299 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
299 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
Eternal -- In A World of Transience
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World Scripture
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ETERNAL -- IN A WORLD OF TRANSIENCE
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Ultimate Reality is eternal and unchanging. The monotheistic religious claim
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is that God is absolute, eternal, and unchanging; a similar teaching applies to
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other religious conceptions of the Absolute: Nirvana, Dhamma, the Dharmakaya,
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the Tao, and in the I Ching the ground of Change itself. The complementary
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assertion, which is central to Buddhism and other Eastern religions but also
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found in analogous expressions in the monotheistic faiths, is that all beings,
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things, and phenomena in the world are transient, impermanent, conditioned, and
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hence less than truly Real. These two doctrines are presented together as the
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positive and negative poles of a single truth.
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Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!
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1. Christianity. Bible, Revelation 4.8
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"Holy, holy, holy"--in heaven, on earth, and to all eternity.
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2. Judaism. Targum Jonathan, Isaiah 6.3
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The great, unborn Self is undecaying, immortal, undying, fearless, infinite.
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3. Hinduism. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.25
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I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
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4. Christianity. Bible, Revelation 22.13
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Then did I recognize Thee in mind,
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to be the first and the last, O Lord,
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5. Zoroastrianism. Avesta, Yasna 31.8
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Revelation 4.8 and Targum Jonathan: These two passages illustrate the operation
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of midrashic exegesis, where each detail in the word of God is plumbed for its
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meaning. The question, "Why is the word 'holy' repeated three times in Isaiah
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6.3 (p. 99)?" is answered by a three-fold description of God's range over time
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and space. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.25: Cf. Bhagavad Gita 13.32, p. 115.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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All that is on the earth will perish:
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But will abide for ever the face of thy Lord--
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full of Majesty, Bounty, and Honor.
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6. Islam. Qur'an 55.26-27
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In primal time, in all time, was the Creator;
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Nothing is real but the Eternal.
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Nothing shall last but the Eternal.
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7. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Japuji 1, M.1, p. 1
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The spirit of the valley never dies.
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It is called the subtle and profound female.
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The gate of the subtle and profound female
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Is the root of heaven and earth.
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It is continuous, and seems to be always existing.
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Use it and you will never wear it out.
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8. Taoism. Tao Te Ching 6
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Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God
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of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what
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shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I Am Who I Am." And he said, "Say
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this to the people of Israel, 'I Am' has sent me to you."
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9. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Exodus 3.13-15
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The divine Mind maintains all identities, from a blade of grass to a star, as
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distinct and eternal. Nothing is real and eternal--nothing is Spirit--but God
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and His idea.
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10. Christian Science. Science and Health
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Nothing can ever destroy the Buddha Nature. The nature of self is nothing but
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the undisclosed storehouse of the Tathagata. Such a storehouse can never be
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broken, put to fire, or plundered. Though it is not possible to destroy or see
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it, one can know it when one attains the unsurpassed enlightenment.
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11. Buddhism. Mahaparinirvana Sutra 220
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There is no changing the words of God; that is the mighty triumph.
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12. Islam. Qur'an 10.64
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The Truth is that which is received from Heaven. By nature it is the way it is
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and cannot be changed.
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13. Taoism. Chuang Tzu 31
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Tao Te Ching 6: Cf. Tao Te Ching 4, p. 525. This describes the eternal
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feminine spirit; see p. 147. Exodus 3.13-15: This passage, from Moses'
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encounter with God at the burning bush, gives the traditional etymology of the
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name of God, the Tetragrammaton YHWH, as The Eternal, 'I Am.' This verse is
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also the foundation of Christian and Jewish theological discussion of God's
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unchangeability and eternity. For another traditional Jewish interpretation of
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this passage, see Torah Yesharah, p. 506. Mahaparinivana Sutra 8.12: Cf. the
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concept of Tathatagagarbha in Lion's Roar of Queen Srimala 13, p. 117. Chuang
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Tzu 31: Cf. Chuang Tzu 6, p. 152.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Change has neither thought nor action, because it is in the state of absolute
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quiet and inactivity, and when acted on, it immediately penetrates all things.
