The Scripture of the Fo...

Dictionary

The Scripture of the Founding Master

Chapter Six: Doubts Clarified

37

He asked again, “Among the requirements for ascending to the status of dharma strong and Māra defeated, it is said that one must gain liberation from birth, old age, sickness, and death. Does this refer to the state of ‘passing away while sitting or dying while standing’ as the eminent Buddhist monks of the past have done?” The Founding Master said, “It means that one has fully mastered the truth of neither arising nor ceasing, so that one is not bound by birth or death.”