Part 6 - We are impermanent because our lives never wax but always wane

If even a vajra-like body* is impermanent, how can we depend on this body, as insubstantial as a plantain tree. That is the instruction:

Therefore, though it is certain that we are going to die,
Of where and when and how there is no certainty.
Our life-span never waxing, is always on the wane,
Conditions of death are many, and those of living few.
Life has no time to waste, so keep right to the point.
From this day onwards, what makes sense is to work with Dharma.

*= Omitted … “that has been obtained.”

Just by being born, death is certain. The White Lotus of Holy Dharma Sutra (Saddharma-pundariika- sutra, dam pa’i chos padma dkar po) says:

Wherever there is birth, death will be there too.
Wherever there is gathering, there is dissolution.

Though time is beginningless, everyone has died. The Sutra of Excellent Night (mtshan mo bzang mo’i mdo) says:

Who has ever known that they will not die tomorrow?
Therefore this very day we should exert ourselves.
The Lord of Death and his considerable tribe,
Neither of the two are any friends of ours.

Anywhere in the world, death comes without warning. Walking, standing, or whatever we are doing, we should be ready, thinking, "Is it today that I will die?" The Sutra of Good Army says (dpung ba bzang po’i mdo):

Mountains or steep ravines, defiles or precipices,
At home or in the streets, or on a river bank,
Somewhere on the earth will be my last abode.
This is something that simply will not be divulged.
This completely removes my enjoyment of the world.

Because of conditions, the kind of death we shall have too is uncertain.  The scriptures say:

Some people die from choking on their food.
Others die from taking their medicines,
Not to mention truly unfavorable conditions.
Therefore the kind of death is never certain at all.

Our life-spans never increase, but always grow shorter. Death is certain. The Discourse on Impermanence (mi rtag pa’i gtam) says:

Like the rock of a pool that was cut by falling water,
There is never increase, but always only decrease.
Since all of us must enter on the path of death,
Who can rely upon this incidental life?

Entering into Enlightened Conduct says:

Day as well as night, it^[1] never stays at all.
This life, eternally fleeting, is getting ever-shorter Having gotten shorter, it will not then increase. Why would one like me not be doomed to die?

Few conditions are required for death other than birth in a womb. Death is certain. The Discourse on Impermanence, says:

Though the conditions of death are a numerous multitude,
The conditions of being born are only a very few.
Therefore, since it is certain that we are soon to die,
Let us keep the holy Dharma in our hearts.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Life.