Impermanence...

"This too shall pass"... Your feeling is impermanent.

“If someone were to say,... 'The root of that great, standing tree — possessed of heartwood — is inconstant & subject to change, its trunk is inconstant & subject to change, its branches & foliage are inconstant & subject to change, but as for its shadow, that is constant, everlasting, eternal, & not subject to change': would he be speaking rightly?"

"No, venerable sir.

Why is that?

Because the root of that great, standing tree — possessed of heartwood — is inconstant & subject to change, its trunk is inconstant & subject to change, its branches & foliage are inconstant & subject to change, so how much more should its shadow be inconstant & subject to change."

"In the same way, .... if someone were to say, 'My six external media are inconstant, but what I experience based on the six internal media — pleasure, pain, or neither pleasure nor pain — that is constant, everlasting, eternal, & not subject to change': would he be speaking rightly?"

"No, venerable sir.

Why is that?

Because each feeling arises dependent on its corresponding condition. With the cessation of its corresponding condition, it ceases."

-Nandakovada Sutta: Nandaka's Exhortation translated from the Pali by

Thanissaro Bhikkhu

If you look at the mind works model below (Figure 1) you can see feeling depends on contact which is impermanent. Contact depends on the union of three, the eye, an object and the eye-consciousness which are also impermanent. The eye is impermanent and the object too is impermanent. Therefore it is impossible for the feeling to be permanent as it depends on series of dependent conditions which are all impermanent. The same applies to all the other senses too. This is our "world".

So all the feeling pleasant, unpleasant or neural that arises as a result of of our senses which are impermanent. Same is true for body (form), perception, mental formations, consciousness. These are the five aggregates. The human being is nothing but a collection of five aggregates, a process of complex and rapidly changing (impermanent) psycho-physical organism (name-and-form), sustained by nutriments, driven by craving in the background of ignorance. However "it' perceives, feels, thinks and cognizes (working of the mind or name) that there is is a real person, permanent soul or a being in control of it. This is a false sense of being or an illusion. This is why "it" calls "itself" this is this is "mine", this is "me" and this is,"my-self". Everything around us driven around the the false sense of "I." However there no real "I" in it. Some may call this the Ego.

If something is impermanent it is subject to change. So for example if you try to hold on to pleasant feelings this it will invariably change with time and will bring you suffering, dissatisfaction or stress. This is the basis of our suffering when we get old, sick and when we loose our loved ones.

The same is true when we experience and unpleasant feeling. Therefore there is no need to worry too much if you know that your feeling is not permanent. Even if it is difficult to understand this entire process we can simply say, "this too shall pass" and let it be. If we start worrying about it can lead to too much mental proliferation and eventually unhappiness and mental suffering. This may even lead us to depression.

Buddha wanted us to contemplate on this often to realize the true nature of impermanence. This is the "gate way" to the liberation from suffering in this world. This is one of the key contemplations of insight meditation or vipassana Meditation.

(green bubble, Figure 2).

Figure 1

Figure 1

A model- how the mind works and more...

Model #1

Model #2

These are two preliminary models designed by me after researching Buddhists texts (suttas). I am open to any suggestions to edit these models. I may keep editing these models as I go along researching more Suttas. The model#1 shows how a mind works in an ordinary person. Yellow bubbles in Model#2 shows the points of application of TheFoundations of Mindfulness: (Satipatthana Sutta) and how it may work in a fully enlightened being. The green bubble shows The Three Basic Facts of Existence (The Three Characteristics (ti-lakkha.na), Impermanence (Anicca), Suffering or Unsatisfactoriness (dukkha) and Not-self or Insubstantiality (anattaa). This is the final common pathway of contemplation to insight (vipassana).

( Please see labels for more posts on these subjects)

Please Note:

*Yoniso manasikara - translated in English as wise attention. This can be broken down to (Yo+Nisi+Manasikara) Yoniso manasikara means the correct understanding of how the mind works. This is reason for the name I chose for my model "the mind works."

Wise attention (Yoniso manasikara) is a critical point in the flow chart in the model.

Buddha has treated dependent origination many ways. In some suttas has started examining it from the middle. In my flow chart too I am not using the conventional 12 step formula. However I am treating the organism as is and start I from the 6 sense bases as they are ones that connect us to the external world. Please see other posts for detail examinations of dependent origination (se labels on dependent origination).

The body is a nest of...

Fully worn out is this body, a nest of disease, and fragile. This foul mass breaks up, for death is the end of life.
-Dhammapada

We suffer because...

We suffer because we don't like the change. But change is the reality of all conditioned things, animate or inanimate alike.

Just as an oil lamp burns in dependence on oil & wick...

"Sensing a feeling of pleasure, he discerns that it is inconstant, not grasped at, not relished. Sensing a feeling of pain... Sensing a feeling of neither-pleasure-nor-pain, he discerns that it is inconstant, not grasped at, not relished. Sensing a feeling of pleasure, he senses it disjoined from it. Sensing a feeling of pain... Sensing a feeling of neither-pleasure-nor-pain, he senses it disjoined from it. When sensing a feeling limited to the body, he discerns that 'I am sensing a feeling limited to the body.' When sensing a feeling limited to life, he discerns that 'I am sensing a feeling limited to life.' He discerns that 'With the break-up of the body, after the termination of life, all that is sensed, not being relished, will grow cold right here.'

"Just as an oil lamp burns in dependence on oil & wick; and from the termination of the oil & wick — and from not being provided any other sustenance — it goes out unnourished; in the same way, when sensing a feeling limited to the body, he discerns that 'I am sensing a feeling limited to the body.' When sensing a feeling limited to life, he discerns that 'I am sensing a feeling limited to life.' He discerns that 'With the break-up of the body, after the termination of life, all that is sensed, not being relished, will grow cold right here.'"

Gelañña Sutta

The Sick Ward (1)

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn36/sn36.007.than.html#oil

What is impermanence ?

Impermanence is one of the key teachings of the Buddha. Mindfulness of impermanence is fundamental to Buddhist insight meditation.

It is also like a "door way" to understand, suffering and non-self.

Impermanence is something that looks so "obvious" but yet sometimes it is very hard to see.

All conditioned things (sankaras) are impermanent. If something is impermanent, it is subject to change, and therefore is suffering (non-satisfactory). If something is impermanent, suffering and subject to change is it wise to call it me, mine and myself?

The correct answer is, NO.

BUT do we realize this as a direct knowledge? Or is it merely a logical argument that makes sense?

If NOT how do we contemplate to arrive at this as a direct knowledge?


1. May be we can start with a stanza.

"With these flowers I venerate the Buddha,
By this merit may I gain liberation.
As these flowers fade and wither
So will this body be destroyed"

This is a common stanza Buddhists recite mindfully when offering flowers to Buddha. This may be a good way of reflecting on impermanence in your daily practice.

2. There are two similes in the suttas (my favorites) that you can read and contemplate (mindfully reflect upon):

(i) Simile of the burning oil lamp
"Just as when the oil in a burning oil lamp is inconstant & subject to change, its wick is inconstant & subject to change, its flame is inconstant & subject to change, its light is inconstant & subject to change. If someone were to say, 'The oil in that burning oil lamp is inconstant & subject to change, its wick is inconstant & subject to change, its flame is inconstant & subject to change, but as for its light, that is constant, everlasting, eternal, & not subject to change': would he be speaking rightly?"
"No, venerable sir. Why is that? Because the oil in that burning oil lamp is inconstant & subject to change, its wick is inconstant & subject to change, its flame is inconstant & subject to change, so how much more should its light be inconstant & subject to change."

(ii) Simile of the tree
"Just as when the root of a great, standing tree — possessed of heartwood — is inconstant & subject to change, its trunk is inconstant & subject to change, its branches & foliage are inconstant & subject to change, its shadow is inconstant & subject to change. If someone were to say, 'The root of that great, standing tree — possessed of heartwood — is inconstant & subject to change, its trunk is inconstant & subject to change, its branches & foliage are inconstant & subject to change, but as for its shadow, that is constant, everlasting, eternal, & not subject to change': would he be speaking rightly?"
"No, venerable sir. Why is that? Because the root of that great, standing tree — possessed of heartwood — is inconstant & subject to change, its trunk is inconstant & subject to change, its branches & foliage are inconstant & subject to change, so how much more should its shadow be inconstant & subject to change."

