The World's Bait

The World's Bait
(Inspired by the verses of Samyutta Nikaya 1:3,4)
Time is fleeting;
Days and nights pass in dizzying succession;
There is no shelter for one who has grown old;
Seeing this danger - the imminence of death,
A seeker of peace should drop the world's bait.
This dream swiftly disappears;

All that is thought and experienced is unreal;
Not a thing remains of this illusion, this play of light.
Seeing this Truth - that everything is erased,
Conditions ceaselessly alter:

There is no refuge to be found in the world.
Incessant change is suffering:
no finality can be reached;
Knowing this danger -
that the worlds are in flux,
Desires cause suffering;

The characteristics of each and every being
1
is manifest from desires;
Desires carry one from one world to the next;
Seeing this Truth -
that personality is a composite of desires,
Involvements with impermanence bring suffering;

Whatever is thought, said, or done,
is like extending one's hands towards a
flame;
Better to be like stone, or dead wood:
unmoved by whatever occurs.
Seeing this danger -
that the world cannot be relied upon,
The Universe is an ocean of shifting conditions;

Where conditions ceaselessly alter
there is no possibility of peace;
Where there are only conditions
there is no self-being, nor anything
possessed.
Seeing this Truth -
that body-and-mind is a temporary creation,
void of independent self-existence,
All appearances are momentary by nature,
2
like shapes that are drawn on water;
Words are empty - mere transient sounds;
Thoughts and deeds are gone
the instant they occur;
Seeing this Truth - that all is Empty, not truly there,
This has come to be;

Consciousness rises from conditions,
like fungus from the damp earth;
And who knows, after death,
where consciousness may rise again?
that wherever modes of self-existence arise,
it is there that such beings are found,
All is an empty dream;

No consciousness can truly be found;
This luminous moment is an illusion,
like a rainbow appearing out of conditions.
Seeing this Truth -
that suffering is an illusion,
This personality is conditioned,

bound up with culture, world, and time;
Feelings, perceptions, and thoughts
3
rise from contact, like passing reflections;
The mind is like a mirror: temporary and unowned.
that this body-mind is an illusion
with no real person within,
Thoughts have neither substance nor origin;

They issue forth from Emptiness
and seek involvement with impermanence;
All knowledge, including the insight into emptiness,
is identical in substance to a dream;
Seeing this Truth -
that thoughts do not actually exist,
No beings are possessed of self;

Perceptions are empty, and occur in Emptiness;
Emptiness is the substance of all that is;
Finding this Truth -
that all is Empty: all is One,
Personal existence is a fleeting illusion;

The notion 'I exist' is merely a deluded thought.
From the perspective of the Eternal,
all things are like sunlight glittering on water:
illusory, uncreated, and undestroyed.
4
Seeing this Truth -
that all formations are momentary
appearances in the Eternal,
Detachment is liberating:
See the world from the perspective of the Eternal.
Know this body and mind as a momentary illusion,
like a rainbow arisen from conditions:
ownerless, and empty of self-being;
like a dewdrop sparkling in the sun.
Seeing this Truth - that there is only the Eternal,
There is only Emptiness:

There are no individually existing beings.
Like leaves that grow from a single tree,
all beings have Emptiness as substance and
base.
Seeing this Truth -
that all is united in Emptiness: all is One,
Whatever has been given a name has no name;

Whatever appears to have form is not actually
there;
Like colours in space, like yesterday's dreams:
such is this illusion;
5
Seeing this Truth -
that absolutely not a thing is,
or has ever been,
The world exists only as thoughts;

Like clouds in the clear sky -
ceaselessly changing,
disappearing without a trace,
but thoughts cling to the momentary shapes;
Thoughts themselves do not exist,
how then can there be an existent world?
Seeing this Truth - that not a thing is,
Speaking only at the right time,

With kind intentions,
Words that are beneficial, and true,
And seeing this danger -
the delusion of opinions and views,
Desires are insatiable;

Beings seek to grasp, to have, to consume,
but all is unattainable by nature;
Experiencing momentary delight
one craves ever more,
but whatever is experienced is an illusion;
6
that to the end of time
there is no such thing as 'enough',
A seeker of peace - stopping right here, right now -
should drop the world's bait.
Not a thing exists;

What is deemed existent is an ignorant conception;
It is the outcome of clinging
to that which does not exist;
Understanding this Truth -
that from ignorance as to the momentariness
of reality,
there arise desires and clinging,
which evoke the false spectre of existence,
accompanied by notions of 'birth' and 'death':
Beings have their origin in sperm and ovum:

