An Ascetic – The Fourth Sight

Who is an Ascetic?  Acetic is a person who gave up worldly pleasures for the sake of salvation. He’s like a fish in a tank with limited freedom yet living with the freedom.

Imagine the fish in a river… how many threats he has in there? What is a risk? He is living with the danger… but he believes he is free. Those who looking at the fish also believes he is a free fish who can freely enjoy the pleasure. It’s call freedom of pleasure.  But what about the danger?  The stress of being alive?  Stress of finding the food?  

A fish in a tank seems like limited with many pleasures, so we notice that he is not free like the one in the river. But imagine what a risk-free lifestyle he is living. No stress of finding food or no possible threats for the life.  He can actually enjoy the limited pleasure he is having with a risk-free lifestyle. So, he is actually free from many dangers than the one who is free with more pleasure.  This can be call freedom from pleasure.

So, there is a huge difference between the “Freedom OF pleasures” and “Freedom FROM Pleasures”!  This is the difference of the ascetic life and an ordinary life.

Now you know the view of majority ordinary beings.  They are just based on the visible appearance.  So, in this case also majority of people believes the omen of ascetic life means the ascetic who can identify from the outer appearance.  Many sacred of practicing Buddhism or other spiritual lifestyles by misunderstanding the appearance of Ascetic life.  In another way, fear of giving up the pleasures.    

That fear is natural as long as you don’t see the first, second & third omens. The fourth omens of ascetic life come right after seeing the other omens.  If that doesn’t happen accordingly, one can easily give up or fed up with ascetic life.

Remember the levels we discussed in each omen? 

First level which is the level of majority ordinary beings including Channa.  And then the second level which one sees the omens and wiser level than the first level.  And the third level, which is the noble level and also achievable only through the deep teachings of a Samma SamBuddha. 

So, when someone in the second level, see the first three omens of aging, sickness & death that person’s searching begins.  Then only they seek for the liberation.  They seek for the solution.  They really see the issues of existence and how we can’t fix them.  That’s why they seek for the liberation.

So, a person who saw the omens of aging, death and sickness is the person who looking for a solution.  A person who is looking for the eternal solution is the omen of Ascetic.  In another way, a mind which seeks for the true liberation by seeing the life as it is, beyond the basic visible facts. 

This person can change the appearance in to an ascetic life or may not.  Because the outer appearance is not what matters here.  The mindset of ascetic life matters the most.  Let’s dig deeper!