"In the same way, sisters, if someone were to say, 'My six external media are inconstant, but what I experience based on the six internal media — pleasure, pain, or neither pleasure nor pain — that is constant, everlasting, eternal, & not subject to change': would he be speaking rightly?"
"No, venerable sir. Why is that? Because each feeling arises dependent on its corresponding condition. With the cessation of its corresponding condition, it ceases."
- Nandakovada Sutta
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.146.than.html

3. How about impermanence as a subject of meditation ?

"And what, Ananda, is contemplation of impermanence? Herein, Ananda, a monk having gone to the forest or to the foot of a tree or to an empty house (lonely place) contemplates thus: 'Matter (visible objects) is impermanent; feeling or sensation is impermanent; perception is impermanent; formations are impermanent; consciousness is impermanent. Thus he dwells contemplating impermanence in these five aggregates.' This, Ananda, is called contemplation of impermanence.
-Girimananda Sutta-Discourse to Girimananda Thera
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an10/an10.060.piya.html

4. How about applying it to situations in day to day normal life?

I am sure we all can see lot of examples of these everyday, if you really are mindful enough. This is likely the most practical way to reflect upon this subject, which you may already have contemplated through the practice of insight meditation (above). This will help you further to make it as your own (direct) knowledge.

Life...

This picture is taken from apple screen saver images, thank you for sharing this picture with us.

It is a sticky business !

Suffering arises when the mind becomes too "sticky" to the sensory "foods" (five sensors and their respective stimuli). The practice of Insight meditation will help us to "let go" of these "foods" with ease. The contemplation of the three characteristics (impermanence, suffering and non-self) is the key to it's success.

I guess that is why it is called "Crazy Glue" (Crazy=delusion)!

craving is "the glue"

The constant danger is death

Like ripe fruits whose downfall,
whose danger is falling,
so for mortals, once born,
the constant danger is death

Salla Sutta -The Arrow

"impermanence" - it is hard to see

Flowers in a.m. (left) The same flowers in p.m. (right)

Impermanence is one of the key teachings of the Buddha. Mindfulness of impermanence is fundamental to Buddhist insight meditation.


"With these flowers I venerate the Buddha,
By this merit may I gain liberation.
As these flowers fade and wither
So will this body be destroyed"

This is a common stanza Buddhists recite mindfully when offering flowers to Buddha. This may be a good way of reflecting on impermanence in your daily practice.

There are two similes I like to share with you from a sutta that helped me a lot to contemplate on this subject:

Simile of the burning oil lamp

"Just as when the oil in a burning oil lamp is inconstant & subject to change, its wick is inconstant & subject to change, its flame is inconstant & subject to change, its light is inconstant & subject to change. If someone were to say, 'The oil in that burning oil lamp is inconstant & subject to change, its wick is inconstant & subject to change, its flame is inconstant & subject to change, but as for its light, that is constant, everlasting, eternal, & not subject to change': would he be speaking rightly?"
"No, venerable sir. Why is that? Because the oil in that burning oil lamp is inconstant & subject to change, its wick is inconstant & subject to change, its flame is inconstant & subject to change, so how much more should its light be inconstant & subject to change."

Simile of the tree

"Just as when the root of a great, standing tree — possessed of heartwood — is inconstant & subject to change, its trunk is inconstant & subject to change, its branches & foliage are inconstant & subject to change, its shadow is inconstant & subject to change. If someone were to say, 'The root of that great, standing tree — possessed of heartwood — is inconstant & subject to change, its trunk is inconstant & subject to change, its branches & foliage are inconstant & subject to change, but as for its shadow, that is constant, everlasting, eternal, & not subject to change': would he be speaking rightly?"
"No, venerable sir. Why is that? Because the root of that great, standing tree — possessed of heartwood — is inconstant & subject to change, its trunk is inconstant & subject to change, its branches & foliage are inconstant & subject to change, so how much more should its shadow be inconstant & subject to change."

"In the same way, sisters, if someone were to say, 'My six external media are inconstant, but what I experience based on the six internal media — pleasure, pain, or neither pleasure nor pain — that is constant, everlasting, eternal, & not subject to change': would he be speaking rightly?"
"No, venerable sir. Why is that? Because each feeling arises dependent on its corresponding condition. With the cessation of its corresponding condition, it ceases."

