Chapter 13 - Grief And Lamentation

Death and the other two evils of life are inevitable so long as rebirth takes place within the framework of disintegrating nama rupa. Rebirth leads also to grief, anxiety, lamentations and anguish.

We grieve when a member of the family dies. The grief is overwhelming when we lose someone, e.g. parents or a husband on whom we have to depend or someone, e.g. a son or a daughter whom we love dearly. Another cause for grief is the loss of material possessions through evil minded officials, robbers, thieves, destructive fires, floods, cyclones, and hated heirs. Grief is also caused by the affliction of disease and decline of health. Some sick persons are so much depressed that their mental states become a hindrance to their recovery. In the case of morally scrupulous monks and laymen, any damage to moral life gives rise to anxiety. Thus, the rishi Isisinga suffered terrible anguish when his moral integrity was undermined by the seduction of a goddess. Anxiety and repentance also torment those who realize their mistakes after having rejected the right view in favour of a wrong one under the guidance of a false teacher.

Besides, there are many other misfortunes in life, e.g. accidents, viz., victimization by robbers, etc., hardship in earning ones living and, securing the necessities of life and so forth that occasion grief, anguish and lamentation.

There is no need to dwell on the physical sufferings in hell and the animal and peta worlds. Because of his consciousness, man also suffers anguish whenever he is in contact with unpleasant sense objects. As he has thus to suffer mentally into the bargain, it is for him something like adding insult to injury. This does not apply to the Arahat or the noble one at the anagami stage, for being free from irritation (dosa) he remains unperturbed in the face of physical suffering and so does the mindful yogi who is free from ego illusion that tends to add to the sense of self pity. Hence, the importance of the Buddhas teaching that we should be aware of unpleasant feeling when we suffer from it.

People are unhappy when they think of the frustrations and misfortunes that beset them in the past or at present or that may beset them in future. They feel bitter and upset when they find themselves in distress and burdened with misfortunes.

All these sufferings are rooted in rebirth. Life is all suffering without the ego and without anything good even if there were such ego to enjoy it.

According to the doctrine of Paticcasamuppada, the only thing that links one existence with another is the cause and effect relationship. From craving, kammic effort, etc., based on ignorance in one existence, there arise five effects, viz., consciousness, body and mind, sense organs, contact, and feeling. These effects begin with rebirth and end in death with old age, anxiety and other sufferings in between them.

This teaching of the Buddha will not appeal to common people who harbour illusions of happiness and ego entity. But impersonality and suffering are the unmistakable facts of existence and life in the deva world is no exception. Some earth bound devas have to struggle hard for survival and are more miserable than human beings. They are called //vinipatika// devas and they comprise ghosts, devils, etc., that belong to lower order of devas. Some devas in heavens are not happy because they do not have good abodes and enough attendants. Even Sakka, the king of devas, admitted to the elderly thera Mahakassapa that he was not very much luminous as his attainment of deva world was due to the good kamma which he did long before the proclamation of Buddha dhamma and that he had to hide himself when he saw the devas who outshone him as they had done good kamma in the time of the Buddha.

Thus, Sakka was not always happy and so were his female attendants who told Mahakassapa that they were wretched and miserable since they counted for little among the high ranking queen goddesses. Some devas become unhappy on the approach of death that is heralded by the withering of their bedecked flowers, the sweating from their armpits and other signs of senility. Some devas die suddenly while indulging in celestial pleasure just like a man whose life is cut off by stroke. Death may be a matter of seconds like the extinction of the flame of a candle. This is borne out by the story of Subrahma deva.