諸經要集 13.34

13.34

Fourth is considering one's parents and siblings, household and kinsmen, friends and acquaintances, affection and pleasures, wealth and high station, official ranks and stipends, riding in processions and sightseeing, wives, concubines, and children, thereby indulging in arrogance, eating and drinking to one's heart's content, with young sons and attendants trotting about in fine raiment, admiring their own shadows as they walk, despising the multitude, and reckoning oneself without peer. Slaves, retainers, fine horses, and assorted beasts go in and out at will without measure or limit; one does not examine before and after, but thinks that one's retinue and servants can be retained forever at will. When past retributions suddenly arrive, like hot water melting snow, fear enters the heart, and one begs to be rescued from calamity. How could one's wishes be granted? With an inhalation, life is cut off, and the consciousness departs alone. Parents and siblings, wives, children, and kinsmen, friends and acquaintances, cherished loved ones and family members—all are left behind alone. Official rank, wealth, goods, and servants scatter in every direction, fleeting like shooting stars. If one wishes to seek freedom from death, it can never be attained. The Buddha addressed the bhikṣus: 'From antiquity to the present, since heaven and earth were established, none have escaped the suffering of these four calamities. It is on account of these four sufferings that a Buddha appears in the world.'