Nandakovada Sutta

A city made of bones

"A city made of bones,
plastered over with flesh & blood,
whose hidden treasures are:
pride & contempt,
aging & death." -Dhammapada

Life heads to death

As a potter's clay vessels large & small fired & unfired

All end up broken, so too life heads to death

Young & old

Wise & foolish

Rich & poor

Salla Sutta -The Arrow

"Dying without regret...mindfulness till the last breath"

Yesterday he said good bye to his family, his friends and to all the dear ones around him. He was still smiling at the time of his death. He lived and died without regret. He taught everybody that there is a another way. He showed us how to not cling to worldly pleasures, at the time of death. How to "let go" with ease.

This is about a personal journey I had with my friend who was a true noble disciple of the Buddha. He used to discuss Dhamma with me every time I met him in the past few years. He had practiced, loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity (The Four Sublime States), even before I got to know him ten years ago. His wife once told me that when his house was robbed and she was devastated, he had taught her Dhamma, explaining the impermanent nature of material things. When he was told that he had lung cancer by the oncologist, he joked with him so that everybody would laugh and that would ease the tension around them.

I still remember when I first went to see him at home after he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He told me "this body is not mine, I am only in it for the time being." He said "I now know this for sure." He said "I have no control of my body or my pain. He was talking about, non-self or Anatta. He said he was contemplating on the impermanence, suffering, and non-self nature of his ailing body. He said he was also practicing loving kindness meditation. He was then taken to the hospital and after investigations it was determined that he could not be treated. He had too many metastasis in the brain and all over his body and also was very weak. I think it must have been a very aggressive type of cancer for it to spread this fast in such a short time. He was only a palliative care patient at the hospital. I was told by his wife that he took this news with a smile on his face and the people around him were shocked and watched him in disbelief and shock and with so much sadness.

When I visited him at the hospital on the fist day he was smiling and looked so peaceful and serene. He was extremely happy to see me. We discussed some of the deep teachings of the Buddha. He said "what I learned and practiced before, I am experiencing right now. This is the true nature of Dhamma." He also talked about impermanent nature of the body to the social workers in the hospital who came to comfort him. He drew a picture with the art therapist which was very unique. It was a picture of four flowers and one flower was fading away with petals coming off. The other three flowers were his wife and two children who he left behind. The fading flower was him. He again wanted us to learn about impermanence through his painting. When I saw this picture I told his wife maybe he was teaching them a lesson about the true nature of life.

When I visited him again his body was very weak, but his mind was fully alert. It seemed to me as if all his energy had gone to his mind. He was still smiling and again we discussed the impermanent nature of the conditioned body. He advised my wife, saying that it is not too early to teach our kids about impermanence. When one of his old colleagues came to see him and asked him "how are you doing?" He replied saying, "my mind is fine but this body is just a pile of garbage." His visitor was shocked to hear this as he expected the patient to complain about the pain in his body. However I knew that his visitor had no clue about what he really meant or that he was trying to teach him about impermanence.

Meanwhile a number of Buddhist monks visited him from the three Buddhist monasteries in Toronto, almost daily, and taught him Dhamma and discussed Dhamma with him. They were very surprised to see how well he received all their teachings with complete mindfulness. The monks also said that they had discussed Anathapindikovada Sutta , one of main disclosures at the time of the Buddha. This was a disclosure done by one of the Buddha's chief disciples, Ven. Sariputta to Anathapindika. Anathapindika was one of the main lay supporters of Buddha and his disciples. At that time Anathapindika too was dying from a painful illness.

.

The last time I visited him it was just three days before his death. He was sleeping a lot and I felt that he was drowsy because of the heavy pain medications. He was hardly eating any food at that time. When he heard our voices he opened his eyes and signalled with one hand for us to come closer. He smiled again and was very happy to see us. I asked him " are you in pain?" He said, "no, not even a little." Then I asked him if he had any regrets and if he wanted to talk about it. He shook his head and implied there were no regrets. His voice was very weak and we could hardly hear him but still he was so happy and peaceful. When he realized that we could not hear him he started talking in "sign language." He pointed to his body and snapped his fingers implying the impermanent nature of the body. Then he pointed to his head and singled "thumbs up" saying that his mind was still very alert and clear."

That was the last time I saw him. This is a perfect example of a person "who lived by Dhamma , and was protected by the Dhamma", until his death. I have seen so many people dying in the past, but I have never seen a person who died with full mindfulness till his very last breath. He was a teacher to us all. He had the "medicine" ready, before he was ill. He just has to use it at the right time. This is the "medicine to the mind" (see the post below). He was fearless at death and died with dignity and without regret. I wish I could be like him one day, myself.

