Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: Always Self-Reflect to Maintain Right Mindfulness (時時反省不失正念)
As we remain in a state of tranquility, do we all have self–reflective and repentant hearts? Since life is impermanent, we must make good use of it. Otherwise, we may be busy for our whole life, and then our life will be over. If we go astray, we may or may not have the opportunity to be reborn as a human being. Therefore, we must be always on our guard.
Life is impermanent. Our lives are like candles; when we cannot breathe in again, we become ashes. Then we face painful retributions in the Three Destinies.
“Life is impermanent.” Life is indeed impermanent. We have often heard this principle, but few really take it to heart. We should really pay attention to this. We cannot think that there is always another tomorrow. If we constantly put things off until tomorrow, we will waste our time today. Therefore, we must make good use of our time today.
The idea of impermanence is addressed here: “Our lives are like candles. When we can’t breathe in again, we become ash.” How impermanent is life? It is just like a candle. After a candle is lit, the candle melts away as the flame burns. How long can the candle last? Moreover, when the candle is burning, its flames will flicker. That means the flame is unstable.
This is just like our lives, though we are still healthy, are all our internal organs truly functioning harmoniously, as they should? When the Four Elements in our bodies are not in harmony, we start to get sick. Illnesses are very intimidating. So we say, “Our lives are like candles.” The flame constantly flickers. “When we can’t breathe in again, we become ash.” After we breathe our very last breath, our bodies are either buried or cremated within a few days.
So when a body is no longer functional, it will either end up in the wild, or as ashes, of in an urn placed in a pagoda, etc. Nowadays, many people say it is simpler to scatter ashes in the ocean. You see, is there anything more to life? We should know that good health today does not guarantee good health tomorrow. So we must always use impermanence as a reminder to be vigilant.
Always use impermanence as a reminder to be vigilant. Seize the time we have to focus on what we should do, and do it well. In doing so, we will not waste our lives.
After we draw our last breath, our bodies are like a pile of dirt. “Then we face painful retributions In the Three Destinies. What have we done with this life? what is the thinking that drives our actions, speech, and thoughts? With a slight deviation in thought, our actions will be completely wrong. Whether through the actions of our bodies or the speech coming out of our mouths, a simple change in thought can put us in great danger. Where is the danger? In this life, if some people have so-called “good luck” even though they commit crimes, they still think, “I am influential, I am powerful. What am I afraid of?” But when their karmic obstructions manifest, it is like strong winds blowing out a candle. No matter how famous or powerful they are, inevitably one day they will breathe no more. Then where will they go? That is beyond their control. Karmic forces will manifest and pull them along.
Some people ask, “What happens after we die?” Actually, many people say, “I do not need to learn about death, I can learn about everything else.” Let me tell you all, we must learn everything, including death and dying. Our spiritual practice is about learning to deal with our last moment. When our soul leaves the body, we are no longer connected to anything around us. No matter how dear our loved ones are, or how much our relatives wail and moan, it will be irrelevant to us. What matters the most then is how we deal with the external conditions. Perhaps we sense a beam of light, hear wonderful music, or see the things we love before us. We will be uncontrollably drawn to the light. In it we will sense our loved ones and our favorite surroundings and sounds. We will drift toward and follow this light into a new world.
When we do that, by the time we are reborn in our next life, and we open our eyes, who knows where we will be? Perhaps it is a remote and impoverished area, where we will live primitively and walk around completely naked. Everyone may think, “We now live in a civilized age, are there places where people still live so primitively?” Yes, haven’t we been there? We have helped them. People in those primitive places even practice cannibalism.
I believe you all still remember what saw in Ethiopia and Afghanistan and on one of the islands of Indonesia. The men and women are all naked. “What do they wear as clothes? Don’t they get cold?” Yes, they do. What do they do to keep warm? Their custom is to cover their bodies with the fat from the animals they kill. Then they apply sand and dirt to the body. That is how they protect themselves from the cold.
Look, in these remote and impoverished places, the quality of life is no better than animals’. A number of places like this still exist. They are still a part of the Human Realm. Aside from these very unfavorable and remote places in the Human Realm, there are the Three Destinies. You all know these three: Hell, Hungry Ghost, and Animal. When it comes to the Animal Realm, some people love dogs and cats so much that they say, “I want to be reborn as a cat or I want to be reborn as a dog”. Everyone, we must not have such thoughts. If we have this kind of thought due to our love for these animals, perhaps when we take our last breath, we will see a cat or dog playing with us. We may happily follow it. Perhaps when we open our eyes, we will be among a litter of dogs or cats, or in a bull pen or a horse stable.
This kind of Animal Realm can easily be seen. Nowadays, pets such as cats and dogs are loved and pampered by people. Do we think that is a good state of being? It looks fine, but when we think more clearly, it entails unspeakable suffering.
Let us look at cases from Africa. We see children whose legs are skinny like sticks, whose abdomens are bloated like drums. They have nothing to eat. They suffer from malnutrition and illnesses. Finding a bite to eat or even a sip of water is hard. This feeling of lack is like living in the Hungry Ghost realm. They don’t have anything. We see such a plight in our world, too. We see many forms of Hell in this world. We have witnessed them in the aftermath of natural disasters: torrential rains, storms, or landslides. Many people suffer tremendously. They wail in misery and pain.
In the places where we provide relief, we have also seen starvation and illness and surroundings that are broken-down and filthy. The Faith Corps members of central Taiwan brought many photos from one of their case visits. The images are quite frightening to see. There is a man completely naked, his body completely covered by what the doctor calls Psoriasis. What kind of skin disease is it? Seeing how it covers him from head to toe really makes people’s hairs stand on end. He is lying on the bed. His body is all twisted and his hands and feet are gnarled. There are scaly patches all over his body, layer upon layer. It is truly indescribable.
He was lying down with feces all around him since he has no one to help him. Although he lives with his parents, they are very old. He has siblings, but he has had this disease for over a decade, and they cannot do much for him. After our Tzu Chi volunteers found out about this case, they visited this man. They said his room had a terrible odor. When they got closer, they saw trash and feces all around him. So our Faith Corps member, Mr. Luo, invited some Commissioners & other Faith Corps members to clean up his living space.
They cleaned up the place, but how long will that last? Since his body discharges waste every day, how long can his room stay clean? Seeing such conditions makes me think of Hell. This is an example of a living Hell on Earth. He is still at the prime of his life, when he should have been able to make a living, support himself, and enjoy good health. But as we know, we are just a candle in the wind.
As I said earlier, our lives are like candles. When the candle is lit, it is like our arrival into this world. But the wind is often blowing so the flames continuously flicker. We never know when disease will strike. When we reach the end of our life and cannot take the next breath, our soul will leave the body and enter into another state where we will be enticed by what we encounter. This state is dependent upon our habitual tendencies, and the karma that we have created. When our favorite conditions appear, we will follow them. When we follow our favorite conditions by the time we open our eyes, even if we cry it will be too late.
In this life, we must take good care of our minds and take good care of our responsibilities. In this way, at the end of our lives, if we are certain on where we want to go, we will end up where we want to be.
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas return to this world because of their vows. They are absolutely certain about their choice. “I know I want to return to the Human Realm. I have unfinished work there. I still have to transform more sentient beings.” Such is the power of the vow that brings Buddhas and Bodhisattvas back to the Human Realm. Ordinary people have no such control.
We learn Buddhism to direct ourselves in our last moments to go where we want to go. To do so, we must take care of our minds now.
If we always take care of our minds, act properly, and fulfill our fundamental responsibilities, then, at the last moment of our lives, we will not be led by karmic forces and deviate in our direction.
Fellow practitioners, in learn Buddhism, we must be mindful. Life is impermanent and as fragile as a candle in the wind. When the flame is extinguished, we may end up in the Three Destinies to face our painful retributions. Therefore, we must always be more vigilant, constantly self-reflect and take good care of our minds.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水).
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