What therein could constitute a self?
When death comes, everything disappears:
thus, there is no person here, even now.
Understanding this as it is -
origination and cessation,
This mind is a fleeting experience;

Fuelled by desires it thinks: 'I exist. This exists';
7
But nothing here is existent, all is an illusion:
like a rainbow - appearing from conditions,
like a reflection - ungraspable,
like a mirage - not truly there,
like a walking corpse - an impossibility;
that desires manifest delusion,
Whether one dies from a disease, or from old age,

or in a flood, or in bloody war,
All are merely manners of cessation;
It is of no consequence to the dead,
and the world's continue ceaselessly to
transform.
the undesirability of birth, life, and death,
So long as desires are appeased

life seems wonderful;
But when desires are not met there is
a wailing and gnashing of teeth;
Thus, beings continue on the rounds -
grasping, gaining, losing;
that this vortex of cycles is suffering,
and never ends,
8
Existence is a delusion:
nothing anywhere is possessed of self;
All beings are like bubbles on water:
Arisen out of conditions, they are fleeting
appearances.
Seeing this Truth - that no entity is self-created,
Thoughts are suffering;

The mind, arising from conditions,
becomes entangled in illusions.
Whatever is thought about is impermanent:
what is impermanent is not really there;
Awakening to this Truth -
that thoughts, too, are impermanent,
Understanding that this has arisen from conditions,

and that existence is an error of thoughts,
Purify the mind of all desires and thinking;
Remain focused on breathing -
the pillar of the Miraculous.
that thoughts misconceive what is empty,
9
Forms, feelings, perceptions, thoughts,
consciousness: all are impermanent.
What is impermanent is suffering;
what is suffering is not self.
When this is realised the journey is over.
Penetrating this Truth - the truth of suffering,
All this is a passing illusion.

Desires, involvements, and thoughts
are nothing but suffering.
When this is thoroughly understood what more
could possibly be achieved?
that it is best to be detached,
living alone and aloof,
The worlds are ablaze.

Where will you go that the eye
will not experience pleasure and pain?
Where will you go that the eye
will not experience gain and loss?
Realising this Truth - that there is no perfection
to be found anywhere in the world,
The worlds are ablaze.
10
Where will you go that the mind and senses
will not be surrounded by impermanence?
Where will you go that the mind and senses
do not experience alteration, change and
loss?
Understanding the Truth -
that in impermanence there is only suffering,
If the mind is at peace then all is at peace,

regardless of where one finds oneself.
If the mind is not at peace,
then there is no place on earth that is
peaceful.
Thus, only see to it that the mind is at peace.
Seeing this Truth - that foremost of all duties
is to pacify the mind,
If the mind is liberated then one is free,

regardless of where one finds oneself.
If the mind is not liberated then even a Paradise
will be unsatisfactory.
Thus, only see to it that the mind is liberated.
Seeing this Truth - that wrong thinking is an
affliction which causes suffering,
11
Mind, body, and world are fleeting illusions.
When the mind is liberated and at peace
there is no longer anything existent;
How then could there be any concerns
for the future, the present, or the past?
that greed, hatred, and delusion
are the outcome of clinging,
Just as a mirror can only reflect objects

that have been placed before it,
So the mind occupies itself with contacts
that have been made.
Whatever one is thinking is like a reflection,
or an echo: it is merely the result of contact.
Seeing this Truth -
that the mind is preoccupied with contacts
which are instantly gone - already in the
past,
The mind moves amongst conditions which are

momentary - ceaselessly changing;
The mind too is conditioned
and cannot be grasped;
There is only a cloud of fleeting conditions:
not a thing truly exists.
12
Seeing this Truth -
that all is empty, a momentary illusion,
Whatever is thought about is not truly there;

Thoughts themselves have no real existence.
There is only this Emptiness:
this momentary display.
Seeing this Truth - that not a thing is,
Thinking: 'It exists', one is entangled in the world.

