Venerable Luangpu Pramote Pamojjo
11 May 2019
Wat Suan Santidham, Thailand
Translated by Shi Ne Ling
Aging lies ahead of us.
Sickness lies ahead of us.
Death lies ahead of us.
Separation from what we love and those we love awaits us.
Facing what we do not love, encountering those we dislike—
these are all part of life.
Each time craving arises,
suffering follows.
Suffering is always there, waiting.
So when we see this danger—
that suffering lies ahead—
we cannot afford to be careless.
We must be well prepared.
If we can develop ourselves swiftly,
we can be free from suffering right now.
We need not wait until death to be free from it.
That would be too late, too unfortunate.
We must be free from suffering while we are still alive.
Free from suffering—
free from birth, aging, sickness, and death;
free from separation;
free from encountering what we dislike.
We can be free from all these things without having to die—
even before death arrives.
If we keep practicing,
then when aging comes,
it won’t feel as if we are aging—
we will see that it is merely the body that ages, not us.
When sickness arises,
it is the body that is ill, not us.
When death comes,
it is the body that dies, not us.
Thus, there is no self that ages,
no self that sickens,
no self that dies.
This is what it means to be free from aging, sickness, and death.
Statement from Shi Ne Ling:
While we try our best, this translation may not fully convey the message of Luangpu’s teachings. Any mistakes or shortcomings are solely our responsibility.
Chinese Translation:
Indonesian Translation: