Pony: Buddha's Last words
8.12.2002
I was thinking a bit more about mottos. In "The Songlines", Bruce Chatwin says "Walk On!" was Buddha's final teaching. I asked a CBC resident Buddhist about it, and he found me a more elegant interpretation:
Parinirvana Sutra
O monks! Do not grieve! Even if I were to live in the world for as long as a thousand eons, our coming together would have to end.
You should know that all things in the world are impermanent; coming together inevitably means parting. Do not be troubled, for this is the nature of life. Diligently practicing right effort, you must seek liberation immediately. Within the light of wisdom, destroy the darkness of ignorance.
Nothing is secure. Everything in this life is precarious.
Always wholeheartedly seek the way of liberation. All things in the world, whether moving or non-moving, are characterized by disappearance and instability.
Stop now! Do not speak! Time is passing. I am about to cross over. This is my final teaching.
