宗喀巴_三主要道英文版及解释-第5章

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　Contemplation　on　Death

So　then　through　these　contemplations　of　one's　precious　human　existence；　one　abandons　all　non…beneficial　action。　Then　through　contemplating　how　difficult　it　is　to　find　such　a　human　existence；　one　will　seek　out　what　will　take　the　essence　of　this　precious　human　existence；　that　is　to　say；　one　will　put　a　lot　of　effort　into　engaging　in　the　practice　of　the　Dharma　through　seeing　that　one　has　in　one's　hands　the　incredible　opportunity　to　make　use　of　this　life；　and　then　the　preciousness　of　one's　life　won't　be　carried　off　by　the　thief　of　laziness。　So　here　we　have　to　understand　that　this　precious　human　life　which　we　have　is　not　something　which　is　going　to　last　forever　…　at　some　point　there　is　going　to　be　the　separation　of　the　mind　and　the　body。　So　when　we　talk　about　having　a　life…force　within　us；　this　life…force　is　basically　referring　to　one's　physical　body　and　one's　mind　being　joined　together；　so　that　when　this　joining　of　these　two　aggregates　is　broken；　this　is　what　is　known　as　'death'；　or　the　separation　of　the　life…force。　So　when　this　occurs；　one's　physical　form　remains　and　is　buried　or　whatever　and　then　aggregate　of　consciousness　goes　on　to　one's　future　existence。　So　this　is　what　is　meant　by　'death'；　and　this　is　something　which　is　definitely　going　to　happen　to　all　of　us。　Now　death　is　something　which　is　definitely　going　to　happen　to　all　of　us；　but　the　time　of　our　death　is　something　which　is　not　sure；　not　definite。　If　it　were　definite　then　we　could　mark　it　on　the　calendar　and　then　just　practice　a　bit　beforehand；　but　however　that　is　not　the　case　…　we　could　pass　away　at　any　time。　So　this　being　the　case；　we　should　really　strive　to　engage　in　the　practice　of　the　Dharma　while　we　have　the　chance　to　do　that。　Then　the　third　contemplation　on　death　is　that　nothing　is　of　any　use　to　us　at　the　time　of　death　apart　from　the　amount　of　time　we　have　engaged　in　the　practice　of　the　Dharma。　The　reason　for　this　is　if　we　look　at　our　predicament　…　when　we　are　dying；　no　matter　how　rich　we　are；　all　our　wealth　gets　left　behind；　no　matter　how　many　friends　or　associates　we　have；　they　all　get　left　behind；　even　our　body　which　we　have　striven　so　hard　to　protect　and　adorn　and　make　look　beautiful　…　this　at　the　time　of　death　gets　left　behind；　and　all　that　goes　on　to　the　future　existence　is　the　aggregate　of　one's　mind　and　the　amount　of　positive　potential　and　Dharma　practice　which　one　has　imprinted　upon　the　aggregate　of　one's　consciousness。　So　then　we　should　contemplate　that　not　only　do　we　have　this　precious　human　existence　which　is　difficult　to　find　and　has　great　meaning；　but　we　should　strive　to　put　this　into　use　through　contemplating　the　great　purpose　of　human　life　and　how　difficult　it　is　to　achieve　that；　through　contemplating　that　we　are　definitely　going　to　die；　that　the　time　of　our　death　is　uncertain；　and　that　the　only　thing　that　will　be　of　any　use　to　us　at　the　time　of　death　is　how　much　Dharma　practice　we　have　done　in　our　life。

So　the　second　line　then：

　　　　There　is　no　time　to　waste；
　　　　reverse　attraction　to　this　life…

So　here　what　we　are　advised　to　do　is　to　engage　in　the　practices　which　we　have　gone　through　…　contemplating　the　preciousness　of　one's　human　existence；　how　it　is　something　difficult　to　e　by　and　has　great　meaning　and　that　it　is　not　something　which　is　going　to　last　but　rather　is　something　that　is　at　some　point　going　to　pass　away。　So　through　these　contemplations；　we　e　to　the　state　of　reversing　attraction　to　this　life。　The　sign　of　this　is　that　we　do　not　engage　in　any　worldly　actions；　that　is　to　say；　actions　which　will　bring　about　a　result　in　this　life；　rather　we　are　striving　to　utilise　all　our　time　to　generate　positive　potential　and　positive　Dharma　training　that　will　be　of　use　to　us　in　future　lives。　So　once　that　has　been　developed　fully　within　us；　we　can　be　said　to　be　on　our　way　with　the　practice　which　is　in　mon　with　an　individual　of　lesser　capacity。　Then　we　should　try　to　emulate　the　great　Kadampa　geshe　Potowa　who　used　to　spend　all　his　time　engaged　in　the　practice　of　meditation　or　explaining　the　Dharma　or　engaging　in　different　kinds　of　practice。　He　was　continually　meditating；　reading　Dharma；　explaining　the　Dharma　…　he　wasn't　an　individual　like　us　who　runs　around　doing　this　and　that；　but　rather　had　just　put　his　mind　solely　into　Dharma　practice；　so　we　should　strive　to　emulate　such　an　individual。

