Contemplate Yourself

The Blessed Buddha instructs us: "Contemplate yourself." Consider: "I am now old; I must inevitably die." When you contemplate this, you realize: "I am old. Aging is suffering. Suffering exists because death approaches." Observing Dependent Origination (Paticcasamuppāda), you see aging and death. Jarā is aging; Maraṇa is death. We are subject to aging and death. Where aging exists, death inevitably follows. Where do aging and death come from? Through Dependent Origination, we see aging and death arise from Jarā-Maraṇa (aging-death). Thus, aging and death originate from birth (Jāti). We repeatedly age and die across countless lives. This cycle of aging and death is seen in the fourth Section (Jarā-Maraṇa) of the chain. Where does birth come from? Tracing backward: Birth arises from kammic formations (Kammabhava). Wholesome or unwholesome deeds lead to rebirth: - Deeds aspiring for human birth → rebirth as a human. - Deeds aspiring for deva birth → rebirth as a deva. - Deeds leading to the four lower realms → rebirth in suffering states. Kammabhava is the cause; Jāti is the effect. Where do kammic formations come from? Tracing further: Kammic formations arise from clinging (Upādāna). Clinging fuels kammic actions. We act (Kammabhava) because we cling (Upādāna). Thus, clinging causes kammic formations that yield suffering (Dukkha). Where does clinging come from? Clinging arises from craving (Taṇhā). Affection breeds attachment. For example: love for a child becomes clinging. Craving is the cause; clinging is the effect. Where does craving come from? Craving arises from the Five Aggregates (Khandhas): form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. Present aggregates ignite craving. Feeling (Vedanā) is the proximate cause, but all aggregates contribute. Craving sprouts from the Five Aggregates. Ignorance is the root. Why do the aggregates cause craving? Ignorance (Avijjā). Not knowing the true nature of the Five Aggregates, we crave them—loving our body, clinging to life. This craving fuels clinging, kamma, birth, aging, and death. Thus, the Buddha taught: "Craving arises from the substrates (aggregates)." Ashin Parami