, thus it is called purification by overcoming doubt. 1528. Impermanent, suffering, non-self, due to their conditioned nature; Formations are comprehended, summarized into a group. 1529. The state of arising and passing away also establishes the three characteristics; Especially, it is discerned by taking the causal mode as a basis. 1530. Therefore, the knowledge of comprehension, the seeing of rise and fall; Is included in the purification by overcoming doubt. There, avoiding defilement and distraction, the wrong path; The purity of distinguishing path from non-path, is called knowledge and vision. Then they speak of undefiled seeing of rise and fall; Beginning with this, the purity of knowledge and vision of the way. In dependent and dependently arisen things, established as they are; For those striving to abandon, it is the practice of liberation. Indeed, purified from defilements, again rise and fall; Having established this with knowledge of dissolution and so on, one practices. And thus, seeing things newly arisen, breaking up; Knowledge drawn by urgency, establishes dissolution and so on. Therefore, defilements and origins of woe that arose previously; Are not grasped by the development called purity of practice. Accomplishing these four purities; One should develop the three kinds of talk: impermanent, suffering, non-self. Dependent and dependently arisen, breaking up immediately after arising; They are impermanent and perishable, they crumble and pass away. Unstable and without essence, perishing and destructive; Conditioned, subject to change, temporary. Subject to decay, subject to vanishing, existing for a brief time; And also temporary, and of short duration. Bounded by three moments, varied in past and future; Preceded by cessation, never eternal. They arise for decline, not for growth; They exist only while decaying, old, destined for dissolution. They arise having not been, not come from anywhere; Having been, they disappear, not accumulated anywhere. Dependent on gaining merely that combination of conditions; They arise, subject to cessation, having arisen, they vanish. Like a mountain river, and like a lamp flame; Flowing swiftly, they arise and vanish. What arises, arises and ceases, others, others indeed arise; Connected without gap, they do not know distinction. Thus, seeing in various ways, the discerning one No; The wise one Perfects well The contemplation of impermanence. 1548. Sufferings and objects of suffering, Constantly tormented; Diseases, boils and darts, Dangers and misfortunes. 1549. Roots of fear, perils, and distress, Fraught with defilements and dangers; Without shelter, without refuge, without protection, Murderers, baits of Mara. 1550. Subject to birth, old age, sickness, Partakers of sorrow and despair; And of the nature of lamentation, Defilements, partakers of suffering. 1551. Despicable and repulsive, disgusting and ugly; Ignoble, fickle, low, Foul-smelling, resorted to by fools. 1552. Constantly pierced by sorrow, Greatly dragged by craving; Wretched, unfortunate, distressed, Ruined and destructive. 1553. They seek self-gain, Dependent on various conditions; An utter basis of suffering, Born again, they are tormented. 1554. As if plunged in a pit of fire, Partakers of defilement-torment; As if pierced by spears, Formations are constantly suffering. 1555. Being born and decaying, Dying at every moment; Like flayed animals, They are tormented, afflicted by the hunter. 1556. As if pressing sesame seeds, As if pressing sugarcane; Arising and passing away inevitably, They constantly torment. 1557. Pleasing forms of mind, Afflicted by perversion; Concealed by bodily postures, They do not stand firm from suffering. 1558. But in these formations, Obstruction of the enjoyment of feeling; That very thing is bound by fetters, Encompassed by delusion. 1559. "That is suffering, this is suffering"—thus, Wanderers in cyclic existence; Not knowing the cause of suffering, They wander confusedly, the ignorant. 1560. Not seeing any aspect of happiness, Crushed by the burden of suffering; They long for other suffering itself, Fools, partakers of misfortune. 1561. Falling away and being reborn, Like a monkey on a tree branch; They are freed from one suffering, Then they grasp another. 1562. They grieve for a long time, Pierced by the dart of craving; Endowed with the snare of views, Prone to the pillar of conceit. 1563. But thus discerning that aspect, The skilled one, seeing clearly; Cultivates the meditation Called the contemplation of suffering. 1564. Dh Indeed, the aggregates, sense bases, and elements, are fixed by their nature; They are non-self, not eternal, devoid of striving and enjoyment. 