Life is But A Dream; Death, A Dream As Well (Issue 305)

I remember one time, I, along with a layperson, took the Venerable Master’s sister-in-law to the doctor. She was already eighty-two years old at that time. We went to a hospital in San Francisco, and the doctor was Caucasian. As soon as we sat down, the Venerable Master’s sister-in-law said, “Doctor, you must help me! I don’t want to die!” Upon hearing this, I thought, “Wow, I would be content if I could live to eight-two years of age!” But when you reach this age, you will feel it’s not enough. I didn’t think much at the time. I thought, “I would be happy to live to 82!”

After all these years, I have been thinking, “This is the attachment of all living beings who love life and fear death.” Age is only a number. However, if we don’t break through our attachment, we still wouldn’t want to die even if we reach 102 years of old or even 1002 years of old. We still want to live longer. What does this tell us? This tells us that we must break through our extremely mighty attachment while we are still alive. We must develop a different attitude, a different viewpoint and perception in which one’s lifespan does not matter. What is most important is one’s inner substance. How do we make good use of our lifetime to fulfill our lives to the fullest potential and to help others do the same? This is the most important inner substance. Otherwise, even at 1003 years of age, you will still tell the doctor, “Please help me. I don’t want to die!”. But you should know that doctors can’t save themselves either.

Only Amitabha Buddha, the King of Great Vows, can help us with our grave matter of birth and death. Therefore, I hope that we will treasure our lives, enrich our lives and make good use of our lives, to fulfill our lives while helping others fulfill theirs. Thereby, bringing to fruition the precious legacy that the Buddha and the Venerable Master bequeathed us. We must continue to propagate Buddhadharma and benefit others. Amitabha!