This
time I will dedicate the editorial to briefly analyze a matter that is very
important to the path of Nirvana and its development, which is seen in some
practitioners who listen to sermons for liberation with the desire to progress
on the path of truth, but are often unable to see it themselves!
Have
you heard of the four omens also known as the four sights or signs? The
Omen of an Old Man... The Omen of a Sick Man... The Omen of a Dead Man... The
Omen of an Ascetic. If you are familiar with the life story of Prince
Siddhartha, you may have surely heard about these four great omens. You can read about them more in
these pages too!
Many of the practitioners fails to identify the importance of
these four great omens. Practitioners who are dedicated to the path of
nibbana and claims that they listen to the deep sunnatha Dhamma, practice
satharasatipattana and other meditation method about death & true nature of
body, BUT still struggling to accept the fact of being sick or getting old or
death.
You
should examine your inner intention of practicing Dhamma or doing
meritorious activities. If your intention is to be free from sickness,
old age or delaying the death, as it says in the Dhamma “Those who
practice Dhamma, protected by the Dhamma ”, that insane,
isn’t it! Because that piece of Dhamma doesn’t mean that at
all.
Seeing
the four sights or seeing the four great omens means such a deep moment.
You understand the meaning of “omen” right? We interpret the word omen
as, “A sign of an event regarded as a good or evil. Such as "the raven
seemed a bird of evil omen". The four great omens mean like you are
witnessing or getting the sign of some default faults of your existence which
you can’t actually give a proper solution through the worldly ways. It’s
like noticing some errors which you can’t fix.
When
Samma SamBuddha alive, there were many those who become an enlightened one, and
achieved the noble stages quickly when listen to the deep Dhamma.
That’s because they have been wise enough to see the four great omens even
before they listen to those deep Dhamma teachings of a Samma Sambuddha.
They were in the mind set of being liberated. After seeing the four great
omens, their only intention was to be liberated from this exhausting life full
of maintenance. Therefore, they looked for the noble ones who can guide
them to liberation. Luckily, they were in a period of time when a Samma
Sambuddha exists, and they were guided correctly to see the true nature of
existence where no one else could be able to see it in normal mind set.
So, the true nature of existence which only a Samma SamBuddha
can show & guide is clearly not about the normal sickness, getting old or
death like basic nature.
This
misunderstanding happens, when the practitioners enter to practice Buddhism for
various reasons, but NOT the reason of seeing the four great omens.
They misunderstand Buddhism is all about birth, decaying, sickness, death and
suffering which we already know. So, it’s highly important to see your
intention to enter to the path of liberation. Because when you are not seeking
the truth for right reasons, you always end up with misleading paths which you
believed as the Samma Sambuddha’s rare teachings.
Let’s
continue this same topic in next month's editorial, too. So, that you can
dig deep in to the four great omens of your life!
