Biblical: that which is mortal, impermanent, or perishable: mi rtag pa'i mi/ mortal man (Rom. 1:23), mi rtag pa'i cod pan/ a crown which perishes (1 Cor. 9:25). The Bib. writers, like the Buddha, had a keen sense of the changeable, transient, and impermanent nature of life and of the suffering this imposes upon man: 'chi bar 'dren pa'i lus 'di las nga sus sgrol/ who will rescue me from this body of death (Rom. 7:24), shag khrag dang ldan pa la dkon mchog gi rgyal srid kyi thob skal med/ flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50). Unlike the Buddha, they looked beyond the impermanence of this life to an eternal, unchanging inheritance from God: mthong ba rnams mi rtag pa yin cing /,,mi mthong ba rnams rtag pa yin/ what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Cor. 4:18); and to the hope of the renewal of all things at the last day: bkod pa thams cad kyang mi rtag pa de las bsgral/ the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay (Rom. 8:21 SV).
Buddhist: mi rtag pa/ impermanence: change which causes suffering (KBT 94). In the Bst. view, 'dus byas thams cad mi rtag pa/ everything that has a cause is impermanent (TRC 94), and it is this impermanence which causes suffering. 'chi ba mi rtag pa sgom pa/ or meditation on the impermanence [caused by] death (TRC 226) is used to focus novices' perception of mi rtag pa rags pa/ or gross impermanence. The suffering caused by impermanence is the subject of the first of the bden pa bzhi/ or Four Truths; the remainder of Bst. doctrine deals with the methods of escape from such suffering.
Proverbs: ji ltar lbu ba mthong ba dang /,,ji ltar smig sgyu mthong gyur pa/,,'jig rten de ltar mthong ba rnams/,,'chi bdag rgyal pos mthong mi 'gyur/ those who view the world as if it were a bubble or a mirage will not be seen by the lord of death (DMP 88).