法苑珠林 52.26

52.26

[The brahmacārin] spoke again to his elder sister: “Your younger brother is already dead; why do you not weep?” The elder sister likewise spoke a parable to the brahmacārin, saying: “It is just like a skillful artisan who goes into the mountains to fell timber and ties it into a large raft, setting it upon the water. Suddenly a great gale blows, smashing the raft apart, and it drifts away following the current, scattered far and wide, front and back, without looking after one another. My younger brother and I are also like this. Brought together through conditions, we were born into the same family. Following the length of life, death and birth are impermanent. Where there is meeting, there must be parting. My brother’s lifespan having ended, each follows his own course; he cannot be saved or protected.”