--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, nina van gorkom wrote:
> would you tell us roughly what the comparison is about? Thanks
again.
> what in comparison, lord, can these five hundred carts do... etc.
> Wheel 67-69: What, O lord, are five hundred carts- nay six, seven...
> etc...compared with this?
N:
28: Now what think you Pukusa, which is the more difficult thing to
do or to meet with - that a man, being conscious and awake, should
neither see , nor hear the sound of five hundred cars passing by...or
that a man, being conscious and awake, should neither see, nor hear
the sound thereof when the falling rain goes on beating splashing,
and the lightnings are flashing forth, and the thunderbolts are
crashing?
We read, <Then, Pukkusa, the thought occurred to that man:- "How
wonderful a thing it is, and marvellous, that those who have gone
forth out of the world should pass their time in a state of mind so
calm!-...">
Thus, it is more difficult not to hear the sound of rain and thunder,
but this occurs when a high degree of calm is reached.