Putting Life Into Perspective

[iloveds]

We don't live in the monastery, we don't practice even 1hour a day, we are caught up in the affairs of this life that we can't even break free to practice.

We came across the path at a age where we have little years left to practice and gain attainments, all we can do now is create as much merit as possible to at least help push us towards a good rebirth that we can actually practice and see the results.

Let's be frank, are we at the end of our lives? Are we with a partner, do we have children? All the things we were brought up to believe brings us happiness, the media told us, the people around us taught us this path, we gullibly took the pill and willingly.

My how Samsara's hooks dig deep, to tear them out is so painful.

A little perspective looking to the past... in hindsight with Dharma Knowledge

[pgdharma]

Our minds cannot have  two masters.....samsara and  dharma. So it is up to us to choose the right master.

We believed that  been successful, being filthy rich, having partners and children and all worldly desires make us happy. But  how long does these  happiness last? It is only temporal. Our life is too short. We do not know when we will have our last breath, yet we are still chasing what we believed will helped us. 

Dharma on  the other hand brings ultimate happiness. But do we have the wisdom to see it? Are our negative imprints so strong that it empowers our positive imprints? How are we going to get out from this samsara that hooks us dig deep? Well, we have to create the causes for it to happen. We have to put in effort to collect as much merits as possible in  this lifetime and to ensure  that we will not fall into the three lower realms in  our next rebirth so that we may continue to study  the dharma. We are very fortunate to be born in this human realm where we are able to study the Buddhadharma. And all the  more  fortunate if we have a Spiritual Master to guide us.  So we should grab this golden opportunity to choose dharma as the master.

[DSFriend]

What you have described plaques countless. How sad and true. Many gullibly took the pill and sold the pill to their offsprings, loved ones, and friends even though it has not brought about what it promises.

We are fortunate to have met the dharma and a loving dharma protector who will hold and protect our minds so that we do not further build the dependency on the pill but to wean off, that our attachments will one day have no power over us. Such freedom we will have...

We don't live in the monastery, we don't practice even 1hour a day, we are caught up in the affairs of this life that we can't even break free to practice.

We came across the path at a age where we have little years left to practice and gain attainments, all we can do now is create as much merit as possible to at least help push us towards a good rebirth that we can actually practice and see the results.

Let's be frank, are we at the end of our lives? Are we with a partner, do we have children? All the things we were brought up to believe brings us happiness, the media told us, the people around us taught us this path, we gullibly took the pill and willingly.

My how Samsara's hooks dig deep, to tear them out is so painful.

A little perspective looking to the past... in hindsight with Dharma Knowledge

[Barzin]

Our minds cannot have  two masters.....samsara and  dharma. So it is up to us to choose the right master.

Yes I agree very much.  It is already so hard to live a life what the society perceive it to be, living someone else's dream...  I can't imagine a person who is practicing spirituality to choose to return to the old ways, the samsara way.  It took much effort, determination to pull out all the sufferings, those unhappiness in us but we return to indulge even more.  It is just like kicking off the habit of drinking and yet return to drink even more.  It just simply doesn't make sense!

By knowing the dharma, we should know that our precious life is short, the time for realization and learn and practice dharma is short. So we should cherish every moment.  Because when old age hits us without us knowing, a lot that we accomplished slowly become meaningless.  None of those can help us at the time of death.

So it is good to do a self check every now and then, see where we are, where our minds are.  And sincerely practice the dharma.

[DharmaSpace]

I think there is a Chinese saying "one leg on two boats" , so trying to have samsara and dharma in one's heart is similar to having "one leg on two boats". No one can make any progress or move forward in such a situation. Its almost like having a split personality, one moment you are pulled in one direction and the next moment you are pulled in the other direction.

[vajrastorm]

Yes, despite having so little time left to practice the Dharma and gain realizations and attainments, we are still caught in a big tug-of-war between Dharma and Samsara.

We are so caught in samsara's web of deceptive pleasures. We can't seem to break away but keep going back for more and more, even though it's like drinking salt water.

