Wen Tzu - Verse 49

Verse Forty-Nine

There are three kinds of death that are not natural passing away.

If you eat and drink immoderately and treat the body carelessly and cheaply, then illnesses will kill you.

If you are endlessly greedy and ambitious, then penalties will kill you.

If you allow small groups to infringe upon the rights of large masses and allow the weak to be oppressed by the strong, then weapons will kill you.

~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

Every formed being dies. There is no escape from this eventuality. However, the human being has devised numerous ways to hasten this inevitability. While other life forms -- as far as we know -- follow their path from birth to death, it is we humans who diverge and tarry along the way.

Each of the examples cited above is derived from our desires to mollify our egos. We continually act against our own inherent natures and these actions chip away at the form we call ourselves. Since we each are the unification of body, mind and spirit, when one aspect of self is injured, all aspects suffer.

This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.