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If it were not the most spirit-like thing in the world, how can it take part in
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this universal transformation?
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14. Confucianism. I Ching, Great Commentary 1.10.4
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Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.
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15. Christianity. Bible, Hebrews 13.8
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The Dharmadhatu (Absolute Truth) abides forever, whether the Tathagata appears
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in the world or not.
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16. Buddhism. Lankavatara Sutra 61
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Subhuti, if anyone should say that the Tathagata comes or goes or sits or
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reclines, he fails to understand my teaching. Why? Because "Thus Gone"
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(Tathagata) has neither whence nor whither, and therefore He is called
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"Tathagata."
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17. Buddhism. Diamond Sutra 29
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Listen each of you to the secret, mysterious, and supernatural power of the
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Thus Come One. All the worlds of gods, men, and demons declare, "Now has
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Sakyamuni Buddha, coming forth from the palace of the Sakya clan, and seated at
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the place of enlightenment, not far from the city of Gaya, attained to Perfect
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Enlightenment." But, good sons, since in fact I became Buddha, there have
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passed infinite, boundless, hundreds, thousands, myriads, millions, trillions
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of eons.... From that time forward I have constantly been preaching and
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teaching in this universe, and also leading and benefiting the living in other
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places in hundreds, thousands, myriads, millions, trillions of numberless
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domains.
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18. Buddhism. Lotus Sutra 16
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I Ching, Great Commentary 1.10.4: Cf. Tao Te Ching 14, p. 89; 25, p. 95; Chuang
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Tzu 6, p. 584. Lankavatara Sutra 61: Part of a longer passage given on p. 155.
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Diamond Sutra 29: 'Tathagata' is a title given to the Buddha. It means "Comes
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thus far," i.e., the one who has arrived at the goal of enlightenment. Lotus
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Sutra 16: See also the parallel passage in verse, pp. 647f, 663. The language
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here has links to the concept of the Day of Brahman--see Bhagavad Gita 8.17-20,
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p. 122--and with the thought that there is an historic manifestation of the
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Eternal Buddha in every eon, much as with the Hindu doctrine of avatars--see
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Bhagavad Gita 4.7-8, p. 662. In the doctrine of the Trikaya (Three Bodies) of
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Mahayana Buddhism, the Eternal Buddha of the Lotus Sutra is the Sambhogakaya
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(Glorified Body), while the historical Buddha is the Nirmanakaya (Accommodated
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Body). The Ultimate Buddha, the Dharmakaya, is Reality itself; cf. Lion's Roar
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of Queen Srimala 5, p. 652; Garland Sutra 37, p. 96.
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The One who, himself without color, by the manifold application of his power
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Distributes many colors in his hidden purpose,
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And into whom, its end and its beginning, the whole world dissolves--
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He is God!
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19. Hinduism. Svestasvatara Upanishad 4.1
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Of old thou didst lay the foundation of the earth,
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and the heavens are the work of thy hands;
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They will perish,
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but thou dost endure.
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They will all wear out like a garment,
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thou changest them like raiment, and they pass away.
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But thou art the same,
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and thy years have no end.
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20. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Psalm 102.25-27
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Who knows the Eternal's day
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and the Eternal's night,
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Each lasting a thousand ages, truly
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knows day and night.
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At daybreak all things are disclosed;
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they arise from the unmanifest.
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At dusk they dissolve into
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the very same unmanifest.
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Again and again, the whole multitude
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of creatures is born, and when night falls,
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Is dissolved, without their will,
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and at daybreak, is born again.
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Beyond that unmanifest is
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another, everlasting unmanifest
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Which has no end, although
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every creature perish.
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This is called the imperishable
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unmanifest and the highest goal.
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Who reaches it does not return.
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It is my supreme abode.
