Thanissaro Bhikkhu

But as for the gradual decaying that goes on quietly inside, we aren't aware of it.

As a result,

We cling to the body as being us, every single part of it.

Its eyes are our eyes.

The sights they see are things we see.

The sensation of seeing is something we sense.

We don't see these things as elements.

Actually the element of vision and the element of form make contact.

The awareness of the contact is the element of consciousness.

The mental phenomenon which senses sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations and all.

This we don't realize, which is why we latch on to everything, eyes, ears, nose, intellect, body, and so on, as being us or ours.

Then when the body decays, we feel that we are growing old.

When it dies and mental phenomena stop, we feel that we die.

Once you've taken the elements apart though, there's nothing.

These things lose their meaning on their own.

They're simply physical and mental elements.

without any illness or death.

If you don't penetrate into things this way, you'll stay deluded and blind.

For instance, when we chant Jara Damami,

I am subject to death.