This is Lesson 31 from A Comprehensive Commentary on the Words of My Perfect Teacher, covering the fourth meditation on impermanence — the impermanence of those in positions of power. The lesson opens by establishing that not even gods with lifespans of entire kalpas can escape death, illustrating this with the story of Indra, who, foreseeing rebirth as a donkey, fled to the Buddha and took refuge at the very moment of his death. The The story of four brothers with the five clairvoyances, each hiding from death in the ocean, inside Mount Meru, in the sky, and in a crowded bazaar — only to die in their hiding places — drives home that no power or ingenuity can outrun impermanence. The teacher then surveys the long procession of Tibetan and Chinese rulers — from Nyatri Tsenpo to the great Dharma kings, from Qin Shi Huang to Emperor Kangxi — none of whom remain. The lesson closes with the examples of Chan masters who deeply internalised impermanence from childhood, including the five-year-old who wrote that even the last flower on the branch will surely be gone by tomorrow, and urges practitioners to let impermanence become their primary motivation rather than relying on others to keep them on track.
Practice Guide
To practice the meditation related to this teaching, please refer to:
