It has been a wake-up call – my serious health condition and longer hospital stay. As a result, I was moved to think more deeply about life’s purpose and what lies beyond this life.
Here are some insights into life that are common to all of us. Nothing shared is meant to be morbid or depressing. Rather, the aim is to look at life in a realistic way. This will make us more appreciative, as well as help us cherish each new day, no matter what it may bring us.
May these insights be helpful reminders for everyone.
Impermanence – Nothing Stays the Same
Impermanence: All beings and situations are transitory by nature. Our physical body also is temporary like borrowed property. We are all like temporary residents who come and go. Previous generations have come and gone, passed on – and ours will too. Future generations, likewise, will pass on.
Guests Only: Using another comparison, we live like guests in a hotel – we can enjoy the opportunities before us, but always need to remember that we cannot take anything material with us when we leave.
Only on Loan: Our home, while it may be well-built and comfortable, is like something on loan – as are all our possessions. When we leave, we do not take them with us.
Family and Friends: In life, we are like travellers meeting at some destination. Our family, friends, and companions, although we have met and enjoyed their company, in the end (often all too soon it seems), we must separate and be parted from them.
Possessions and Wealth: Wealth, and the possessions that we may struggle so hard to gather and hoard, are equally not lasting. We amass them, only to find that others will eventually enjoy them.
Time to Go: Life shows us that when it is time for us to go, nothing will prevent it – not medicines, doctors, prayers, wealth, friends or family. We have no power to stay when it is time to move on. As much as we can, we need to make preparations for our future journey now – because death is real. It can come without warning, and it cannot be escaped.
Looking at Life – How Do We Perceive Things?
Our Perceptions and Interpretations: “We don’t see the world, but our own ideas about it” (Lama Ole Nydahl). We need to be aware how our ideas, biases, feelings, and assumptions influence the way we view people and situations. Often, reality is remarkably different – and we delude ourselves. Misinterpreting reality is what can make us deeply and needlessly unhappy!
Unrealistic Expectations: Often in life, we expect everything to go our way. For example, we hope for happiness and fear suffering; hope for fame and fear insignificance; hope for praise and fear blame; hope for gain and fear loss. We need to accept that suffering, insignificance, blame, and loss are inevitable aspects of every life.
Going Forward – What Can We Do?
No Time to Lose: There is no time to waste in life. These days, it is so easy to be distracted. We can, for example, allow smartphones, tablets, or the media to occupy us all day Higher purposes and deeper meaning to life are often overlooked or neglected, even for years.
A Gift or a Burden? When facing difficult circumstances, we need to ask ourselves if we are going to view the situation as a gift or a burden. It is easy to make excuses and adopt a victim mentality that will keep us defeated. In the end, the only one holding us back is ourselves.
Appreciation and Acceptance: “There are many strong and healthy people who die young, while many of the old and sick and feeble live on and on. Not knowing when we’ll die, we need to develop an appreciation and acceptance of what we have, while we have it, rather than continuing to find fault with our experience and constantly seeking to fulfill our desires.” (Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche)
Contentment: Those who are content in life are truly the richest. Even if they have little, their minds are filled with happiness. We might be well off, but without contentment, we are poor because our mind will never be satisfied.
Each life is precious, and can be a blessing to ourselves and others. We need to remember that we have only a short time together, and be grateful for each day we share. Recognizing others’ limitations should inspire compassion instead of frustration and disappointment. This can help us achieve a more harmonious and peaceful life.
May we each bring seeds of happiness into others’ lives! After all, when someone that we knew dies, with them goes a part of us. And, besides all the memories, what they changed in us remains behind in the garden of our mind.
Many people are by nature peaceful, joyful, and wise. Their mere presence can bring peace and happiness to those around them. There is no one among us who cannot awaken such qualities from our hearts, if only we could open up to this possibility and make an effort. Every one of us possesses an enlightened nature. Our true qualities are peaceful, joyful, and wise. Our negative emotions and unhealthy expressions are just afflictions—a kind of pollution—not our true nature. That is why Buddhism teaches us that human life is amazingly precious, that we can use impermanence to improve our lives, that we can use the laws of karma to ensure a peaceful death and a joyful rebirth, and that all of us can become fully enlightened, as this is just realizing our own inherent nature.
We can earn peace, joy, and enlightenment, not only for this life but also for lives to come; and not only for ourselves but also for countless others. The choice is up to us.
If we cultivate the awareness of peace and joy, have positive perception, and strengthen these good habits in our mindstream, this awareness will transform our life and mental character.
Unhappy situations will have little effect on us, and the strength of peace and joy will prevail.
But if we don’t take advantage of our life right now, in the future we could fall into the misery of confusion, fear, and pain.
To attain the goal, we must pursue a spiritual path. It can be any path that generates awareness of peace and joy, loosens the grip of our mental grasping, purifies emotional afflictions, and refines our words and deeds. This is the only way to change our negative habits into meritorious karmas and realize inner wisdom.
(Tulku Thondup. Peaceful Death, Joyful Rebirth: A Tibetan Buddhist Guidebook.)