Knowing: 'There is nothing', one is free.
When all is understood to be like an ungraspable
dream, what could one possibly desire?
that reality is a mere construct of thoughts,
Leave aside the temporary world:

Whatever occurs is instantly in the past;
There is nothing in the present:
all is an illusion, a dream;
that all desires are a delusion,
Whatever one is thinking - is it truly important?
13
Lying on one's deathbed will one think:
'These are thoughts I wish to take with me;
these are thoughts to which I will cling' ?
Is it not better, recognising thoughts as topical,
temporary and worthless, to discard them
here and now?
Knowing this Truth - that it is best to dwell in Purity,
Lying on one's deathbed, there is only one security:

To pass from this world with a mind that is Pure -
Free of craving, free of harmfulness,
free of confusion.
Knowing this Truth - that a pure mind
is the greatest of all assets,
At the level of atoms,

where is seeing and hearing to be found?
At the level of atoms,
where are thoughts to be found?
Considering that this body is composed of particles,
all of which are ceaselessly moving and
altering, how can there be consciousness?
Seeing this Truth - that form is Emptiness,
and Emptiness is form,
14
Those who wish to change others, or the world,
are lost in confusion;
Those who endeavour to train and tame
their own selves, arrive at happiness.
How can one possibly enlighten others
when one is not enlightened oneself?
Knowing this Truth -
that the first priority is to be free
of greed, harmfulness, and confusion,
The mind of each and every being is disfigured

with desires, ill-will, and confusion;
Ordinary people, confused, are like monkeys
grasping at the reflections on a pond;
Liberated beings are like the image of the full moon
reflected on the calm clear surface of a lake.
that until one cures one's own mind
of its afflictions,
one will continue to re-arise in worlds
that are base,
The heart is not separate from the body:

body and heart are one;
The body is not separate from the Universe:
the Universe and the body are One.
15
All beings are like corpuscles:
a part of the indivisible Whole.
Understanding this danger -
that greed and ill-will are a disease,
the outcome of confusion,
Which is more important:

the heart, the stomach, or the brain?
If any organ, overcome with greed or ill-will,
were to attempt to seize power,
the entire organism would perish.
Similarly beings, deluded by notions of individuality,
cause suffering for all, and for themselves.
that a healthy organ will be found
in a healthy body,
and a diseased organ will be found
where there is disease,
The antidote to greed is contentment with little;

The antidote to ill-will is friendliness
towards all creatures and beings;
The antidote to confusion is to awaken to
the inescapability of death.
that a state of health
16
is a state of purity and harmlessness,
Abiding in Nothingness one is free:

There is no greed, no ill-will, and no confusion;
There is no grasping, no clinging, and no suffering.
that any wish to heal the world
implies there is a world to be healed,
Abiding in Nothingness one is free:

There is no existence, no birth, and no aging,
no disease, and no death;
There is this dream, but it has no being:
it is not, and never was.
that the subtlest desire
evokes the falsehood of existence,
Involve yourself in the dream

and the dream appears to be real;
Be detached, and the dream is known for what it is.
It is not that there is anyone dreaming,
but that momentary conditions evoke this
illusion.
Observing this Truth -
17
that every instant disappears,
the instant it occurs,
Being attached to the dream, the dream exists.

Being detached, there is nothing existent.
When detached, one knows:
there is nobody here,
and nothing to be done.
Realising this Truth -
that all is a passing show:
nothing truly is, and nothing remains,
A shifting display of conditions,

and not a thing besides;
Existence is merely imagined-
the outcome of clinging.
What is imagined, clung to, and not real -
that is suffering.
Understanding this as it is -
that reality is wondrous,
but ignorance is suffering,
All beings are afflicted with three diseases:

desires, ill-will, and confusion.
Driven along in a diseased state, one suffers,
18
and causes much suffering.
What is the use in seeking knowledge of the world
while one's own mind
is overcome with afflictions?
that every being in the world is afflicted,
and the foremost responsibility
is to cure one's own self,
One who is liberated is forever content:

They appraise the world with impartial calm clarity,
and friendliness towards all beings.
For this indeed is Nibbana -
the extinguishing of desires, ill-will,
and confusion.
that for so long as one is diseased,
nothing will ever be satisfying,
These are to be known as the Asuras -

those who delight in destruction.
These are to be understood as the Devas -
those who feel that conditions of beauty
should be nurtured and preserved.
But all are caught up in desires, ill-will,
and confusion.
19
Penetrating this Truth -
that conditions are impermanent, empty,
and ceaselessly changing,
On the beach, some children delight

in building beautiful sand-castles;
Others delight in smashing castles down.
All are caught up with desires, ill-will, and delusion.
that from the start all is impermanent:
nothing can be gained, nothing is lost,
nothing can be preserved,
One who is wise takes no interest

in formations of sand:
They seem neither to build, nor preserve,
nor destroy.
Understanding the unceasing wash
of the mighty ocean,
they are liberated!
Seeing this Truth -
that the universe is an ocean
of ceaselessly shifting conditions,
Consciousness is nothing more
20
than arisen conditions;
It comes to be,
like a rainbow, a bubble, a burning flame.
It is a fleeting occurrence,
impermanent and unowned.
Seeing this Truth -
that nothing exists apart from the universe,
and the universe is not something separate
from any one thing,
Like a flame igniting,