Contemplation　on　the　Karmic　Law

So　then　the　text　goes　on　to　tell　us　to：

　　　　reverse　attraction　to　future　lives；
　　　　think　repeatedly　of　the　infallible　effects　of　karma
　　　　and　the　misery　of　this　world。

So　then　one　has　a　human　existence　now；　if　one　turns　one's　attention　away　from　this　life　and　directs　it　towards　one's　future　lives；　the　very　best　one　can　hope　to　achieve　is　another　human　existence　like　the　one　we　have　now　or　perhaps　birth　as　a　god　or　as　a　demigod　（thus　the　three　realms　of　bliss；　or　three　higher　realms）。　But　if　we　investigate　those　three　higher　realms；　they　are　not　something　which　is　stable；　that　is　to　say；　they　are　not　going　to　last　for　a　long　time　…　even　having　been　born　in　those　states　we　will　inevitably　fall　from　those　states　when　the　time　of　our　death　es。　So　the　way　we　can　reverse　attraction　towards；　or　thinking　solely　about；　one's　future　existence　is　thus　through　contemplating　the　karmic　law；　that　is　to　say；　the　law　of　cause　and　effect。　So　here　this　is　a　very　profound　subject；　something　which　is　quite　difficult　to　go　into　great　detail　upon　in　such　a　short　space　of　time；　but　if　we　go　through　the　outline　of　four。　Initially　we　should　understand　that　karma；　or　action；　is　something　which　is　definite；　its　increase　is　also　something　which　is　definite；　and　then　one　will　not　get　certain　results；　for　example　a　positive　result；　unless　one　engages　in　a　positive　action；　that　is　to　say　the　cause　of　such　a　result；　and　one　won't　get　a　result　from　which　one　hasn't　planted　the　cause　for　its　arising。　So　if　we　look　at　this　outline　of　four　serially：　Initially　then　that　karma；　or　action；　is　definite。　This　means　that　if　we　engage　in　a　positive　action　it　is　definite　that　the　result　of　such　an　action；　or　such　a　karma；　will　be　something　positive。　For　example　our　human　life　now　is　the　result　of　engaging　in　a　positive　cause　in　a　past　existence；　and　thus　this　is　the　ripening　effect　of　that　cause。　Now　the　doubt　can　e　…　if　someone　is　born　as　a　human　and　is　continually　ill　or　undergoes　a　great　amount　of　difficulty　in　their　life；　then　we　might　feel　'well；　that　person　is　born　as　a　human　which；　you　say；　is　the　result　of　a　positive　action；　however；　their　human　existence　is　not　anything　particularly　joyous；　anything　particularly　blissful　…　so　how　can　that　be　the　result　of　a　positive　cause？'　So　here　we　should　understand　a　distinction　between　the　different　kinds　of　causes　and　the　different　kinds　of　results　of　those　causes。　The　very　fact　that　a　sick　individual　has　a　human　body　is　the　result　of　a　positive　seed　which　was　planted　sometime　in　a　previous　existence。　However；　the　various　difficulties　that　this　individual　undergoes　are　not　the　result　of　the　same　cause；　they　are　rather　the　results　of　different　causes；　or　different　karmas。　That　is　to　say；　that　individual　has　not　only　mitted　positive　actions　in　the　past；　but　has　also　mitted　negative　actions；　the　ripening　results　of　which　are　manifest　as　various　difficulties；　that　is　to　say；　illness　etc。　So　we　can　also　understand　this　in　reverse　…　if　we　look　at　certain　kinds　of　animals；　for　example；　dogs　and　cats　…　even　though　they　are　members　of　what　we　call　the　animal　kingdom；　or　are　included　in　the　lower　realms　of　existence；　then　they　can　still　have　the　results　of　having　mitted　positive　causes　in　a　previous　existence。　For　example；　we　see　dogs　that　are　very；　very　beautiful；　have　very　beautiful　barking；　cats　that　have　very　beautiful　purring　and　so　forth；　very　beautiful　fur；　very　beautiful　tails　etc。　So　these　results　are　not　the　results　of　negative　causes；　or　negatives　karmas；　but　rather　are　the　result　of　positive　causes；　even　though　the　basis　for　their　ripening　is　an　inferior　one　which　is　brought　about　through　a　negative　karmic　action；　or　a　negative　cause。　Then　the　second　part　of　the　outline　is　that　karmas；　or　actions；　once　mitted；　increase。　We　can　learn　this　through　a　very　simple　worldly　example　…　if　we　plan