The Art Of Dying – Hiding From The Wisdom Of Anicca

Hiding from the Wisdom of Anicca

For centuries, humans have devised countless products in an attempt to improve the appearance of the body, disguise its odor, halt its decay, mask its physical and mental pain—all to create an illusion of beauty, happiness, and constancy. Markets flourish selling jewelry, fashionable clothing, hair dyes, makeup, anti-wrinkle creams, deodorants, perfumes, alcohol, drugs, and more.

The truth of the material body has been buried deep in the unconscious mind, and its products are the soil that covers the casket. The Buddha unearthed the truth of material form. He understood experientially its moment-to-moment decay and the overall withering that leads to death, and discovered that the truth of anicca within the body was the key to nibbāna.

We all have inklings of this truth but hide from it, because it exposes a deeply pervasive fear of loss entangled with our strong attachment to the mistaken perception of a permanent body housing an eternal “I.”

Vipassana meditation brings the mind-body’s true nature into view, with its incessant changing quality—anicca. Developing equanimity towards the reality of the mind-body is what breaks down our attachment to it and leads us to liberation.

 

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