The Four Enemies: Understanding Suffering : หน้า 72/263

with cool shade and sparkling waterfalls. The first enemy offers to take the guard to show him the other forest. Unwit- tingly mistaking the enemy for a friend, he goes with him. Eventually reaching the middle of the forest, the second en- emy comes out to meet the guard and beats him until he is left so bruised and broken that he can hardly stand up. Next comes the third enemy who continues to beat the man until he is left lying motionless upon the ground. Finally the fourth enemy arrives, a razor-sharp sword in hand, and decapi- tates the victim. The suffering of birth is equivalent to the first of the en- emies which tempts us to be conceived into one realm or another, and pass our time in revelry and distraction. Aging is like the second of the enemies who comes and beats us until we have no further strength, leaving no part of our body unaffected, our eyes become clouded, our ears deaf, our teeth are knocked out, our cheeks hollow, our hair grey, our skin dry, our back bent, our ribs showing through our unattractive skin — quite frightening in appearance to any onlooker. The suffering of illness is like the third enemy, who beats the victim further, bringing indescribable suffering to every part of the body. Finally death is the fourth of the en- emies who inflicts the mortal blow. It is in this way that the four sufferings of birth, aging, sickness and death conspire to bring misery to our existence. 5. Sorrow [soka dukkha] The Buddha characterized the suffering of sorrow as affect- ing one with burning in the heart as if the mind has lost all refreshedness. It is a mind that is ’dried up’ by anxiety, sleep- less with loss of appetite. Such suffering may be caused if we mourn for a lost relative or are parted from a beloved