We have to make a determined effort to be more and more involved in Dharma and to let go of our strongly habituated attachments and aversions. But first of all we need to work on accumulating enormous amounts of merits and do a lot of purification practices. We need to consistently think of benefiting others and whittle away our self=grasping and self-cherishing.

[DharmaDefender]

We don't live in the monastery, we don't practice even 1hour a day, we are caught up in the affairs of this life that we can't even break free to practice.

We came across the path at a age where we have little years left to practice and gain attainments, all we can do now is create as much merit as possible to at least help push us towards a good rebirth that we can actually practice and see the results.

Let's be frank, are we at the end of our lives? Are we with a partner, do we have children? All the things we were brought up to believe brings us happiness, the media told us, the people around us taught us this path, we gullibly took the pill and willingly.

My how Samsara's hooks dig deep, to tear them out is so painful.

A little perspective looking to the past... in hindsight with Dharma Knowledge

That you talk about the preciousness of human life makes you wonder about the preciousness of the time you have with your guru. A couple of years ago I received a very precious teaching about the 50 stanzas of guru devotion. It was about our body, speech and mind in front of our gurus and one thing stuck out. It was that I only get to see my guru what, once or twice a year? Seriously, if in that short time I cant control my body and speech to show (at the very least) outward respect to my guru, what chance to do I have with my mind?

So speaking of guru devotion then, in relation to our precious human life... we always talk about how precious our human life is to practice Dharma but consider this. Your lama is omniscient and if you dont believe that, then at the very least hes extremely highly intelligent. With this type of mind, he CHOOSES Dharma over samsara. So its daft to think that youve any semblance of guru devotion if you choose samsara over Dharma, because then your indirectly saying your guru is wrong because he made the wrong choice too.

Its actually harder and more tiring to keep straddling between samsara and Dharma. What purpose has being attached to samsara served us so far? I know Ive gained nowt from it. To be honest, its just dumb you banging your head against the same wall thinking youll get a different result because you wont. Staying in samsara will never bring you happiness, otherwise Shakyamuni wouldnt have bovvered to get under the bodhi tree.

[iloveds]

If you have the chance to be in Dharma 24/7 take it. Can't take anything with you that you amass in such a short lifetime. Whether you become super rich or if you have not a penny to your name.

We are all made equal at the time of death. Does it scare me? Yes I do not feel ready but I do hope I can focus on Dorje Shugden and everything will be ok.

[Mana]

That's why meeting the Dharma is so difficult, that's why Buddha's Dharma is almost completely wiped out form its place of origin, taken over by religions which are more simplistic, because most people don't have the merits to perceive, understand and internalize the real Dharma, more so in this age of Kaliyuga.

[Ensapa]

If you have the chance to be in Dharma 24/7 take it. Can't take anything with you that you amass in such a short lifetime. Whether you become super rich or if you have not a penny to your name.

We are all made equal at the time of death. Does it scare me? Yes I do not feel ready but I do hope I can focus on Dorje Shugden and everything will be ok.

A friend of mine has described to me that when his friend passed away. who is only 37 when he died and who has deceived many people despite having met his Guru but did not practice and choose to pursue a worldly life. He caught pneumonia at the end, and on his dying breath he kept crying and regretting that he did not practice the Dharma and regretted all of his actions. My friend was there to see his best friend die and breathe his last at the hospital. He hurt everyone around him deeply as he left them a lot of debts and secrets after he died.

That story really scared me to do Dharma fulltime and give up whatever I think was fun in samsara. Because I do not want to end up like that in my deathbed. It was a very powerful lesson to me. That helped me to decide and make my mind firm...that I do not want to end up that way.

[DharmaSpace]

I've always thought that religious practise does not make any sense if we do not think about our mortality and death. Nothing much matters when we are at death's door step only have we done what we needed to to prepare fo the journey. best to do as much dharma as we can before Death comes knocking.