May he attain the eternal bliss of Nirvana.

A Real Test in Life - Mithra Wettimuny A discourse given by Mr. Mithra Wettimuny to a grief stricken wife of a dying patient ( who by profession was a Gynaecologist and referred to herein as ‘Doc’) on 3rdAugust 1997 (in the morning) at the Medical Intensive Care Unit of the General Hospital, Colombo, Sri Lanka (as minuted by a bystander, a Dhamma Student).

http://www.beyondthenet.net/thedway/dhamma_way.htm

Related Posts and suttas:

The Four Sublime States

Anathapindikovada Sutta-Advice to A Dying Man-(excerpt) Translated from the Pali by Andrew Olendzki

Anathapindikovada Sutta - Instructions to Anathapindika-Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Who will drink this medicine?

"Stop worrying about your body so much...you are just renting it anyway" (Post on Anatta or Non-self)

Life is just like a "Morning Glory"- Mindfulness about life (Post on Impermanence)

Mindfulness About Life- "A Lesson From The Garden" (Post on Impermanence)

Can Mindfulness Help Cancer Patients ?

"Life is like a dew drop on a blade of grass"

Buddha said "life is like a dew drop on a blade of grass"seen in the morning. When the sun shines the dew drop disappears. Buddha repeatedly encouraged us to contemplate in the impermanence of life.

See other related posts:

Life is just like a "Morning Glory"- Mindfulness about life

Mindfulness About Life- "A Lesson From The Garden"

Who will drink this medicine?

"One who drinks deeply of Buddha's teachings lives happily with a peaceful mind"- Buddha

Buddha can be regarded the greatest physician who lived on earth. He like any other great physician, diagnosed the illness, found the cause for it, explained how to get rid of and then prescribed the medication needed to overcome the illness.

Buddhist teachings are regarded as the "medicine for the mind". In an earlier posting I discussed Buddhism as the ultimate psychotherapy and how Buddhist practices will lead you to attain the ultimate happiness, that the Buddha called the "Bliss of Nirvana". This is the inner happiness of the unconditioned mind. This happiness comes only "within, not without".

In reality we are all "patients" to a certain degree. If you think for a moment we are constantly struggling in this world running away from pain and seeking pleasure. It is the pleasure for our body and our mind. Nobody can honestly say that they were never unhappy, sometime in their lives. We all get sad and feel depressed at certain times. Some times we can get into more serious situations like clinical depression, in our lives. Some people go further down this road and even get suicidal thoughts.

What is the reason for this? It is because we looked for the answer in the wrong place. We look for the answers to our problems in the outside world. We will never think even for a moment that the real answer is within us. The Buddha only directed us to look inside of us. The answer is always there. We only did not see it. Why is that? It is because our minds were already conditioned. This Buddha called "Avijja" in Pali language. In English it is called ignorance or delusion. In this part of the world we may want to call it "stupidity". It sounds like a simple problem but is it very hard to see. That is where the Buddhist teachings and practices come in. Buddhism tells you "how to do it" rather than "what to do". This is the basic difference in the Buddhist teachings compared to other religions. There is only one medicine for the mind to be free from all the suffering and pains. This is "The Four Noble Truths".

Now who will drink it? To explain this I will tell you a metaphor that is applicable today.

Imagine that somebody is gravely sick and is about to die. There are many possible scenarios.

1. The patient is in a place that there is no doctor therefore he dies.

2. The patent does not look for a doctor and he dies.

3. Patient looks for a doctor and he does not find one and he dies.

4. The patient refuses to go see the doctor and he dies.

5. The patent goes to a doctor but he does not get the right medicine and he dies. (In this case the doctor may be sued).

6. Patient finds the doctor and he prescribes the right medicine to save the patients life. He brings it home and does not drink it in time. Why didn't he drink it in time? This is because he refuses to drink the medicine until all his questions are answered. He has many questions like, is the doctor qualified? Is the medicine pure? Which company makes the medicine? Where was the bottle made? And so on. These are irrelevant questions, as his time is running out. He dies before all his questions are answered.

