諸經要集 20.18

20.18

"What is meant by the suffering of death? At the time when a person dies, the four hundred and four ailments arise all at once. The four great elements are about to disperse, and the soul is ill at ease. When on the verge of death, the knife-like wind dissevers the body, and there is nowhere that does not ache. White sweat flows forth, and both hands grope at the air. Family and kin, both within and without, surround them on left and right, grieving, weeping, their pain piercing to the bone marrow, unable to bear it. The dying person departs: the breath is gone and respiration ceases; the fire is extinguished and the body grows cold. Wind and light lose their order; the soul departs. The corpse lies stiff and straight, conscious of nothing. Within ten days, the flesh rots and blood flows forth; it swells, festers, and stinks so terribly that none can approach. Cast out into the open wilderness, birds devour it. The flesh consumed and the bones dried up, the skull lies in another place. Is this suffering or not?" One replies: "Truly, it is great suffering." "What is meant by the suffering of separation from what is loved? It means that inside and outside the household, brothers, wives, and children fondly cherish one another. In a single morning they are ruined and destroyed, plundered by bandits, and scattered in every direction: father to the east, son to the west, mother to the south, and daughter to the north—none in the same place. Becoming slaves and maidservants, they each cry out in grief, their hearts and flesh torn asunder, in vast obscurity, with no prospect of ever seeing one another again. Is this suffering or not?" One replies: "Truly, it is great suffering."