Realize Eternity through the Brevity of Life

If we realize that the true span of our life is everlasting, then life becomes a lot more interesting and is suddenly rich with possibilities.

If we only focus on how limited our life is, we will begin to think that life is dull and lacks possibilities. We will constantly be hindered by perceived boundaries and will frequently miss opportunities to help others and do good in the world. 

Some of you may say that since we all will die one day, it is impossible to say that life is everlasting. But it is only when we view life as merely the existence of the physical body that we regard our life span as limited to only a few decades. We tend to think that our time begins when we are born and ends when we die. Because of our tunnel vision and our attachment to the phenomenal world, we do not realize that our being is much larger than this physical manifestation.

However, when we look at existence in the context of the cycle of rebirth, we have a long history and an unbounded future. Our physical body is like a house. When the house is beyond repair, we move on to a new one. When our bodies grow old and die, we move into a new body. Of course, the kind of body we take up will depend on our cumulative good and bad karma.

If we can break out of our small mindset, we will see that death is, in fact, the beginning of another life.

 According to the Buddha’s teachings, death is not the final chapter of life, it merely marks the end of one life and the beginning of another. The Buddha teaches us that life is without beginning and without end. Life is the culmination of causes and conditions and, as such, it is continually changing. Like the water in a fast-running river, it is never the same water. As soon as some water flows away, more comes to take its place. This impermanence is an inherent characteristic of the phenomenal world.

Look around you. We go through birth, aging and death. Likewise, the inanimate world is marked with becoming, existing and ceasing. The sutras say: “Mount Sumeru may be huge and tall, yet it will disappear one day. Despite the great depths of the sea, it will become dry when its time is up. Though the sun and moon shine bright, they will cease to exist before long. The great earth may be strong and holds all there is, but when the fire of karma burns at the end of the kalpa, it, too, cannot escape impermanence.” When we see this truth, we will no longer fear death and rebirth. We will understand that death and rebirth, as previously mentioned, is like moving from one house to the next. So, how do we use our limited time to do good and bring about infinite value?

We should not look at life just as the limited span of one person’s life; we should look at the larger life of the universe. While a person’s life may only span a limited number of years, its value is everlasting.

The continuity of life through one person to another is not unlike the process of spreading fire from one log to another. While the fire of the second log is not the same as the fire of the first log, it represents a continuation of the fire from the first log. In a similar way, from one being to another, we can see the continuity of life. Affinity also transcends one’s life span—its energy flows through life’s continuity and, by building affinity in our lifetime, we will pass it along to the next generation.

Given that we all play linking roles in this continuum of life, how are we to contribute to this larger life? Some people contribute through politics, others through their writing, and others yet through their examples. While these are all worthwhile contributions, Buddhism teaches us a more complete and supreme way. Buddhism teaches that when we discover our own Dharmakaya then we have found our own eternity. Dharmakaya is everywhere and everlasting. Our great teacher, Sakyamuni Buddha, is a great example of one who found eternity in the Dharmakaya. Though the Blessed One entered nirvana over two thousand five hundred years ago, the Dharmakaya of the Buddha is still here with us. This is the meaning of eternity in life and the ultimate example of affinity with time.

From Living Affinity, written by Venerable Master Hsing Yun.

Image from Pixabay.

More Featured Articles

The great masters of the Chan School have always been like leisurely clouds and wild cranes, sometimes dwelling in the mountain forests, sometimes living by the water. Read more
In the Buddha's teachings, there are four kinds of friends: friends who treat you like a flower, friends who act like a balance, friends who are like the mountains, and friends who are like the earth.Friends who treat you like a flowerWe all enjoy flowers, especially when they are fresh. We put them in vases to decorate our homes, we give them to our loved Read more
Technological progress and advances in modern science have led to material improvements that have enhanced the quality of people’s lives on many levels. Yet, no matter how much we have progressed or how advanced our technology is, there still remain fundamental problems in life that science will never be able to solve.Two of the greatest problems people face are birth and death. No sooner are Read more
One of the biggest weaknesses in today’s society is that we have developed the habit of not saying we are sorry. Once we grow up and rise in status and knowledge, apologizing becomes harder and harder. But human beings are not perfect sages and we all make mistakes. Being able to correct our mistakes is a virtue in itself. This ability to amend our actions Read more
"Walk like the wind, stand like a pine, sit like a bell, and rest like a bow."This basic etiquette not only applies to Buddhists; everyone should practice it as well in daily living.When we first meet a person, we can tell the level of his/her education and cultivation by his/her manners. We know how refined a person is by the way he/she speaks and conducts Read more
The analysis of the mind in Buddhism is both multifaceted and sophisticated. As a spiritual practice, Buddhism contains numerous descriptions of the nature and function of the mind and instructions on how to search for, abide with, and refine it. In this regard, Buddhist psychology has much to offer, as does Western psychology.In the beginning, “psychology” referred almost exclusively to “a science that explains the Read more
Humans are thinking animals! Since the beginning of time, there have always been people who fantasize, who have delusions, who dream—and many who have ideals. When we lie in our beds at night, we should be free from worry. Yet thoughts about our lives often arise then; thoughts about family, country, or even the world. Everything is within our minds.The average person often tends to Read more
When there is hope, there is a future. The worst tragedy in life is to live without hope for the future. When there is hope, there is a future. One of the mottoes of the Buddha's Light International Association is "to give others hope." That is the highest act of benevolence. On the other hand, to disappoint and render others hopeless is the cruelest act.People live Read more
In Buddhism, the root cause of human suffering and other problems are identified as the mind. It thus proposes to tap into this invaluable resource by transforming any unwholesomeness into wholesomeness. Buddhism instructs sentient beings on how to recognize the mind, calm the mind, and handle the mind. The Buddha taught for forty-nine years during his lifetime. Whether his teachings were about the four noble Read more
Music gives us the capacity to express deep emotions. Whether through holy hymns or chants of praise, music is capable of uplifting the mind to an almost sublime state. As such, it has a significant role in the promotion of religion.All Buddhas and bodhisattvas are very skilled in utilizing music to teach the Dharma and guide sentient beings to enlightenment.Music has a very important function Read more
Most of us have an idea of what constitutes the space outside us; it is the environment in which we live. This includes the house we live in, the city we live in, or even the world we live in. Just as we need to skillfully manage our relationship to others, to the environment, and to wealth, we also need to properly manage our relationship Read more
Chan is meditation throughout our lives. When we live with Chan, the taste of food and feel of clothes will change. We will not feel difficulty when dealing with our affairs. Any matter can be laughed away. The human world has its ups and down, but when we have a Chan mind it is like the world is ours and nothing is lacking. All human Read more