This Holy Life is Lived for the Abandoning of Existence

This world is burning.

Harmed by contact, it calls disease a ‘self.’

By whatever means it understands (any thing), it becomes otherwise than that.

Becoming otherwise, the world is attached to becoming harmed by existence and yet has excitement in that very existence.

Where there’s excitement, there is fear.

What one fears is stressful.

This holy life is lived for the abandoning of existence.

Whatever Ascetics or Brāhmans say that liberation from existence is by means of existence, all of them are not released from existence, I say.

And whatever Ascetics or Brāhmans say that escape from existence is by means of non-existence, all of them have not escaped from existence, I say.

For this stress comes into play in dependence on every gain of material possessions.

With the ending of every craving/desire, there’s no stress coming into play.

Look at this world: Beings, afflicted with thick ignorance (unknowing of true reality), are unreleased from passion for what has come to be.

All levels of existence, anywhere, in any way, are impermanent, stressful, subject to change.

Seeing this - as it’s come to be - with Right Wisdom, one abandons craving for existence, and doesn’t have excitement in non-existence.

From the total ending of craving comes fading and elimination without remainder: liberation (Enlightenment).

For the Monk who is liberated through lack of craving/desire, there’s no further existence.

He has conquered Māra, won the battle, having gone beyond existences: Such.

(Reference: UD 3.10)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares a Teaching after having emerged from seven (7) days of continuous meditation without a break. Having observed the extensive amount of craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality) that exists in the world through the third eye or inner eye, he shared this Teaching declaring that “the world is burning”.

Craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality) are most commonly referred to as The Three Poisons but are also referred to as The Three Unwholesome Roots and The Three Fires. Here, The Buddha’s reference to “the world is burning” relates to The Three Fires of craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality) which are burning throughout the mind of countless individuals in the world causing nothing but destruction in its wake. Having seen the world greatly affected by craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality), The Buddha shares how eliminating craving/desire/attachment liberates the mind from all discontentedness and further existence in The Cycle of Rebirth.

The following content will be a line by line explanation of The Teachings of The Buddha.

“Harmed by contact, it calls disease a ‘self.’”: The mind has the fetter of “Personal Existence View” (i.e. a self) and despite the harm experienced through existence the mind wants to hold on to existing in this world thinking that is permanent. The self, known as the fetter/taint/pollution of “Personal Existence View”, is a disease of the mind that needs to be eliminated to experience liberation (i.e. Enlightenment).

“By whatever means it understands (any thing), it becomes otherwise than that.”: The mind experiences thick ignorance (unknowing of true reality) being unable to understand anything with true clarity. Whatever the unEnlightened mind thinks it understands or comprehends, it does not truly understand because it is looking through the pollution of craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality) forming countless misperceptions. Beings are stuck in the continuous cycle of birth and death unable to see clearly how to escape due to not being able to see or comprehend clearly.

“The world is attached to becoming harmed by existence and yet has excitement in that very existence.”: People in the world experience significant harm and displeasure due to craving/desire/attachment yet continue to hold on to existence in this world with excitement.

“Where there’s excitement, there is fear.”: If one has excitement to exist in this world, then one will have fear of losing existence. The mind will hold on to existence with craving/desire/attachment fearing death.

“What one fears is stressful.”: Through the mind holding on to existence with craving/desire/attachment this produces fear and stress in the mind. The mind is discontent yet continues to hold on.

So despite the harm beings experience in this world, the heavily polluted mind defiled with craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality), continues to want to hold on to what’s causing the hurt, pain, and harm. That is existence in this world rather than eliminating craving/desire/attachment to escape all hurt, pain, and harm.

“This holy life is lived for the abandoning of existence.”: Learning, reflecting, and practicing these Teachings is to develop your life practice and attain Enlightenment to progress towards letting go of craving/desire/attachment for existence in the world. One aspect of The Path to Enlightenment is to let go of wanting to continue to exist.

“Whatever Ascetics or Brāhmans say that liberation from existence is by means of existence, all of them are not released from existence, I say.”: For any Teacher who teaches that liberation of the mind happens through existence in the world, The Buddha shares that, their mind is not yet liberated or Enlightened. Those beings are not yet released from existence in The Cycle of Rebirth.

“And whatever Ascetics or Brāhmans say that escape from existence is by means of non-existence, all of them have not escaped from existence, I say.”: For any Teacher who teaches that liberation of the mind happens through non-existence in the world, The Buddha shares that, their mind is not yet liberated or Enlightened. Those beings have not yet escaped from existence in The Cycle of Rebirth.

