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Milarepa
The
Sufferings of Sickness
Shindormo
then said, "What you have just told us is very true; I have experienced
these things myself. Now please preach for us the sufferings of sickness."
In reply,
Milarepa sang:
Dear patrons,
you who know grief and sorrow.
Listen to the miseries of sickness.
This frail
body is subject e'er to sickness,
So that one suffers excruciating pain.
The illness of Prana (mind), gall and phlegm
Constantly invade this frail human body,
Causing its blood and matter to be heated;
The organs are thus gripped by pain
In a sage and easy bed
The sick man feels no comfort,
But turns and tosses, groaning in lament.
Through the Karma of (past) meanness,
Though with best of food you feed him,
He vomits all that he can take.
When you lay him in the cool,
He still feels hot and burning;
When you wrap him in warm cloth,
He feels cold as though soaked in sleet.
Though friends and kinsmen gather round,
None can relieve or share his pains
Though warlocks and physicians are proficient,
They cannot help cases caused by Ripening Karma.
He who has
not realized the truth of No-illness
Much suffering must undergo.
Since we
know not when sickness will strike,
It is wise to practise Holy Dharma
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