Equanimity
April 16, 2006
Those five reflections we chanted just now—we are subject to aging, illness, death, separation, and we have karma as our arbitrator: Actually that’s only part of the contemplation that the Buddha recommended. He said to go on to think about the fact all beings—men, women, children, lay or ordained, past, future, no matter what their level of being—are subject to aging, subject to illness, subject to death, separation; they all have karma as their arbitrator. The two sides of the contemplation are meant to lead to two different reactions. The side we chanted just now is to make you realize that you’ve got to get your act in order, to straighten out your life, because what you do is what makes all the difference in the world.