Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Permanence and Impermanence (常與無常)
Everything in the world, sentient or not, is governed by the same Truth. Everything continuously changes, arises and ceases. Nothing is fixed. This is what the Buddha taught, but ordinary people and spiritual practitioners have different views about this. Ordinary people are attached to “Permanence,” while the Buddha taught “Impermanence.”
Since everything is impermanent, nothing is truly ours, so what is there to be truly happy about? In ancient times, Emperor Ming of the Tang dynasty viewed his wonderful empire from atop Mt. Tai. The mountains, rivers and land were magnificent. He lamented, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if no one ever died? I own this vast and splendid land. If I could live forever, this would always be mine.” A minister standing beside him said, “Your Majesty, if man could live forever, you would not be emperor today.”
Indeed！ In this world, everyone goes through birth & death. Nature, with all its mountain and rivers, has witnessed power shifting and people changing. This is the course of nature. Actually, are the mountains, rivers and land permanent? Will they always remain the same? I am sure the landscape once witnessed by Emperor Ming atop Mt. Tai has changed since then, and is no longer what it once was. Life is impermanent, so beautiful conditions will not last forever. Nothing is fixed or ever-lasting. So what real pleasure is there in them? None.
But ordinary people believe otherwise so they take pleasure in them. Look at those who live confused lives and lose themselves in entertainment all night. They are oblivious. Young people have parents who anxiously await their return. Middle-aged men have wives who worry about them. Some men have a virtuous and capable wife and well-behaved children, but they stray and take mistresses or get lost in entertainment and pleasures. They forget about their wonderful family. These people are completely confused. What brings true happiness? A peaceful, stable and normal life. This brings us true happiness in all aspects of our lives.
However, people mistake this pleasure, this entertainment outside the home, for happiness. Truly, family is not something we have forever. But people cling to whatever they have even while they lose themselves and forget to return home. They pile delusions upon delusions. They are called ordinary people. They are lost in pleasures.
The Buddha often made us aware that the world is filled with suffering. Indeed, when we look across the world, we see many who are suffering. As we engage in charity work through our missions of Charity and Medicine, let us contemplate our encounters. Every day when we listen, we can hear many cries of suffering. In foreign countries, many people are experiencing drought starvation, hardships of poverty and illnesses. Indeed, there is much suffering. So what joy is there in life? There is really no joy. There are many calamities in the world. So, always be more alert. Do not be confused by the world and seduced by indulgence in pleasures.
Realize the impermanence of life. Do not be tempted by worldly confusion and indulgence in pleasures. Thus you can attain true happiness.
Next, let us talk about “Self.” The Buddha taught that there is “No-Self.” When do we see the real “self”? Is it the self from yesterday? Is it the self of tomorrow? Because we have a body that continuously metabolizes and changes, we undergo birth, aging, illness and death. Look at a picture of yourself from decades ago, in infancy. Is that really you? From the pictures, you were a tiny, innocent, adorable child. Is that really you? Decades later, we are totally different from the image in those pictures. When did those changes take place? On what day did we transform from a teen to an elderly person? We do not know.
Actually, we are changing every second. There is not a moment when we are not changing. As long as we are healthy and the body is in harmony, it metabolizes, and each second replaces old cells with new ones. Thus, we can experience impermanence intimately, in our bodies. Take our nails and hair. When did their growth occur? We also do not know. These changes occur unnoticeably. Therefore, in which moment, can we find the permanent, unchanging, true “self?” Since this body is constantly changing, from infancy to childhood, from adolescence to middle age & old age, in which moment or period in life is the true Self found? Therefore, there is No-Self.
In learning Buddhism, we realize that everything in the world is formed by a temporary union of the Four Elements. Clearly seeing that the “self” does not exist enables us to attain liberation.
Our hospital is about to separate a pair of conjoined twins. The twins came from the Philippines. They are the firstborn of a very young couple. The family is very poor and lives in a remote part of the mountains. The wife became pregnant but their firstborns turned out to be conjoined twins. If they were affluent, they could have rushed to the hospital for proper medical treatment and promptly separated the twins. However, they could not do this because they were poor. Our medical volunteers in the Philippines discovered the case. They tirelessly sought out this family.
