THE IMPERMANENCE OF LIFE all the thoughts that run through your mind-everything is always changing You might be as exalted as the heavens, as mighty as a thunderbolt, as rich as a naga, as good-looking as a god or as pretty as a rainbow-but no matter who or what you are, when death suddenly comes there is nothing you can about it for even a moment You have no choice but to go, naked and cold, your empty hands clenched stiffly under your armpits Unbearable though it might be to part with your money, your cherished possessions, your friends, loved ones, attendants, disciples, country, lands, subjects, property, food, drink and wealth, you just have to leave everything behind, like a hair being pulled out of a slab of butter."' You might be the head lama over thousands of monks, but you cannot take even one of them with you You might be governor over tens of thousands of people, but you cannot take a single one as your servant All the wealth in the world would still not give you the power to take as much as a needle and thread Your dearly beloved body, too, is going to be left behind This same body that was wrapped up during life in silk and brocades, that was kept well filled up with tea and beer, and that once looked as handsome and distinguished as a god, is now called a corpse, and is left lying there horribly livid, heavy and distorted Says Jetsun Mila: This thing we call a corpse, so fearful to behold, Is already right here-our own body Your body is trussed up with a rope and covered with a curtain, held in place with earth and stones Your bowl is turned upside down on your pillow No matter how precious and well loved you were, now you arouse horror and nausea When the living lie down to sleep, even on piles of furs and soft sheepskin rugs, they start to feel uncomfortable after a while and have to keep turning over But once you are dead, you just lie there with your cheek against a stone or tuft of grass, your hair bespattered with earth Some of you who are heads of families or clan chiefs might worry about the people under your care Once you are no longer there to look after them, might they not easily die of hunger or cold, be murdered by enemies, or drown in the river? Does not all their wealth, comfort and happiness depend on you? In fact, however, after your death they will • The butter does not stick to the hair Only the empty impression of the hair remains 47 THE ORDINARY OR OUTER PRELIMINARIES feel nothing but relief at having managed to get rid of your corpse by cremating it, throwing it into a river, or dumping it in the cemetery When you die, you have no choice but to wander all alone in the intermediate state without a single companion At that time your only refuge will be the Dharma So tell yourself again and again that from now on you must make the effort to accomplish at least one practice of genuine Dharma Whatever is stored up is bound to run out A king might rule the whole world and still end up as a vagabond Many start their life surrounded by wealth and end it starving to death, having lost everything People who had herds of hundreds of animals one year can be reduced to beggary the next by epidemics or heavy snow, and someone who was rich and powerful only the day before might suddenly find himself asking for alms because his enemies have destroyed everything he owns That all these things happen is something you can see for yourself; it is impossible to hang on to your wealth and possessions forever Never forget that generosity is the most important capital to build up • No coming together can last forever It will always end in separation We are like inhabitants of different places gathering in thousands and even tens of thousands for a big market or an important religious festival, only to part again as each returns home Whatever affectionate relationships we now enjoy-teachers and disciples, masters and servants, patrons and their proteges, spiritual comrades, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives-there is no way we can avoid being separated in the end We cannot even be sure that death or some other terrible event might not suddenly part us right now Since spiritual companions, couples and so forth might be split up unexpectedly at any moment, we had better avoid anger and quarrels, harsh words and fighting We never know how long we might be together, so we should make up our minds to be caring and affectionate for the short while that we have left As Padampa Sangye says: Families are as fleeting as a crowd on market-day; People of Tingri, don't bicker or fight! Whatever buildings are constructed are bound to collapse Villages and monasteries that were once successful and prosperous now lie empty and abandoned, and where once their careful owners lived, now only birds make their nests Even Samye's central three-storeyed temple, built by • i.e a capital of merit This concept is explained in Part Two, Chapter 48 Padampa Sangye (11th-12th centuries) The famous Indian siddha who spread the teachings throughout India, China and Tibet He and his disciple Machik Labdron established the lineages of the Cho teachings in Tibet THE ORDINARY OR OUTER PRELIMINARIES miraculously emanated workers during the reign of King Trisong Detsen and consecrated by the Second Buddha of Oc;lc;liyana, was destroyed by fire in a single night The Red Mountain Palace that existed in King Songtsen Gampo's time rivalled the palace of Indra himself, but now not even the foundation stones are left In comparison, our own present towns, houses and monasteries are just so many insects' nests So why we attach such importance to them? It would be better to set our hearts on following to the very end the example of the Kagyupas of old, who left their homeland behind and headed for the wilderness They dwelt at the foot of rocky cliffs with only wild animals for companions, and, without the least concern about food, clothing or renown, embraced the four basic aims of the Kadampas: Base your mind on the Dharma, Base your Dharma on a humble life, Base your humble life on the thought of death, Base your death on an empty, barren hollow.