alright to perform ill deeds to safeguard one's life Answer: It is not appropriate Why ill deeds for the sake of a little food and drink in this life, pledging yourself to experience great suffering later? Of course, like wise Foe Destroyers, you must be free from attachment to yourself It is like the prostitute who sold the swindler, and like being held as security because of drinking a lot of beer and not paying for it A swindler took advantage of a prostitute, using up all her savings but giving her nothing in return Eventually she had two children by him Not long after that a travelling merchant was staying in their home She told the swindler, "The two of us will have more children Let's sell our children to the merchant," and indeed, that is what they did Later, when the merchant was about to leave, the prostitute told the swindler, "I will go and stay in the merchant's home as security and you take the two children Be sure to wash and feed the youngest one properly." The swindler replied, "No, you take the two children and I will stay in the merchant's home as security." She agreed and, having retrieved the children, went and hid in a remote place On the second day the merchant tied up the swindler and left with him for home Similarly, childish people ill deeds, pledging themselves as security; they alone will experience the maturation.26 Someone with no money went to a drinking house and, promising to pay, drank a lot of beer However, when he did not pay, he was kept there and made to suffer.27 It is unreasonable to sell oneself for the sake of this life by performing ill deeds in the hope of staying alive long Since the nature of functional things is not to remain unchanged for a second moment, the life of any sentient being, no matter who, does not differ from the individual moments of mind [whose momentary changes are not too difficult to understand-the mind quickly moves from one focal object to another, as when rapidly reciting the alpha- bet28] People in the grip of causes for the misconception of permanence, [mistaking as alike the sequence of unalike moments of a product that occur without interruption,29] certainly not perceive this Thus, in the world it is rare to know the nature of the self, so make effort to meditate on subtle impermanence It is like looking for clothes that fell into a river a long time ago at the spot where they fell into the water, and like the swiftness of the son of the gods Asvaka, which was unrivalled by any of the gods and others that travel in the sky Nothing is briefer than this life, disintegrating moment by moment Assertion: Being alive consists of a series of brief moments, but since the continuity is uninterrupted, life is long Therefore, attachment to it is reasonable Answer: That is an erroneous idea If you would like to live a long life but dislike old age with its white hair and wrinkles, it is pitiful and amazing Your contradictory behavior seems right only to unwise people like you, not to the wise Since you don't want old age, don't be attached to the continuation of life It is like some youths who made fun of an old man sitting in a park "You look old," they jeered, but they were hoping to live a long time Assertion: Though one does not want to age and die, when these two happen to one they are not as much a cause for grief as when they happen to one's son It is therefore appropriate to grieve at the death of one's son and others Answer: It is inappropriate When it is fitting for you, a person in the Lord of Death's power who does ill deeds, to grieve about dying, why you grieve on account of your son's and others' deaths while neglecting to remember your own? If one laments about another person's death, when one is a victim of the Lord of Death oneself but ignores it, how would one not deserve censure from the wise? Since it is only reprehensible, endeavor to remember your own death A Brahmin's servant wearing a peacock's feather as a badge recognized others' servants by this sign, but did not think of herself as a servant Forgetting it is one's own nature to die, but lamenting that one's son is dead, is like that Assertion: Though it is proper to grieve about dying, it is nevertheless reasonable to grieve when the son one has considered one's own goes to the next world without asking Answer: Even that is not admissible If someone whom you have not requested to become your son does so through the force of his own actions, it is not unreasonable if he leaves without having asked his father whether he may go, because it is his nature to come and go arbitrarily It is like the following analogy: A girl who had newly arrived agreed to be the wife of a man staying in a park When she later left without having asked him, he grieved Someone inquired whether he knew from where she had come He replied that he didn't "Then since she left just as she came, why grieve?" It is unreasonable to grieve over the dead when one does not know from where they have come nor where they are going Perhaps it is not that he did not ask to go, only that, because of your confusion, you did not notice when your son showed indications of going His enthusiasm to go to the next world is implicitly shown by his growing old with white hair and wrinkles It is like the following analogy: A father sent his only son on an assignment, but grieved when he was about to go Similarly, having been eager to produce a son, it is unreasonable to grieve at death, the outcome of having been born Objection: Although he showed his enthusiasm to go, great attachment to one's son causes one to grieve Answer: Attachment is not appropriate A son does not love his father as much as a father loves his son Ordinary people feel attracted to the young, like their children, but the young not feel as attracted to their elders Hence those such as one's son, whose upbringing has entailed hundreds of hardships, because of their weak sense of gratitude will reject their father and so forth in an instant One's actions precipitate one downwards like that attraction [since a mind directed by attachment runs downhill like water30] Therefore most people in the world go down to the hells and so forth Thus, no need to mention liberation, even a high rebirth is hard to find, so willingly respect your elders It is like the asafoetida31 and the sound of a bell which are gradually used up and dissipate Similarly, lack of gratitude for what has been done destroys one's practices, making even a high rebirth hard to find Taking a small amount of asafoetida at a time from the traders' source, it was used up little by little until all of it had been dissipated The sound of a bell gradually dies away Similarly, ingratitude and other kinds of bad behavior gradually destroy one's practices.32 Moreover, attachment to an obedient or disobedient son, whichever, is inadmissible No one will call a son who disobeys his father lovable Objection: But one is attached to an obedient one Answer: In that case the attachment is nothing but a business transaction and is not due to your son It is like the following analogy: A king had a very beloved son who died His ministers informed him that his son had rebelled, which upset the king and he made plans to kill his son They then told him that he had died The king was pleased [and beat a great drum for joy Likewise obedience appeals to the worldly; its opposite does not 13] Objection: A father's attachment to his son is steadfast, irrespective of whether he is obedient or disobedient Answer: Attachment is not steadfast The suffering caused by separation from the object of one's attachment, such as one's son, is quickly gone from human hearts and does not last long If the bonds of attachment did not loosen, the suffering it causes would not stop; but by seeing the suffering-its effectend, consider the instability of attachment too, which is indicated by this It is like the following analogy: A king was crossing the water when a nonhuman spirit captured his boat One of his ministers, entrusting his children to the king's care, jumped into the water shouting, "Take me and let the King go!" The boat was released When the children heard of their father's death, they suffered, but because the king cared for them well, they came to regard their father's death as an advantage As in this case, even grief does not last forever Objection: Though it is inappropriate to grieve in one's heart for a dead son and others, for the sake of convention one must beat one's breast and so forth Answer: That is not appropriate Knowing it is of no benefit whatever, still you have injured your body by tearing your hair and so forth If you injure yourself hypocritically, it is merely in keeping with deceitful people's ways and therefore improper of you It is like one woman who promised to teach another woman how to commit suicide and, proud of being the teacher, killed herself ... clothes that fell into a river a long time ago at the spot where they fell into the water, and like the swiftness of the son of the gods Asvaka, which was unrivalled by any of the gods and others... me and let the King go!" The boat was released When the children heard of their father's death, they suffered, but because the king cared for them well, they came to regard their father's death... old," they jeered, but they were hoping to live a long time Assertion: Though one does not want to age and die, when these two happen to one they are not as much a cause for grief as when they