Understanding the Impermanence of the Body and the Pursuit of Transcendence : หน้า 93/263

wise will use the indications of deterioration in their own body to wake themselves up to the fact that the body can offer the spirit no true refuge. **The Physical Body is a Storehouse of Unwholesomeness** The body is riddled with the suffering of old age and dying. It is our physical wants that are at the root of all our stubbornness, pretence and ingratitude. The body is also the breeding ground for illnesses. Just as a storehouse, made of daub and wattle is used to store various sorts of grain, the body built on its skeleton and covered with sinews and skin is the storehouse for sickness, death, stubbornness, pretence and all forms of unwholesomeness. The wise therefore reflect and are sobered by the impermanence of the body. **The Nine Supreme Transcendental Attainments** In contrast to the impermanence of the physical body, transcendental attainments, comprising the Four Paths, the Four Fruits and Nirvana, are beyond the reach of the deterioration of old-age, sickness and decay. These transcendental attainments can bring the attainer only happiness and prosperity. The Lord Buddha and all those who attained Buddhist sainthood for themselves all praised the nine transcendental attainments as supreme as being the total embodiment of true happiness, free from all suffering. True happiness can be attained by anyone reaching the nine transcendental attainments. They will go beyond all vengefulness, suffering and will no longer have any need to strive for happiness via the senses. **Forgo Sensual Pleasure to Gain Liberation** Those who are still thick with defilements are wont to suffer physically and spiritually because the sensual pleasures from