This is Lesson 35 from A Comprehensive Commentary on the Words of My Perfect Teacher, covering the fifth meditation on the Impermanence of Life — specifically the impermanence of status, friendship, enmity, and joy and sorrow. The lesson opens with the story of the universal king Mandhatri, who ruled four continents and shared Indra's throne, yet fell in an instant the moment a single vicious thought arose in his mind, illustrating that no worldly height is beyond collapse. The teacher then turns to the impermanence of relationships, drawing on the story of Arhat Kātyāyana who, through clairvoyance, saw a man eating his father reborn as a fish while beating his mother reborn as a dog — and holding his former enemy reborn as his son. Chan Master Bao Zhi's wedding verse delivers the same teaching with vivid humour. Multiple scriptural accounts reinforce that those we love most may be former enemies, and those we dislike may be former family. The lesson concludes by affirming that suffering undertaken for the sake of Dharma — like Milarepa's austerities — is the only hardship that bears lasting fruit, and urges practitioners to build a solid foundation before seeking higher teachings.
Practice Guide
To practice the meditation related to this teaching, please refer to:
