Sutra: Life is illusory, all foam and bubbles

Behold, as I disappear and vanish! Is it magic or an illusion! Ouch!!! What the h? (TikTok)

 

This Dharma is to be verified.

What is "life"? It's not what is seen going on out there. It is what is seen going on and the one who wonders what it is out there, in here. Who or what is watching is more important than the stimuli seen.

Behold, a bubble, foam on a great river, a magic trick, empty, not at all what it seems -- misleading (appearing permanent when it's only change hurtling toward destruction, promising satisfying pleasure and fulfillment when all that arises is disappointment).

Foam on sacred river Ganges (pinterest.com)

It seems so real, so personal when it's all impersonal and devoid of self, bringing about a world of hurt and pain. Better to awaken from the dream than to keep spinning and spiraling in the continued wandering on that is samsara. What is awake? Bodhi (enlightenment). What is it be to be free? Nirvana.

SUTRA: "Discourse on Bubbles and Foam"

泡沫—Bhikkhu Anālayo (trans.), Saṁyuktāgama 201-300, "Discourse on Bubbles and Foam" (SA 265), suttacentral.net); edited and expanded by Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly

Thus have I heard. At one time the Blessed One was staying in Ayojjhā, on the banks of the river Ganges.

At that time the Buddha said: “Meditators, it is just as if a mass of foam were to drift on a great wave that has arisen on the river Ganges and a clear-sighted person were to carefully examine and analyze it.

“At the time of carefully examining and analyzing, one finds that there is nothing to it, nothing stable, nothing substantial, nothing solid. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial to a mass of foam.

Life, formless, gains form that comes to naught.

“In the same way, on carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing form [this body, materiality, the four great elements] of the past, present, or future, internal or external, gross or subtle, sublime or repugnant, far or near, a meditator finds that there is nothing to it, nothing stable, nothing substantial, it has no solidity.

“It is like a disease, like a carbuncle, like a thorn, like a killer. It is impermanent, disappointing (dukkha), empty (sunnata), and not-self. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in bodily form.

Brownian motion inside cell, a bubble with tinier bubbles in it, like atoms full of kalapas

Carbuncles are by definition a painful impurity of the body, a dangerous blemish (fity.club)

.

The formless taking form fascinates for a while.

“Meditators, it is just as when during a great rain there are bubbles on the surface of water, arising and ceasing one after another, and a clear-sighted person carefully examines, attends to, and analyzes them. At the time of carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing them, one finds that there is nothing in them, nothing stable, nothing substantial, they have no solidity. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in water bubbles.

“In the same way, a meditator carefully examines, attends to, and analyzes whatever feeling, past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, sublime or repugnant, far or near. When carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing it, the meditator finds that there is nothing in it, nothing stable, nothing substantial, it has no solidity; it is like a disease, like a carbuncle, like a thorn, like a killer, it is impermanent, disappointing, empty, and not self. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in feeling.

A mirage exists but is not what it seems.

“Meditators, it is just as when towards the end of spring or the beginning of summer, in the middle of the day when the sun is strong and there are no clouds and no rain, a shimmering mirage appears, and a clear-sighted person carefully examines, attends to, and analyzes it. At the time of carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing it, one finds that there is nothing in it, nothing stable, nothing substantial, it has no solidity. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in a mirage.

“In the same way, a meditator carefully examines, attends to, and analyzes whatever perception, past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, sublime or repugnant, far or near. When carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing it, the meditator finds that there is nothing in it, nothing stable, nothing substantial, it has no solidity; it is like a disease, like a carbuncle, like a thorn, like a killer, it is impermanent, disappointing, empty, and not self. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in perception.

Like an onion, there's no core in a plantain trunk

“Meditators, it is just as if a clear-sighted person in need of heartwood takes hold of a sharp axe and enters a mountain forest, where one sees a large plantain tree that is thick, straight, and tall. One cuts it down at the root, chops off the treetop, and gradually takes off sheath after sheath, all of which are without a solid core. And one carefully examines, attends to, and analyzes them. At the time of carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing them, one finds that there is nothing in them, nothing stable, nothing substantial, they have no solidity. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in a plantain tree.

Heartwood is the pith, the core, the essence.

“In the same way, a meditator carefully examines, attends to, and analyzes whatever formations, past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, sublime or repugnant, far or near. When carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing formations, the meditator finds that there is nothing in them, nothing stable, nothing substantial, they have no solidity; they are like a disease, like a carbuncle, like a thorn, like a killer, they are impermanent, disappointing, empty, and not self. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in formations.

Behold, nothing! It was all just an illusion.

“Meditators, it is just as if a master magician or the disciple of a master magician at a crossroads creates the magical illusion of an elephant troop, a horse troop, a chariot troop, and an infantry troop, and a clear-sighted person carefully examines, attends to, and analyzes it. At the time of carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing it, one finds that there is nothing in it, nothing stable, nothing substantial, it has no solidity. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in a magical illusion.

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The self = Five Aggregates clung to as "self"

“In the same way, a meditator carefully examines, attends to, and analyzes whatever consciousness, past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, sublime or repugnant, far or near. When carefully examining, attending to, and analyzing it, the meditator finds that there is nothing in it, nothing stable, nothing substantial, it has no solidity; it is like a disease, like a carbuncle, like a thorn, like a killer, it is impermanent, disappointing, empty, and not self. Why is that? It is because there is nothing solid or substantial in consciousness.”

Illusion begets misery. Awaken
to unending peace of wisdom.

At that time the Blessed One, to emphasize the significance of what he had just declared to be true, uttered these stanzas:

“Contemplate bodily form as a mass of foam,

Feelings as bubbles on water,

Perceptions as the glare in spring,

Formations as sheaths of a plantain,

And the nature of any consciousness like a magical illusion,

As the Kinsman of the Sun [the Scythian of the solar race] has explained.

“Carefully attending to it from all sides

With right mindfulness, examining it well,

It is found to be insubstantial and without solidity,

There is no self nor anything that belongs to a self

In this bodily aggregate, which is disappointing.

“The Great Wise One has analyzed and explained that,

Bereft of three things,

The body will be abandoned:

Vitality, heat, and consciousness of every kind,

Bereft of these, the remaining form falls apart

And is forever abandoned in a tomb,

A discarded log, without conscious perceptions.

“This body is always in this way

Illusory and deceptive, enticing foolish beings.

It is like a killer, a poison-tip thorn,

Being without solidity.

“For a meditator who energetically cultivates

Contemplation of this body, this aggregate of form,

Day and night constantly engaging it

With right view, with mindfulness well established,

Conditioned formations will cease

And one attains the deathless, the cool peace.”

Then the monastics, hearing what the Buddha had said, rejoiced and approved of what he had said.

• 泡沫—Bhikkhu Anālayo (trans.), Saṁyuktāgama 201-300, "Discourse on Bubbles and Foam" (SA 265), from the Connected or Linked Discourses (Samyutta Nikaya) 201-300, preserved in the Agamas, suttacentral.net)
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