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21. Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 8.17-21
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With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
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22. Christianity. Bible, 2 Peter 3.8
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Psalm 102.25-27: Cf. Hebrews 1.10-12. Bhagavad Gita 8.17-21: This is a
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description of the Day of Brahman, the ever-repeating cycle of cosmic time,
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measured in myriads of years, between the creation of one universe and its
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dissolution. In some cosmologies the Day of Brahman is divided into the four
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yugas, of which the Kali Yuga is the final period before the next cosmic
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dissolution. Cf. Bhagavad Gita 9.4-10, p. 134; Katha Upanishad 1.3.15, p. 581;
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Laws of Manu 1.81-86, p. 433. 2 Peter 3.8: This is a quotation from Psalm 90.4.
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The image of The Marrying Maiden.
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Thus the superior man
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understands the transitory
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In the light of the eternity of the end.
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23. Confucianism. I Ching 54: The Marrying Maiden
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Even ornamented royal chariots wear out. So too the body reaches old age. But
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the Dhamma of the Good grows not old. Thus do the Good reveal it among the
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Good.
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24. Buddhism. Dhammapada 151
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The impermanent [objects of the senses] have no reality; reality lies in the
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eternal. Those who have seen the boundary between these two have attained the
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end of all knowledge. Realize that which pervades the universe and is
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indestructible; no power can affect this unchanging, imperishable reality.
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25. Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 2.16-17
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All flesh is grass,
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and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
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The grass withers, the flower fades,
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when the breath of the Lord blows upon it...
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The grass withers, the flower fades,
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but the word of our God will stand forever.
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26. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Isaiah 40.6-8
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By detachment from appearances, abide in Real Truth. So I tell you, Thus shall
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you think of all this fleeting world,
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A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream;
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A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
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A flickering lamp, a phantom, a dream.
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27. Buddhism. Diamond Sutra 32
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The wise man looks upon life as a mere dew drop which quivers upon the tip of a
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blade of kusa grass, to be whisked off or blown away by the breeze at any
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moment. The life of an unwise, imprudent, and ignorant person is likewise as
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transient as said dew drop.
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28. Jainism. Acarangasutra 5.5
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I Ching 54: Human relationships are likely to be successful only if they are
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grounded in the perspective of eternity. Bhagavad Gita 2.16-17: Cf. Bhagavad
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Gita 18.61-62, p. 553. Isaiah 40.6-8: Cf. Ecclesiastes 3.1-8, p. 382. Diamond
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Sutra 32: This is the fundamental stance of Buddhism towards worldly phenomena.
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It lies at the heart of Buddhism's ethic of nonattachment and it is comforting
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counsel to those who are suffering from pain, loss, or bereavement. See the
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Parable of the Mustard Seed, pp. 381f.
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Who comes, finally comes not. Who goes, finally goes not. Why? Who comes is
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not known to come. Who goes is not known to go. Who appears is finally not to
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be seen.
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29. Buddhism. Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti 5
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In the world, inclusive of its gods, substance is seen in what is
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insubstantial. They are tied to their psychophysical beings and so they think
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that there is some substance, some reality in them.
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But whatever be the phenomenon through which they think of seeking their
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self-identity, it turns out to be transitory. It becomes false, for what lasts
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for a moment is deceptive.
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The state that is not deceptive is Nibbana: that is what the men of worth know
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as being real. With this insight into reality their hunger ends: cessation,
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total calm.
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30. Buddhism. Sutta Nipata 756-58
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Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti 5: This statement is from an exchange between
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Manjusri and Vimalakirti when the Bodhisattva visits Vimalalakirti on his sick
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bed. Like any phenomenal existence, they conclude that Vimalakirti's illness
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is ultimately unreal. This is a general statement of the concept of sunya,
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that all things are empty of any nature that is independent, discrete, and
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permanent. Also, compare John 14-15, where the going of Jesus is seen as a
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coming, but both the going and coming are resolved in a presence. Sutta Nipata
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756-58: Cf. Udana 80, p. 75.
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