“For this stress comes into play in dependence on every gain of material possessions.”: As the mind has craving/desire/attachment for gain of material possessions, the mind creates its own stress. A mind that experiences excitement in accumulating material possessions still has craving/desire/attachment to exist in the world and will not be interested in letting go of existence. The mind will continue to experience fear, stress, and other forms of discontentedness.

“With the ending of every craving/desire, there's no stress coming into play.”: Through training of the mind to eliminate craving/desire/attachment, the mind will not experience any stress because it has been trained to let go. When there is no more holding on with craving/desire/attachment, all stress is eliminated.

“Look at this world: Beings, afflicted with thick ignorance (unknowing of true reality), are unreleased from passion for what has come to be.”: UnEnlightened beings continue to be negatively affected by the unknowing of true reality that their own cravings/desires/attachments are keeping them trapped and unreleased from the constant cycle of pain, misery, and displeasure.

“All levels of existence, anywhere, in any way, are impermanent, stressful, subject to change.”: All beings that exist no matter which realm of existence are impermanent and are experiencing discontentedness. The unEnlightened mind craves and desires permanent existence yet all existence in The Cycle of Rebirth is impermanent.

“Seeing this - as it's come to be - with Right Wisdom, one abandons craving for existence, and doesn't have excitement in non-existence.”: When a Practitioner sees the truth and acquires the wisdom of these Teachings that conditioned objects are impermanent and holding on to them causes discontentedness, they will train the mind to eliminate craving/desire/attachment for existence and will not experience excitement in non-existence. Instead, the mind will discover and reside in the middle where it can be peaceful and calm.

“From the total ending of craving comes fading and elimination without remainder: liberation (Enlightenment).”: Once a Practitioner completely eliminates craving/desire/attachment without any residual amounts along with all the other fetters/taints/pollution, the mind is liberated from discontentedness and experiences Enlightenment. The mind will be free of strong feelings residing in the middle - peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy.

“For the Monk who is liberated through lack of craving/desire, there's no further existence.”: Having experienced liberation of mind or Enlightenment through the elimination of craving/desire/attachment, a being will have no further existences in The Cycle of Rebirth. Craving is the fuel that causes rebirth and through the elimination of craving/desire/attachment the mind is liberated from discontentedness and has also escaped The Cycle of Rebirth.

“He has conquered Māra, won the battle, having gone beyond existences: Such.”: The being has overcome Māra The Evil One who only seeks to influence destruction and chaos in the world. An Enlightened being is no longer able to be influenced by Māra The Evil One and will continue to experience significant amounts of peace and calm in this life, their last life.

“Such” is used to emphasize “and that is just the way it is” or “such is the way that it is”. 

Now that you have completed reading (Volume 11) of this book series and may decide to read this book multiple times, I would like to take a moment to personally “thank you” for your determination, dedication, and diligence to learn, reflect, and practice The Teachings of The Buddha on The Path to Enlightenment.

The time, effort, energy, and resources that you devote to this path are serving to help you and countless other beings. As you choose to learn and practice these Teachings, you will significantly reduce then eliminate any harm that you are putting into the world through your unknowing of true reality. The unEnlightened mind does not understand what it does not understand.

You are now applying time, effort, energy, and resources to improving the condition of the mind, the condition of your life, and, thus, the condition of the world through investigating The Teachings to acquire wisdom. The world becomes a better place when we each individually choose to improve our own life practice taking responsibility for our own intentions, speech, actions, and livelihood while improving our wisdom and mental discipline.

I admire individuals who choose to walk towards harmlessness. I admire individuals who choose to realize there is a better way of life and create that better way of life for themselves through seeking guidance. And, I admire individuals who do not shrink back from the struggle to move the mind towards Enlightenment when the natural tendency might be to remain complacent.

Why have I chosen to share these Teachings with you? 

“That it may be for the benefit and peacefulness of the multitude (many people), out of compassion for the world, for the benefit and peacefulness of heavenly beings and humans”. (Gotama Buddha)

“Because if they understand even a single sentence, that will lead to their welfare and peacefulness for a long time”. (Gotama Buddha)

May you discover the freedom associated with a mind that is peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy permanently - the Enlightened mind.

As you need help to learn, reflect, and practice these Teachings, you are welcome to seek guidance which is available openly and freely to “all beings”.