[jeremyg]

According to buddhist philosophy; when we die we do not take anything with us. Our body was just a mere vessel in samsara. Everything we accomplished, every little action we once performed, every thing we owned, and every time some one made us happy, angry, or sad is gone. Nothing we ever did mattered. Having said that if we can influence others in a way that improves their life, that lets them understand samsara better, then maybe what we do in our short time in samsara can be beneficial. Would we rather spend our last dying moment in a bar, drinking away? Or would we rather spend it saving someones life, feeding the homeless?

Many people are too caught up in samsara. We, including myself think this is all that exists. We live our life out, to one day die, having angered many people, having put people down to better yourself. This is how samsara has deceived us. It is not out fault. We are taught to grow up, go to school, learn what school tells you, and what they say is right. We then go to university, learn there. Get a job, pay bills. Grow old, plan for our retirement. And then one day die, losing everything we once did. The Dharma offers us an alternative, it offers us a different way to view life. We can all do those things, but we can also do dharma. We can plan for our next life, and we can find ways to alleviate the suffering we will feel throughout life, if we understand Samsara completely. Once we understand that everything here is impermanent then we can fully excel with the dharma.

Of course this is impossible to achieve in just one day. It will take us many lifetimes before we can truly become enlightened. But we will slowly learn the way. I mean aren't we all here to learn about the dharma, to learn about Dorje Shugden, so that we can help others. We are already taking the steps to being less attached, and more dharmic. I honestly believe that we are not just doing this by chance, but we have had imprints from a past life letting us do this. Not everyone is so lucky as to know, or even hear of the name Dorje Shugden, so we must have done something in a past life. Why waste this opportunity and fall back into the fiery pits of samsara, where we will remain indefinitely if we do not do something about it.

[triesa]

According to buddhist philosophy; when we die we do not take anything with us. Our body was just a mere vessel in samsara. Everything we accomplished, every little action we once performed, every thing we owned, and every time some one made us happy, angry, or sad is gone. Nothing we ever did mattered. Having said that if we can influence others in a way that improves their life, that lets them understand samsara better, then maybe what we do in our short time in samsara can be beneficial. Would we rather spend our last dying moment in a bar, drinking away? Or would we rather spend it saving someones life, feeding the homeless?

Many people are too caught up in samsara. We, including myself think this is all that exists. We live our life out, to one day die, having angered many people, having put people down to better yourself. This is how samsara has deceived us. It is not out fault. We are taught to grow up, go to school, learn what school tells you, and what they say is right. We then go to university, learn there. Get a job, pay bills. Grow old, plan for our retirement. And then one day die, losing everything we once did. The Dharma offers us an alternative, it offers us a different way to view life. We can all do those things, but we can also do dharma. We can plan for our next life, and we can find ways to alleviate the suffering we will feel throughout life, if we understand Samsara completely. Once we understand that everything here is impermanent then we can fully excel with the dharma.

Of course this is impossible to achieve in just one day. It will take us many lifetimes before we can truly become enlightened. But we will slowly learn the way. I mean aren't we all here to learn about the dharma, to learn about Dorje Shugden, so that we can help others. We are already taking the steps to being less attached, and more dharmic. I honestly believe that we are not just doing this by chance, but we have had imprints from a past life letting us do this. Not everyone is so lucky as to know, or even hear of the name Dorje Shugden, so we must have done something in a past life. Why waste this opportunity and fall back into the fiery pits of samsara, where we will remain indefinitely if we do not do something about it.

You are absolutly right Jeremyg, we are indeed lucky to have even heard the name Dorje Shugden, the Wisdom protector who manifested especially for this age and time.

The way to go for many of us, I believe, depending on mow much baggage and negative karma you have before you come into the dharma, is to work on continuously shifting the axile of our minds away from the samsaric pleasures we preceive as happiness. And to continue to propitiate Dorje Shugden for assistence to clear our wordly obstacles and bless our minds. Even we fail, we should never give up.

And like many of you have mentioned,  if we are so fortunate to have come across this path and met a Guru with unbroken lineage date back to Buddha shakyamuni, heard of Lama Tsongkhapa and Dorje Shugden lineage, we'd better make the best use of this life time to learn up and do as much purification practises and  dharma work as possible, most important of all, with sincerity, genuine care for others and a good motivation.

