In that sutta, the Buddha advises a person who losing identity/essence what to do.
Itâs not just birth/death, the momentum of samsara dependent on polarities, necessitates an identity. Thatâs why practice cannot be passive:
" âThere is the case where a person, suffering loss of relatives, loss of wealth, or loss through disease, does not reflect: âThatâs how it is when living together in the world. Thatâs how it is when gaining a personal identity.[1] When there is living in the world, when there is the gaining of a personal identity, these eight worldly conditions spin after the world, and the world spins after these eight worldly conditions: gain, loss, status, disgrace, censure, praise, pleasure, & pain.â Suffering loss of relatives, loss of wealth, or loss through disease, he sorrows, grieves, & laments, beats his breast, becomes distraught. And then there is the case where a person, suffering loss of relatives, loss of wealth, or loss through disease, reflects: âThatâs how it is when living together in the world. Thatâs how it is when gaining a personal identity. When there is living in the world, when there is the gaining of a personal identity, these eight worldly conditions spin after the world, and the world spins after these eight worldly conditions: gain, loss, status, disgrace, censure, praise, pleasure, & pain.â Suffering loss of relatives, loss of wealth, or loss through disease, he does not sorrow, grieve, or lament, does not beat his breast or become distraught.â
âAnguttara Nikaya 4.192
Also Anguttara Nikaya 8.6
"âAnd who is the individual who goes against the flow? There is the case where an individual doesnât indulge in sensual passions and doesnât do evil deeds. Even though it may be with pain, even though it may be with sorrow, even though he may be crying, his face in tears, he lives the holy life that is perfect & pure. This is called the individual who goes against the flow.â
âAnguttara Nikaya 4.5
