Like Clouds in the Sky — The Truth Taught by Nature

According to the law of nature, the waters of the earth are drawn upward by heat and become vapor. When this vapor rises high into the sky, it gathers and forms clouds. These clouds are wondrous and beautiful — soft, bright, and constantly changing in form.

Yet, however radiant they appear, the clouds cannot remain forever. When the winds blow, or when conditions change, those beautiful clouds break apart and vanish into the open sky.

In one of his past lives, when the Bodhisatta was born as Prince Ayoghara, he gazed upon these ever-changing clouds and realized the truth of impermanence. Seeing their rising and vanishing, he reflected deeply and thought:

“Just as clouds arise from heat and vapor and then dissolve again by those same causes, so too do living beings arise through ignorance and kamma, remain for a while, and then pass away through the very nature of impermanence.”

The Nature of Arising and Passing Away

In the Jātaka Aṭṭhakathā (Vol. IV, p. 497), it is said —

“yamekarattiṃ paṭhamaṃ, gabbhe vasati māṇavo,
abbhuṭṭhitova so yāti, sa gacchaṃ na nivattati.”

Translation:

“From the first night that a being enters the mother’s womb, he abides there; when he emerges, he continues his journey — and once he goes forth, he never returns.”

The commentary explains that when a being takes conception (paṭisandhi) in the mother’s womb, a journey begins that can never turn back. From the first drop of life (kalala), through the stages of growth (abbuda, pesi, ghana), existence continues unbroken.

Just as a cloud, once formed, cannot return to its original vapor, so too a being, once born, can never go back to the state before birth. Life moves forward continuously — through childhood, youth, and old age — until it dissolves completely.

The commentary further compares this process to a cloud struck by the wind:

“Once the cloud is scattered, it cannot say, ‘I will return and stand as before.’ Likewise, all conditioned things (saṅkhārā) perish and do not come back.”

The Story of Prince Ayoghara

In that life, the Bodhisatta was born as Prince Ayoghara. His mother’s old rival, reborn as an ogress (Yakkhinī), devoured the prince’s two elder brothers soon after their birth. To protect her newborn son, the queen gave birth to him inside an iron chamber (aya-ghara).

Within that iron house, the infant prince endured great hardship — heat, confinement, and suffering — just as he had within the narrow womb. From his earliest days, he experienced the truth of dukkha, the suffering inherent in existence.

When he grew and reflected upon this, wisdom arose within him, and he declared with deep insight:

“From the moment of birth, beings are already moving toward death.
Like the clouds that appear in the sky only to dissolve again,
all beings arise and pass away. None can turn back; none can remain unchanged.”

The Clouds and Human Life

A cloud is born from heat and moisture; a human life arises from kamma and conditions. The heat of desire, the moisture of attachment, and the winds of past actions come together to form this fragile existence.

Once formed, it may shine for a time — youth, beauty, and strength appear to last — but soon the winds of impermanence (anicca) scatter them all.

Within every birth lies the seed of death. From the moment of conception, we are already walking toward the end. No one can reverse the process. This is the natural law of all conditioned things (saṅkhata-dhamma).

The Silent Dhamma of the Clouds

The clouds teach Dhamma without words. They arise from the earth, shine briefly in the sunlight, and disappear into the vast sky.
In the same way, all beings arise through causes and conditions, shine for a while with the illusion of permanence, and then dissolve back into the current of saṃsāra.

To see this truth clearly is to awaken wisdom (paññā). When we realize that everything — body, wealth, feelings, and even those we love — is fleeting, we no longer cling.
We begin to live gently, wisely, and compassionately, understanding the nature of life and death.

The Way to Nibbāna

The path to Nibbāna begins with seeing this truth as it is.
When we let go of the illusion of the clouds — the attachment to what cannot last — the mind becomes calm and free.

True peace does not lie within arising or passing away,
but in the stillness beyond both birth and death.