The parents were overjoyed when they learned that people were willing to help. However, how would they travel to Taiwan? How could they afford it? The Philippine Tzu Chi volunteers contacted the headquarters in Taiwan. We expressed willingness to provide complete assistance, if the family was willing to accept it. We were very grateful for the cooperation between the Philippines and Taiwan. They brought the twins to Taiwan. We wished to give them the best care. One day outside Jing Si Hall, I saw the mother with the two children. They looked very adorable, lively, even more so than when they first arrived. Since they were conjoined at birth, we assumed they would be very similar. However, they are different.
They have entirely different personalities. One is very quiet, the other quite active. Both are very adorable. If we held out our hands to them, one would quietly reach out and let us shake her hand. But the other one was different. When she saw people, she got excited and tried to roll towards them. Though the two were conjoined, she still tried to roll over. One is quiet while the other is active. Even though they share one body, there is no singular “self.” Life is truly wondrous.
There was another case, an adult pair of conjoined twins. Our volunteers spoke with them many times. Actually, based on their pictures, the doctors felt that it should be a simple operation. But they had their own concerns. Perhaps they had financial difficulties, perhaps they were afraid. But birth, aging, sickness, death are inevitable. They were already in their 30s. Since they were conjoined, what would happen if one of them fell ill? If one had a fever, what could the other do? They had already experienced such incidents. If one had an upset stomach, what happened to the other? They gradually displayed symptoms of health issues. Therefore, I asked, “What if one of them passes away first? What would happen to the other if they were not separated?” To put it simply, they have been conjoined for over 30 years and it was time to be surgically separated. Looking at their X-rays, perhaps they shared intestines, urinary tract, and colon. Therefore, one brother was responsible for urinating while the other was responsible for defecating. They were two different people with the same body. So they had to share their bodily functions because they used the same organs.
How can we liberate them from such suffering? With love and medical advances. Our volunteers in the Philippines persevered and kept counseling them. They grew close and discovered that the brothers had distinct personalities. Our volunteers told us that despite being conjoined for over 30years, their ways of thinking and personalities differed. One is quite and loves to study while the other is active and does not like to study. One is trendy and likes wearing designer brands while the other dresses simply and practically. One is very outgoing while the other is quiet.
In sum, they clearly lead different lives. When they took entrance exams, the studious one got a high score, while the other failed. So what happened next? The exam determined if they would be admitted. But the one who passed was conjoined to the one failed. So how could the situation be resolved? In the end, the school admitted them both. So the studious one was quite happy. But the one who didn’t like to study was still admitted. Wouldn’t he be miserable? They shared one body, but one liked to study while the other did not. In this body, one likes to study and one does not, so where is the Self? There are truly so many contradictions in life.
Everyone, the Buddha taught us that in life, there is really no Self. So where is there Purity? Contemplate the body, especially as you walk around the hospital. Can we find a body that is pure? When we reflect on ourselves, how clean is the body? It is also very unclean. Every day it produces foul-smelling waste. However, if that waste accumulates inside the body, it leads health problems. Our excrement is filthy when discharged and problematic when accumulated in the body. Think about it, what is pure in our lives?
Ordinary people are attached to Self when there is no permanent, fixed Self. This always causes disputes and conflicts. Man-made disasters arise because of the “Self.” Our body is defiled, yet we believe it to be pure, so we cling to this body. And then we use this body to create a lot of bad karma, these are the ways of ordinary people.
Ordinary people cling to Existence. We think there is Permanence, Bliss, Self and Purity in this world. When these four confuses delusions arise, we create infinite bad karma.
Everyone Ordinary people have four inverted views. They cling to Impermanence as Permanence. They cling to No- Self as Self. They cling to what is Not-Blissful as Blissful. They cling to Impurity as Purity. Permanence, Bliss, Self, Purity are deluded attachments. They are the 4 Inverted Views of ordinary people. I hope everyone contemplates the great truths found in these four simple words. So everyone, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水).
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