Fraughtwithperil's Guest Blog

Living and Dying in the Context of Eternity

I will live to be 126 years of age. Everyone laughs at this, but I am being truthful. You see, I have promised my first-born son a gala party on the occasion of his 90th Birthday. He has promise to bring the dancing girls—I must keep my promise if for no other reason than this, even though it may prove to be the death of me.

My wife and three sons seem to derive a sense of peace and security in the knowledge that I will be around for a long time, but my wife expresses reservations about the dancing girls. I am at peace from moment to moment knowing, that having just completed forty percent of this present existence at age 51, I have 75 years remaining, and there is time for everything, no need to hurry, yet no time to waste.

Each of my sons in turn, at ages 4 or 5, have been taught that everything that is born must die, and that death is a new beginning. Trust me on this—shortly after I fulfill my obligation to my oldest son, I will embrace my death in this existence with hopes and dreams for the life to come—especially the exchange of my decrepit flesh and brittle bones for a fresh new body. I will pass from this existence secure in the knowledge that there is still time for everything, yet no time to waste.

Living with a belief in eternity of the cycle of birth and death is truly liberating. There is always hope for the future while embracing the knowledge of the finite nature of this existence. Because I will never be this person again, I don’t want to waste a single moment this life.

I resolve to live in the eternity of the present moment come what may. There is no other to blame for my hardships, and therefore there is no other that I hate. There are no hardships that cannot be overcome, and therefore, though I am not free of karma, I am absolutely free of the chains of karma. No person is more fortunate than I.

What is called Buddhism began as a quest to provide a way to overcome the sufferings of Birth, Illness, Old Age, and Death. These four are generally thought of in a physical sense. But they are metaphors for spiritual sufferings of being fettered by the chains of karma (the suffering of birth), encountering a person that one hates (the suffering of illness), not having hope for the future (the suffering of old age), and the fear and sorrow of parting with loved ones (the suffering of death).

I am reminded of the story of Sessen Doji who long ago roamed the land writing on every tree, rock and wall he encountered the two-half verses taught to him by a demon:

“All is changeable, nothing is constant. This is the law of birth and death.”
"Extinguishing the cycle of birth and death, one enters the joy of nirvana.”

As a common mortal of myojisoku I am forever mindful of the four-phrase verse that brings the greatest merit of all:

(1)When living beings have become truly faithful,
(2)honest and upright, gentle in intent,
(3)single-mindedly desiring to see the Buddha
(4)not hesitating even if it costs them their lives,
then [at this moment] I and the assembly of monks
appear together on Holy Eagle Peak.

Posted by chikushonin at March 24, 2005 10:21 PM