Page 103 - Extinguishment of self, in search of dhamma

our mouth, the sweetness starts to disappear; therefore we shift our tongue so that more sweetness will be released. After a while, the lollipop starts to become bland, so we shift our tongue again to release more sweetness. We need to constantly shift our tongue to enable the sweetness to sustain consistently. If we just keep the lollipop in our mouth (Translator’s note: Without moving our tongue), the taste will disappear. This is the impermanence/cessation of tastes.
If the sweetness stays at the same level constantly, it will de nitely taste banal. Observe that if the sweetness stays in the mouth constantly and we cannot escape it. We cannot make the taste neutral, it will soon taste really banal and we have to nd a way to wash our mouth, we can no longer tolerate it. This shows that the sweetness is more than our body can accept. Therefore, observe that the tastes of food have emergence-cessation phenomenon. They cease, then we add. They cease, then we add. Consistently. This is the emergence-cessation of tastes. If we pay attention to their emergence-cessation phenomenon, then we will experience that the taste emerges, then ceases.
What is the bene t of contemplating so that we will not be attached to the taste of food? There are certain foods that we dislike but are essential to our health. How do we eat them without suffering? Even some medicine—we really dislike—but we need to take them. For some, this
95