The joys and sorrow of meeting and departing with loved ones and the inevitable cycle of life are the most signifiant parts of life. The soul was sent upon the world to experience all these various feelings.
You might say: 'I only want happiness in my life!' But here's the problem, if you have yet to feel unhappy, how would you know how happy feels like?
For instance, when you're thirsty, you would be able to enjoy the thrill of gulping down a great amount of water, but when you're not, does it bring the exact sensation when you're thirsty?
You would only be able to realise how important water is when you're being abandoned in a desert. You would only be able to know how great it is to walk when you have lost your leg. You would only be able to know how great it is to see things when you have lost your sight. You would only be able to know how great it is to lead a healthy life when you're lying ill on the bed. You would only be able to know how great it is to work when you have lost your job.
Precisely! You would only learn how to treasure things when you have lost something.This is like not knowing how great it is to possess everything under the sun, a perfect body, a successful career, a perfect sight and the ability to breath freely.
However, when the day comes where you have lost something, you would say: 'I'm wiling to give everything I have just to restore my pair of legs, arms, eyes and a healthy body.' But why can't you treasure it when you possess it? You have never been grateful to all these given blessing that are right in front of your eyes; instead you recklessly seek for that so-called happiness that is farfetched and unachievable. Why would you do so?
If you think that those happiness that you have always been seeking are true happiness, why are you willing to give up those happiness in exchange of the blessings that you have once possessed?
You might say: 'I want to live happier life with less pain.' That shouldn't be a problem! I thought our religion has clearly taught us the method - 'the amount of happiness that you would possess relies on how much happiness you spread.' If you want to be wealthy and rich be a generous donor by donating to those in need, if you want to be knowledgeable be a respectable person by spreading your knowledge to everyone, if you want to have a healthy body be a merciful person by not killing or set living things free. However based on my perspective, I would say not killing is the best way.
Because if you would to set the bird free, worms would be killed as they are the source of food for birds. So what should you do? Set the birds or kill the worms?
The reason why Buddhism teaches us to not kill is in order to elicit our compassionate heart. Knowing the advantages that it brings lead you to doing good.
After some tie when you have been repeatedly doing it again and again, you would be able to feel and then eventually believe, when you believe you would be able to seek for your soul through the medium of religion. You would then realise the purpose of being sent upon the world is to seek the true meaning of love.
Religion is made up of some benevolent and compassionate higher realm deities, they want to make you seek for your true self (soul) through all the obstacles that you would face in the this mortal world, and to remind you it's time to get back to the 'soulful world' which is filled with compassion.
Don't go back and forth this vicious cycle of birth and death because you can't bring along a single thing with you.
I would also like to remind you that never ever use religion or deities as a stepping stone.
The Bodhisattva and other deities in Buddhism are the higher realm figures who are filled with benevolence and compassion. The reason why they are part of the higher realm is because they have been through all the obstacles in the mortal wold and they have apprehended the Law of Nature.
Being compassionate is also a part of their test and hence their compassion is an earnest emotion that doesn't contain any intention. This is true love.
Therefore whenever human cries over their lives, the Bodhisattva would feel the exact pain thus will make a trip to the mortal world and through 'human body' Bodhisattva will be an exemplary to guide and show human how to be as benevolent as Buddha.
However human has a certain lifespan and it is impossible for Bodhisattva to stay in the mortal world forever as it would break the law of nature, hence all Bodhisattva can do is to leave a book - the Sutra, to teach you how to depart from pain and seek for happiness.
Buddha is benevolent and has a big heart. Buddha never takes over your freewill and in Buddha's eyes it is not a must to become a Buddha.
If you enjoyed being human, Buddha encourages by teaching you the method to be reborn as human in the Sutra. Moreover, Buddha also teaches you the ways to not fall into the three lowly realms. Buddha grants total freewill to you to decide your life.
If you possess a big heart, you would possess everything. Hence Buddha says everything is made possible with a big heart.
Nothing can take you down if you possess a big heart, because love has the power to embrace all evil and take away all hatred.
Why do we have so many different Sutras? Why do we have so many different sects? This is because Buddha has also been accumulating knowledge since kindergarten up until graduate school.
Every person has their distinct characteristics and in a wold with people from all walks of life, Buddha has specifically designed 84 thousands famennians to assist everyone to pursue happiness by seeking the most suitable method in cultivating happiness.
