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The Round of Rebirth - Samsara
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An ocean of tears
 "Which is greater, the tears you have shed
while transmigrating & wandering this long, long time — crying
& weeping from being joined with what is displeasing, being
separated from what is pleasing — or the water in the four great
oceans?... This is the greater: the tears you have shed...
"Long have you (repeatedly) experienced the death of a mother.
The tears you have shed over the death of a mother while
transmigrating & wandering this long, long time — crying &
weeping from being joined with what is displeasing, being separated
from what is pleasing — are greater than the water in the four
great oceans. "Long have you (repeatedly) experienced the death
of a father... the death of a brother... the death of a sister...
the death of a son... the death of a daughter... loss with regard to
relatives... loss with regard to wealth... loss with regard to
disease. The tears you have shed over loss with regard to disease
while transmigrating & wandering this long, long time — crying
& weeping from being joined with what is displeasing, being
separated from what is pleasing — are greater than the water in
the four great oceans. "Why is that? From an inconstruable
beginning comes transmigration. A beginning point is not evident,
though beings hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving are
transmigrating & wandering on. Long have you thus experienced
stress, experienced pain, experienced loss, swelling the cemeteries
— enough to become disenchanted with all fabricated things, enough
to become dispassionate, enough to be released." — Sutta Nipata XV.3
This precious human birth
"Monks, suppose that this great earth were
totally covered with water, and a man were to toss a yoke with a
single hole there. A wind from the east would push it west, a wind
from the west would push it east. A wind from the north would push
it south, a wind from the south would push it north. And suppose a
blind sea-turtle were there. It would come to the surface once
every one hundred years. Now what do you think: would that blind
sea-turtle, coming to the surface once every one hundred years,
stick his neck into the yoke with a single hole?" "It
would be a sheer coincidence, lord, that the blind sea-turtle,
coming to the surface once every one hundred years, would stick
his neck into the yoke with a single hole." "It's
likewise a sheer coincidence that one obtains the human state.
It's likewise a sheer coincidence that a Tathagata, worthy &
rightly self-awakened, arises in the world. It's likewise a sheer
coincidence that a doctrine & discipline expounded by a
Tathagata appears in the world. Now, this human state has been
obtained. A Tathagata, worthy & rightly self-awakened, has
arisen in the world. A doctrine & discipline expounded by a
Tathagata appears in the world. "Therefore your duty is the
contemplation: 'This is stress...This is the origination of
stress...This is the cessation of stress...This is the path of
practice leading to the cessation of stress.'" — Sutta Nipata LVI.48
Why do we wander in samsara?
"It's because of not understanding and not
penetrating four things that we have wandered & transmigrated
on such a long, long time, you & I. Which four? "It's
because of not understanding and not penetrating noble virtue that
we have wandered & transmigrated on such a long, long time,
you & I. "It's because of not understanding and not
penetrating noble concentration that we have wandered &
transmigrated on such a long, long time, you & I. "It's
because of not understanding and not penetrating noble discernment
that we have wandered & transmigrated on such a long, long
time, you & I. "It's because of not understanding and not
penetrating noble release that we have wandered &
transmigrated on such a long, long time, you & I. "But
when noble virtue is understood & penetrated, when noble
concentration... noble discernment... noble release is understood
& penetrated, then craving for becoming is destroyed, the
guide to becoming (craving & attachment) is ended, there is
now no further becoming." — Anguttara Nikaya IV.1
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Source: Prepared by jtb for Access to Insight. Reproduced and
reformatted from Access to Insight edition © 2005
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted, reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish, however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
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