[Buddha-l] the benefits of Jayarava's discussion

[Jayarava]

Hi Diana

> saying that "all things are disappointing" doesn't sound at all like 
> saying "all things are impermanent."

The Pāli in this case (from the Buddha's last words in the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta DN 16; PTS Dii 155-6; p.231ff in Walsh's translation) is vayadhammā saṅkhārā - all things (saṅkhārā) have the nature (dhamma) of disappointment (vaya - literally to decay, to die). I argue in the essay for an interpretation from the subjective pole of experience, as opposed to the objective which is what we often do - looking at the experience itself rather than the thing being experienced. Of course experiences are disappointing _because_ they are impermanent.

Jayarava

for those poor deprived souls who still don't use Unicode the gobbledegook above says: vayadhammaa sa^nkhaaraa or vayadhammA saNkhArA