7. Only the wise man finds the doctor, gets the medicine, drinks it in time and gets cured.

In this metaphor the medicine is the Dhamma (Buddhist teachings). The sick man is the ordinary worldly being.

So do you think you are sick ? If the answer is "no" you may be enlightened. You are free from all suffering in this world and beyond. If the answer is "yes" browse this site you will find the medicine. But remember only you can drink it. Nobody can drink it for you or force you to drink.

"Just as the great ocean has one taste, the taste of salt, so also this Dhamma and Discipline has one taste, taste of liberation"-Paharada Sutta, Buddha

Paharada Sutta

Please see other related posts:

Buddha, The Great Physician

The ultimate-psychotherapy-through-Buddhism

Life is just like a "Morning Glory"- Mindfulness about life

"With these flowers I venerate the Buddha,

By this merit may I gain liberation.

As these flowers fade and wither

So will this body be destroyed"




















Morning glory flowers at 8.30 in the morning in my garden.




















The Morning glory flowers at 6.30 in the evening, the same day!


This is a common stanza Buddhists recite mindfully when offering flowers to Buddha. Impermanence is one of the key teachings of the Buddha. Mindfulness of impermanence is fundamental to Buddhist insight meditation (Vipassana meditation). I will discuss this impermanence and how it can lead to wisdom in detail in a future post.

Buddha encouraged us to be always mindful about old age, sickness and death. He said "you can run but you can't hide from it". Sounds depressing? Well, that is the reality. We all know that we are going to get old, sick and die one day, but it is hard to realize "inside". It is almost like a realization through wisdom that comes within oneself. How to be mindful in aging and death is well explained by the Buddha, in the Sathipattana sutta in the mindfulness of the body section.


See other related posts:
The four Bases of Mindfulness

Mindfulness-About-Life-"A lesson-From The Garden"

Mindfulness About Life- "A Lesson From The Garden"

Have you ever wondered why some die young and some live for a long time? When a young person dies people have questions like.....why now ?...... why him?......... Isn't he too young to die? These questions have been bothering me for a while. So, I decided to explore some of these question from a Buddhist perspective.



Today I went to my vegetable garden in the backyard and I saw something that got me thinking.....Since I wanted to share it with you I took a picture of it (see the picture above). The previous day there was a bad storm and some of the tomatoes were on the ground. But when I examined them very closely I saw many old, rotting tomatoes on the ground. Among them was a baby tomato, perhaps only few days old (red circle), and one young tomato beginning to be ripe. On the tomato plant there were many baby, young and mature tomatoes. When I examined carefully to my surprise I found there were still very few old tomatoes hanging on to the plant (not shown in the picture).



This made me to contemplate about life. As a physician I see this all the time. Very young kids die as soon as they are born. Young children and teenagers die of illnesses and other causes like accidents. Some people go on to live long lives. To death, age is no barrier. Buddha said "life is like a dew drop on a blade of grass"seen in the morning. When the sun shines the dew drops disappears. Buddha repeatedly encouraged us to contemplate in the impermanence of life. This may sound depressive but in reality if you mindfully contemplate it helps you to understand the true nature of our existence. In fact it makes us stronger and makes it easier for us to cope when a disaster strikes our lives.



There is a classic story that came to my mind about death, that took place in Buddha's time. This is the story of Kisa Gothami. When her new born son died she did not know the baby was really dead. So she ran to Buddha asking him to cure her son as she had heard that Buddha was a very compassionate person with a lot of powers. Buddha at once knew that the baby was dead. But he wanted to teach Kisa Gothami a lesson about death. He asked Kisa Gothami to find a handful of mustard seeds from a household where there had been no death in the past. She went knocking on all the doors in the village but she could not find a single house without a death in the family. Soon she realized the lesson Buddha was trying to teach her that no family is spared the occurrence of death.

The question that will come to your mind at this time is why some people die young and others go on to have long lives? Who or what determines this? What is the Buddhist explanation to this? Buddha said this does not happen just by chance or by a will or an act of a omnipotent power like a "God". Buddha explained the Karmic factors linked to premature death and other differences we see in people. This is like a "cause and effect" law. These karmic factors may determine why some people are always sick and why some people are healthy, and why some people are born rich and some people are born poor etc. If you want to learn more about this please click the following links.


Culakammavibhanga Sutta
Vipaka Sutta

Also see related posts:
Life-is-just-like-morning-glory