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Why should a good man disdain human life?

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 12:06 am
by sma
“Appamāyu manussānaṃ, hīḷeyya naṃ suporiso;
Careyyādittasīsova, natthi maccussa nāgamo”ti.(S I 108)

[The Blessed One:]
Short is the life span of human beings,
The good man should disdain it.
One should live like one with head aflame:
There is no avoiding Death's arrival.
---English translation by Bodhi Bhikkhu

Doesn't "hīḷeyya" imply that the Buddha has an unwholesome mental state?
Why should life be distained?

Re: Why should a good man disdain human life?

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 12:14 am
by cappuccino
the truth is inconvenient

Re: Why should a good man disdain human life?

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 12:32 am
by sma
cappuccino wrote: Wed Aug 19, 2020 12:14 am the truth is inconvenient
Do you mean the Truth is beyond wholesome and unwholesome?
:anjali:

Re: Why should a good man disdain human life?

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 12:36 am
by cappuccino
sma wrote:
cappuccino wrote: the truth is inconvenient
Do you mean the Truth is beyond wholesome and unwholesome?
I mean the truth is not convenient

Re: Why should a good man disdain human life?

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 5:33 am
by User1249x
sma wrote: Wed Aug 19, 2020 12:06 am “Appamāyu manussānaṃ, hīḷeyya naṃ suporiso;
Careyyādittasīsova, natthi maccussa nāgamo”ti.(S I 108)

[The Blessed One:]
Short is the life span of human beings,
The good man should disdain it.
One should live like one with head aflame:
There is no avoiding Death's arrival.
---English translation by Bodhi Bhikkhu

Doesn't "hīḷeyya" imply that the Buddha has an unwholesome mental state?
Why should life be distained?
Disdain there is based on discernment. As a man who loves life would disdain poison. As a man desiring the highest happiness would disdain a lesser happiness.
It is mere discrimination.

Re: Why should a good man disdain human life?

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 5:41 am
by simsapa
"Disdain" is probably too loaded a word. "Transcend" and "rise above" sound better to me.

Re: Why should a good man disdain human life?

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 11:08 am
by seeker242
sma wrote: Wed Aug 19, 2020 12:06 am Doesn't "hīḷeyya" imply that the Buddha has an unwholesome mental state?
No, it implies the Buddha is teaching people how train their mind to stop making suffering.
Why should life be distained?
The same reason why the Buddha teaches anything. Because craving it causes suffering. Regarding it with disdain is an effective technique to break that craving.

Re: Why should a good man disdain human life?

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 2:14 pm
by santa100
sma wrote:Why should life be distained?
It's important to notice the full context. In that story, the Buddha simply countered the point Mara was trying to make:
SN 4.9 wrote:Then Mara the Evil One approached the Blessed One and addressed him in verse:

“Long is the life span of human beings,
The good man should not disdain it.
One should live like a milk-sucking baby:
Death has not made its arrival.”

The Blessed One:

“Short is the life span of human beings,
The good man should disdain it.
One should live like one with head aflame:
There is no avoiding Death’s arrival.”

Then Mara the Evil One … disappeared right there.
And Comy.'s explanation:
Spk paraphrases: 'Mara said: The good man should live like a baby who, after drinking milk, might lie down on a blanket and fall asleep, unconcerned whether life is long or short.'

Re: Why should a good man disdain human life?

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 2:58 pm
by binocular
cappuccino wrote: Wed Aug 19, 2020 12:14 amthe truth is inconvenient
Or religion/spirituality, like pop culture, insists on a caricature of humanity.

Re: Why should a good man disdain human life?

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 3:11 pm
by simsapa
insists on a caricature of humanity.
?

Re: Why should a good man disdain human life?

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2020 5:43 pm
by binocular
simsapa wrote: Wed Aug 19, 2020 3:11 pm
insists on a caricature of humanity.
?
Do people really believe that the truth is "inconvenient"? Is it true that people "can't handle the truth"?