“My wife taught me to accept both birth and death,” said a person to his master. “Now, I will teach you what lies between birth and death,” said the master.
Treat the body as not yourself, but as a dress. Remember that you have a body and that the body does not have you. Likewise, to say that you have money is one thing, and to say that the money has you is decidedly different.
Understand that your body is extremely fragile, however strong it may be. Even a mosquito can kill you. Once you know that the body is fragile, you do not invest your life in the body. One has to respect the body and take care of it. One has to see the beauty of the body. Take the example of a flower, which is fragile but still beautiful. In the same way, our body is fragile and impermanent, but still beautiful. The notion that only what is permanent is beautiful is a myth. A flower is impermanent, but it is still beautiful.
The famous King Alexander, while passing through a city, heard that there was a mystical lake in that city and that anyone drinking water from that lake would become eternal. The king rushed to the lake to drink the water, for he wanted to be eternal. As he went happily, a crow started speaking: “For heaven’s sake, don’t drink water from the lake. You will become eternal. I drank it, and now I am eternally a crow.” Learn to love the impermanent. Learn to see elegance in imperfection.
The beauty of life is that it is unpredictable. But we wish that life should be predictable. It is this wish that creates conflict, not the unpredictable nature of life itself. In fact, this unpredictable factor keeps us on the alert. It makes life more adventurous.
Life is not just mathematics but a painting of the unknown. The whole insanity of mankind is our expectation that life should move in a defined direction. Sanity happens when you drop the chattering of your mind and flow with the miracle of life, with alertness and deep respect.
How does an enlightened person explain the injustice and evil of the world?
He is more committed to living wisely than to explaining them. He is more enchanted by them than overpowered by them. Everybody has the potential, like a great seed, to become a flower of love and shed happiness. This happens when one watches oneself and how one relates to life.
“How to live wisely?” asked the student.
“Do things that you have to do with total commitment and joy. The choice is yours: either to rise or fall. You can fill your inner room with gloom or the light of joy. To choose wisely and live by your decision is wise living,” replied the master.
With such understanding, one realises that whatever the cost of living, life is worth it. If one has lived life wisely, one is not afraid of death. Death is part and parcel of life. Every moment, life passes through birth and death—the birth of a new moment and the death of the past moment.
Existence loves and cares for every one of us. Without such care, we cannot exist. But we have to be in tune with existence. We have to meet, merge and melt with it. We should say yes to the river of life. Once we feel a deep sense of thankfulness, we find that every minute, existence is blessing us with the gift of life.
Everyone has the power to become a flower of love.