Therefore while cultivating one might reach a point where contradiction kicks in, but these are not contradicts, these prove that you have improved hence kindergarten level materials are not suitable for you anymore.
A Buddhist monk invites you to join the Zen; the law of virtue asks you to specifically do changing; the law of discipline requests you to obey the commandments. At this moment, you would wonder which is truly beneficial.
Honestly, all these are beneficial, but you have to specialize in one only. Why?
For instance, if you want to do well in music, you have to pick between specializing music composition or musical instrument. This is exactly like selecting the right religion, Buddhism, Taoism, Christian, Islam or Hinduism? You have to make up your mind and select the right one for yourself and concentrate on practicing and realizing the religion's teachings.
If you have decided to specialize in the musical instrument aspect, you have to be determined in what specific instruments are you going to ace, you can't go around playing violin for a moment then piano and later guitar. Or maybe you have selected music composition, but for a moment you opt for classical, later modern. What success would it bring if you can't make up your mind on which to specialize in?
For a moment you thought the law of virtue is good so you went to learn, a second later you went to join the Zen and then it attracts you when you found out the law of discipline At the end of the day you realize there are so many rules to abide in Buddhism so you opt for Christianity instead, because it seems to have less rules. After believing in Christ, you realize before meal you have to pray and you have to sacrifice your only day off to go church services on Sunday. Fine! I'd rather not believe in anything!
It's fine if you don't believe a thing which I say and it's also perfectly alright if you don't believe the existence of soul, but with this attitude, I'm quite certain that you won't gain any true success or happiness in life.
The purpose of the existence of religion is to cultivate your concentration, concentration in meditating, changing and abstaining. Cultivate your concentration level until it reaches a point when you have made it as a habit, you would eventually realize all these higher realm deities want you to know that a truly enjoyable life is to please your soul but not the physical body.
It is known as realization when you're managed to seek for your true self. However you're still in confusion if you perceive the physical body as your true self.
Nonetheless I have to remind you, realizing and achieving Buddhahood are two different things. Realizing the soul as your true self is an applaud able act, but can you keep your feet on the ground when you're facing obstacles and misfortunes in life?
You clearly know the soul was sent to the world to be enriched, but can you resist when temptations are shone upon you? If you can, this shows you're using the determination that you've cultivated through your soul all these while.
A friend asked: 'Don't you think you're revealing God's secret? I replied: 'Those who forbid the act of revealing God's secret are liars/' I was able to share all these things because I have been studying diligently on various religions and sutras. These realizations dawned to me naturally after knowing more; hence these are nothing close to God's secret. Anyway, life wouldn't be any better even if I've told you everything I know, because all these strongly rely on your determination. Your determination would allow you to face the obstacles and misfortunes courageously and to overcome the desires and temptations in life. Thus there's nothing to be concerned about being punished for revealing God's secret.
In today's society humans are filled with karmas, it doesn't make any difference if I would to let you know the universe's secrets because there are so many things that human can't let go. If there's only one person who is enlightened and started self-cultivation after reading my book and successfully become a Buddha in future, I truly believe that I would be saved by the person even when I'm expelled to hell.
Religiously speaking, sacrificing for someone else's well-being is a good deed, hence there's nothing to fear. I clearly know what I want to do because I perceive and treat everything fro the perspective of my soul, thus I'm never lost.
In a nutshell, viewing things from the perspective of the soul would ensure a smooth sailing life. Fortunes and misfortunes are blessings after all and isn't it essential for the soul to realize how great it is to live as a human?
For instance, man are afraid of cockroaches but aren't the cockroaches who are supposed to be afraid of us? You can easily take their lives by squashing them into pieces, but they can't even touch a single strand of your hair.
Therefore if we were educated since young with the fact that cockroaches are harmless insects, would you still be afraid of it? However this fear has implanted deeply in your heart, hence for the rest of your lifetime you would be living in fear because of fear.
Don't forget! There's nothing to fear but fear itself.
Soul doesn't have fears, thus a person who has truly realized wouldn't be haunted by the ear of misfortunes, because the greater misfortune the greater the soul would be enriched.
Let's make friends instead of enemy with the devil, because the devil serves as an obstacle to make you better and stronger.
You are your greatest enemy and you need to defeat yourself by thinking wisely through your soul in order to depart from the mortal realm.
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