Life is like a play, with many scenes one after another, whether you are the main leading actor or a no-name stunt man, at the end of the play, the curtain will draw and we all have to say goodbuy to the audience......whether you like it or not.......

May we all find our paths in this kaliyuka age.

[Ensapa]

According to buddhist philosophy; when we die we do not take anything with us. Our body was just a mere vessel in samsara. Everything we accomplished, every little action we once performed, every thing we owned, and every time some one made us happy, angry, or sad is gone. Nothing we ever did mattered. Having said that if we can influence others in a way that improves their life, that lets them understand samsara better, then maybe what we do in our short time in samsara can be beneficial. Would we rather spend our last dying moment in a bar, drinking away? Or would we rather spend it saving someones life, feeding the homeless?
I wouldnt say that it is according to Buddhist philosophy because that is reality. Who is able to take their belongings with them after they die? the ancient monarchs had elaborate tombs to mark where their bodies were buried and many times to "accompany" them when they go to the afterlife, but they could not take a single thing with them upon their deaths. What really matters at the time of death? it is whether or not we have used our lives in a meaningful way, to benefit others. The happiest and most satisfied people are those who have benefitted others when they are alive.
Many people are too caught up in samsara. We, including myself think this is all that exists. We live our life out, to one day die, having angered many people, having put people down to better yourself. This is how samsara has deceived us. It is not out fault. We are taught to grow up, go to school, learn what school tells you, and what they say is right. We then go to university, learn there. Get a job, pay bills. Grow old, plan for our retirement. And then one day die, losing everything we once did. The Dharma offers us an alternative, it offers us a different way to view life. We can all do those things, but we can also do dharma. We can plan for our next life, and we can find ways to alleviate the suffering we will feel throughout life, if we understand Samsara completely. Once we understand that everything here is impermanent then we can fully excel with the dharma.
In reality, if we focus on samsara our entire life, what happens is that we will be filled with regrets throughout our lives as all along we have only been focusing on something that did not  bring us happiness and we know that it is just a lil lie we tell ourselves just because everyone else is doing the same. Buddhism offers a different perspective on this by saying, hey, there is a different way of living your life to give it some meaning. And that is what the Dharma is all about.
Of course this is impossible to achieve in just one day. It will take us many lifetimes before we can truly become enlightened. But we will slowly learn the way. I mean aren't we all here to learn about the dharma, to learn about Dorje Shugden, so that we can help others. We are already taking the steps to being less attached, and more dharmic. I honestly believe that we are not just doing this by chance, but we have had imprints from a past life letting us do this. Not everyone is so lucky as to know, or even hear of the name Dorje Shugden, so we must have done something in a past life. Why waste this opportunity and fall back into the fiery pits of samsara, where we will remain indefinitely if we do not do something about it.
It is not possible in one day, but it is possible eventually. We are here to learn and apply the Dharma. And the obstacles that we face to overcome many lifetimes habituations will appear as many more difficulties and many more unfortunate circumstances. Due to this, we need the help of a Dharma protector and for this day and age, Dorje Shugden is the most powerful one that can help and assist us to achieve this goal.

The Buddha taught us that by focusing out and focusing on the benefit of others, we will find true happiness because all of our unhappiness comes from us focusing solely on ourselves. Therefore, if we stop doing that, we will be happy. Even in the theravarda school, the Buddha said the same thing but instead of focusing on others, the mind just stops focusing on itself entirely. The key here is to nor focus on ourselves and our needs and wants alone, but to focus on everyone else as well.

[Tenzin Malgyur]

My dharma sister once told me that we live as though our life will never end. She asked who are we to think that we will live until next week when we tell someone 'I'll see you next week.' Can we be very sure when we say that we will practice dharma later, when we are more ready. I think we should start right now and keep going with all our might since we can't predict when we are dying. Just as pgdharma said that we have to put in effort to collect as much merits as possible and avoid falling into the three lower realms so that we can continue to study and practice dharma in our future lives. May Dorje Shugden guide us in all our lives.