consciousness does not come from
anywhere.
Like a flame extinguished,
consciousness does not depart.
Like a flame igniting,
consciousness comes back into being.
that what one clings to as 'self'
is merely defined by conditions
of wanting, ill-will, and confusion,
What is 'wanting'?
It is the desire to have, the desire to experience,
the desire to know, and the desire to cease.
From wanting comes the delusion of duality:
21
of an independent subject amongst objects.
that one is defined by one's wants,
What is 'ill-will'?
It is anger, annoyance, resentment, dislike, envy,
ill-feelings, and hatred.
From ill-will comes the delusion of duality:
of an annoyance and one who is annoyed.
that one is defined by qualities of ill-will,
What is 'confusion'?
It is not knowing what is good and what is bad,
what is right and what is wrong;
It is not knowing that all beings are afflicted
with selfish-desires, ill-will, and confusion;
It is not knowing that all things are conditioned;
It is not understanding that all is impermanent,
empty, and fleeting by nature.
It is not knowing that desires are insatiable;
It is not knowing that there is
no independent self-being.
Understanding this danger -
that one is defined by qualities of confusion,
22
What is 'contentment'?
It is the antidote to 'wanting'.
It is ease of living, joy in simplicity,
and happiness with little.
It is being happy with any dwelling, any food,
any clothing, and any medicine;
Like a blind person who suddenly sees,
it is being astonished at the experience of
seeing,
no matter what it is that is seen;
Like a deaf person who suddenly hears,
it is being astonished at the experience of
hearing,
no matter what it is that is heard;
Like a corpse that suddenly raises a thought,
it is being astonished at the fact of thinking,
and not cherishing any particular thoughts.
that contentment leads one to liberation,
What is 'friendliness'?
It is the antidote to 'ill-will'.
It is Friendliness towards all creatures and beings,
wishing them well, being compassionate,
living in harmlessness,
sacrificing one's desires,
23
letting things be what they will.
that friendliness leads one
to sublime happiness
What is 'impartial calm clarity'?

It is the antidote to 'confusion'.
It is knowing that all beings are afflicted
with selfish desires, Ill-will, and confusion.
It is knowing that all things arise from conditions.
It is knowing that all is impermanent,
fleeting, and empty.
It is knowing that the universe is an entirety:
One, and not two.
It is knowing that there is no independent
self-being.
that clarity requires concentration,
mindfulness, and effort,
and is nurtured by calm meditation,
To be stationed in the eternality of death,

and yet cognisant of the light of living;
To have no independent identity,
and be That which animates all entities;
To know that this moment is a fleeting dream,
24
in the midst of eternal Nothingness;
And to be content, friendly, and at peace -
such is the experience of liberation.
that really is a dream
arisen out of conditions,
For one who is stationed in death,

how could there be such a thing as dying?
For one who has never been born,
how could there be any clinging to life?
For one who abides in eternal Nothingness,
how could there be such a thing
as existence?
that liberation is beyond all description,
One who is liberated feels in anonymity

and utmost simplicity;
They have no use for fame, fortune, or recognition.
They are neither superior, nor inferior,
nor equal to anyone else.
that fame and fortune are the province
of desires, ill-will, and delusion,
25
This moment, being presently experienced,
Is already in the past.
Who is it that clings?
And to what?
Seeing this Truth -
that this moment is an empty vision,
Like clouds, altering forms in the sky -

now a dragon, now a castle, now a ship:
Thoughts ceaselessly take on new shapes;
But all disappears into nothingness -
only the blue sky, immaculate, remains.
that thoughts evoke a reality,
but thoughts absolutely do not exist,
Let those who wish to destroy, destroy;

Let those who wish to create and preserve
be happy.
One who is calm and gentle,
friendly and non judgemental,
is beloved by all.
that like clouds in the sky,
like visions in a dream,
26
nothing is created, and nothing destroyed,
One who lets thoughts dissolve

like clouds in the sky,
Who is free of clinging, free of identification,
and free of thoughts,
Is the happiest of all beings.
that this experience is beyond defining,
Nothing to do, nothing to be done,

nothing left undone;
When this dream is over, everything disappears.
For one who sees correctly,
there is nothing, even now.
that this experience has arisen,
but there is nobody here,
The hells pass, and disappear into nothingness.

