Neither Born Nor Perishing
Inherently neither arising nor ceasing, neither defiled nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing. This is the place where the scales of judgment are set down.
Am I unable to rest my mind, endlessly weighing "this is good, that is bad"?
📝Reflection
This verse shakes all our judgment at once with six "nots." Arising and ceasing, defilement and purity, increase and decrease. We live forever weighing between these extremes — this is gain, that is loss; this is clean, that is dirty. That endless weighing never lets the mind rest an instant. This verse points to a deeper place: at the level of essence, those opposites are only lines we drew. A river rises and falls, but the water itself neither vanishes nor is newly born — only its form changes. This insight is not to ignore good and bad. It is to not hand the mind entirely over to the weighing. Set the scales down a moment, and the mind at last catches its breath.
🌱Apply It Today
When you rush to judge something "good/bad" today, pause once — "must I weigh this right now?" — and set the scales down.
This verse is read as universal humanistic wisdom, not religion — no faith is promoted, and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.