1565. They do not act by intending a purpose, but are conditioned by conditions; They arise from conditions, to generate or to be generated. 1566. Yet, when the combination of causes is present, they arise; Existing by virtue of that existence, they proceed mutually. 1567. They cannot but arise when the conditions are present; But if conditions are not met, they never arise. 1568. Without expecting anything here, the conditions become complete; And being complete, they can never fail to generate. 1569. Just as they obtain conditions, so they proceed; Whether protected or destroyed, they are not without an owner in that way. 1570. Those who grasp "I" and "mine" pervert them otherwise; Trusting, they carry them away, being overcome, they are deceived. 1571. Empty, hollow, and void, isolated, devoid of essence; Distinguished by their own characteristics, these are phenomena, there is no person here. 1572. Arising, decaying, and dying, the conditioned things; Turn helplessly, there is no control over them anywhere. 1573. No one has mastery over them, nor do they belong to anyone anywhere; And the formations are not a self, devoid of sovereignty. 1574. Like the layers of a banana tree, they are mutually dependent; Arising together and existing together, they do not stand as a self. 1575. Form depends on the formless, the formless depends on form; Like a blind man and a cripple, they are mutually established. 1576. Like a machine by a string, the bodily machine proceeds; It is drawn by name, there is no self-governing soul there. 1577. Born from the expansion of consciousness, arising from the element of wind; The postures, expressions, and changes are considered guardians. 1578. From the transformation of the dart of feeling, pierced and changed; The conception of a self, arises in the minds of fools. 1579. This is a mere heap of formations, no being is found here; Depending on this and that condition, only a mass of suffering arises. 1580. Thus, discerning in ways such as these, one who from self; It is called the cultivation of the non-self. 1581. Cultivating these three, he discerns the three characteristics; Taking up the sign and the occurrence, in due order. 1582. The sign of gaining a self, dependent on various conditions; Are marked by the sign of their being in that state. 1583. Being born, decaying, and dying, the conditioned things; Transcend their respective states, and occur moment by moment. 1584. The nature of dependence on causes is therefore considered the sign; The occurrence is the nature of happening, the continuity of moments in time. 1585. The arising of something new and fresh is declared as origination; The connection of prior and posterior is spoken of as re-linking. 1586. They are called 'striving', and are engaged for that purpose; In these and other ways, conditioned things are of many forms. 1587. In the sign and the occurrence, they are essentially included; Taking up these two aspects, the three characteristics are established. 1588. Marked by arising and passing away, of phenomena dependent on conditions; The impermanence, being the basis of the sign, is not evident in occurrences. 1589. Of things varied in prior and posterior, incapable in themselves; Produced by dependence, it proves the weakness of existence. 1590. The state called cause, is indeed the impermanence of formations; As it occurs, it shows its own nature. 1591. If formations were permanent and stable, why would they look to conditions? If, not having been, they arose depending, what permanence is there? 1592. Having attained self-existence, by gaining the assemblage of causes; How could they sustain it elsewhere, being so weak in themselves? 1593. If, without looking to conditions, there is no capability; What capability is there in maintaining the attainment of self-existence? 1594. For the generating conditions, after that striving; They begin to perish, like an arrow shot from a bowstring. 1595. Like a flame leaving a wick, like lightning released from a cloud; Phenomena, released from the battle of conditions, are destined for dissolution. 1596. Therefore, seeing the aspect of the sign, that meditator; "They will inevitably perish," always he is released, burning. 1597. Thus, in the same way, for the yogi discerning impermanence, faith-release becomes abundant, so it is declared. 1598. Thus, the wise one steadily contemplates the characteristic of impermanence, determined by the sign and aspect in the conditioned phenomena. 1599. Like suffering due to the nature of being an obstruction,