The heavens pass,
and disappear into nothingness, too.
Not a thing can be clung to,
not a thing can be grasped:
all is ceaselessly changing.
27
Seeing this Truth -
that this moment is a momentary illusion,
If one knows there is nothing,

But still harbours selfish desires, concerns,
and annoyances -
then these are still something!
For one who is truly liberated,
there is sublime purity -
not a thing at all.
that concepts are one thing,
and real freedom another,
Wood that is wet cannot make sense of fire;

But wood that is dry becomes one with the flame.
If one wishes to penetrate wisdom,
one must alter the fundamental nature
of one's being.
that only those who obliterate selfish desires,
ill-will, and confusion
attain to real liberating insight,
Just as clouds are transformations of vapour
28
in the sky,
All formations are transformations of dust
in empty Space.
Seeing, hearing, thinking -
all occur in empty Space.
that all is a passing display,
void of location and time,
Empty Space - all occurs in empty Space:

Space is the foundation and the being.
These bodies, these minds, this consciousness -
all are temporary and unrepeatable,
But Space, beyond all formations, endures.
Seeing this Truth -
that the foundation of all formations
is eternal,
Whether at the level of atoms,

Or in the midst of infinite Space,
All contacts are momentary illusions.
Seeing this Truth -
that whatever occupies the mind
does not actually exist,
29
Where are desires, ill-will, and confusion
to be found?
Seeing this Truth -
that whether at the level of atoms,
or in the midst of infinite Space,
there is no separation between things,

Where are seeing, hearing, tasting, and thinking
to be found?
Seeing this Truth -
that whether at the level of atoms,
or in the midst of infinite Space,
there is no location,
no measurement,
no existence, and no time,
30
*
This moment is like a dream:
surreal, stainless, and empty;
Everything transforms and disappears,
like clouds that leave the sky unstained;
There is no individual being, no existence,
no birth, and no death;
Nothing is created, nothing abides,
and nothing is destroyed;
All thoughts, speech, and actions are empty
and never occur.
There are no beings,

nor any beings that have ever been;
Nobody realises enlightened,
nor is there anyone lost in ignorance;
Nothing is attained, nothing is lost;
There is no time:
no beginning, no middle, and no end;
Everything is beyond definition, and unknowable.
This moment is not, and has never been;

There is no contact, no feeling, no craving,
no clinging;
31
There is no consciousness, no mind-and-body,
no perception, and no thoughts;
The arising and disappearing
of the countless things
are momentary illusions:
like sunlight glittering on water,
like a rainbow in the sky;
There is only the Eternal:
stainless, serene, empty,
indescribable, and unaltering.
Thus:
32

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The World's Bait

(Inspired by the verses of Samyutta Nikaya 1:3,4)

This dream swiftly disappears;

Conditions ceaselessly alter:

Desires cause suffering;

Involvements with impermanence bring suffering;

The Universe is an ocean of shifting conditions;

All appearances are momentary by nature,

This has come to be;

All is an empty dream;

This personality is conditioned,

Thoughts have neither substance nor origin;

No beings are possessed of self;

Personal existence is a fleeting illusion;

There is only Emptiness:

Whatever has been given a name has no name;

The world exists only as thoughts;

Speaking only at the right time,

Desires are insatiable;

Not a thing exists;

Beings have their origin in sperm and ovum:

This mind is a fleeting experience;

Whether one dies from a disease, or from old age,

So long as desires are appeased

Thoughts are suffering;

Understanding that this has arisen from conditions,

All this is a passing illusion.

The worlds are ablaze.

The worlds are ablaze.

If the mind is at peace then all is at peace,

If the mind is liberated then one is free,

Just as a mirror can only reflect objects

The mind moves amongst conditions which are

Whatever is thought about is not truly there;

Thinking: 'It exists', one is entangled in the world.

Leave aside the temporary world:

Whatever one is thinking - is it truly important?

Lying on one's deathbed, there is only one security:

At the level of atoms,

The mind of each and every being is disfigured

The heart is not separate from the body:

Which is more important:

The antidote to greed is contentment with little;

Abiding in Nothingness one is free:

Abiding in Nothingness one is free:

Involve yourself in the dream

Being attached to the dream, the dream exists.

A shifting display of conditions,

All beings are afflicted with three diseases:

One who is liberated is forever content:

These are to be known as the Asuras -

On the beach, some children delight

One who is wise takes no interest

Consciousness is nothing more

Like a flame igniting,

What is 'impartial calm clarity'?

To be stationed in the eternality of death,

For one who is stationed in death,

One who is liberated feels in anonymity

Like clouds, altering forms in the sky -

Let those who wish to destroy, destroy;

One who lets thoughts dissolve

Nothing to do, nothing to be done,

The World's Bait

The World's Bait