• High estate and mighty armies never last Mandhatri, the universal king, turned the golden wheel that gave him power over four continents; he reigned over the heavens of the Gods of the Thirty-three; he even shared the throne of Indra, king of the gods, and could defeat the asuras in battle Yet finally he fell to earth and died, his ambitions still unsatisfied You can see for yourself that of all those who wield power and authoritywhether around kings, lamas, lords or governments-not a single one can keep his position forever; and that many powerful people, who have been imposing the law on others one year, find themselves spending the next languishing in prison What use could such transitory power be to you? The state of perfect Buddhahood, on the other hand, can never diminish or be spoiled, and is worthy of the offerings of gods and men That is what you should be determined to attain Friendship and enmity, too, are far from everlasting One day while the Arhat Katyayana was out on his alms-round he came across a man with a child on his lap The man was eating a fish with great relish, and throwing stones at a bitch that was trying to get at the bones What the master saw with his clairvoyance, however, was this The fish had been the man's own father in that very lifetime, and the bitch had been his mother An enemy he had killed in a past existence had been reborn as his s.on, as the karmic repayment for the life the man had taken Katyayana • i.e die alone in a remote place where there are no disturbances 50 THE IMPERMANENCE OF LIFE cried out: He eats his father's flesh, he beats his mother off, He dandles on his lap the enemy that he killed; The wife is gnawing at her husband's bones I laugh to see what happens in sarilsara's show! Even within one lifetime, it often happens that sworn enemies are later reconciled and make friends They may even become part of each other's families, and end up closer than anyone else On the other hand, people intimately linked by blood or marriage often argue and each other as much harm as they can for the sake of some trivial possession or paltry inheritance Couples or dear friends can break up for the most insignificant reasons, ending sometimes even in murder Seeing that all friendship and enmity is so ephemeral, remind yourself over and over again to treat everyone with love and compassion Good fortune and deprivation never last forever There are many people who have started life in comfort and plenty, and ended up in poverty and suffering Others start out in utter misery and are later happy and well-off There have even been people who started out as beggars and ended up as kings There are countless examples of such reversals of fortune Milarepa's uncle, for instance, gave a merry party one morning for his daughter-in-law, but by nightfall his house had collapsed and he was weeping with sorrow When Dharma brings you hardships, then however many different kinds of suffering you might have to undergo, like Jetsun Mila and the Conquerors of the past, in the end your happiness will be unparalleled But when wrong-doing makes you rich, then what· ever pleasure you might temporarily obtain, in the end your suffering will be infinite Fortune and sorrow are so unpredictable Long ago in the kingdom of Aparantaka there was a rain of grain lasting seven days, followed by a rain of clothes for another seven days and a rain of precious jewels for seven days more-and finally there was a rain of earth which buried the entire population, and everyone died and was reborn in the lower realms It is no use trying, full of hopes and fears, to control such ever-changing happiness and suffering Instead, simply leave all the comforts, wealth and pleasures of this world behind, like so much spittle in the dust Resolve to follow in the footsteps of the Conquerors of the past, accepting courageously whatever hardships you have to suffer for the sake of the Dharma Excellence and mediocrity are impermanent, too In worldly life, 51 ... following to the very end the example of the Kagyupas of old, who left their homeland behind and headed for the wilderness They dwelt at the foot of rocky cliffs with only wild animals for companions,... three-storeyed temple, built by • i.e a capital of merit This concept is explained in Part Two, Chapter 48 Padampa Sangye (11th-12th centuries) The famous Indian siddha who spread the teachings throughout... imposing the law on others one year, find themselves spending the next languishing in prison What use could such transitory power be to you? The state of perfect Buddhahood, on the other hand,