Expert - Philosophical Literature

Truth of life

There are two paths to attaining a new life.

There are only two paths. One is to dive into life and grasp the new life, and the other is to dive into death and grasp the new life. There are only two doors. Life and death. -

One is grasping with oneself, and the other is grasping without oneself. One is grasping in the light, and the other is grasping in the dark. One is grasping with one's eyes open, and the other is grasping with one's eyes closed.

One is how deep you can sink into life, until there is nothing left of you. The other is how deep you can sink into death, until there is nothing left of you.

Where there is no self, there is truth. If we lose ourselves in the festivities and dances of life, we can attain truth. Meera attained truth through music. Ketanu attained truth through singing. The flute in Krishna's lips is the door to life.

In ancient Greek mythology, the ways of attaining truth are clearly distinguished. Two gods are discussed. Apollo and Dionysus. Apollo is the god of conduct, and Dionysus is the god of dance, singing, and feasting. Epicurus was a worshiper of Dionysus. Epicurus called his monastery the "Song of the Woods." He was a man who was full of feelings, listening to the songs of birds among the trees and flowers. On a moonlit night, he danced by the lake under the moonlight. In this environment, Epicurus attained the light of truth. Because of his conduct.

Siddhartha is the opposite of Epicurus. He lives as if there is no life. Only death is true. Only suffering is true. The Buddha preached the Four Noble Truths. All four truths are related to suffering.

Suffering is the First Noble Truth. The origin of suffering is the Second Noble Truth. The cessation of suffering is the Third Noble Truth. The path to the cessation of suffering is the Sixth Noble Truth. All four truths are related to suffering.

When Prince Siddhartha was born, the astrologers said:

"When the son reaches the age of youth and realizes the suffering, he will become a hermit," they predicted. Astrologers are not sure.

“Prince Siddhartha has the potential to achieve freedom and peace through suffering,” the astrologers continued to tell King Suddhodana.

“Your Majesty... if you wish to make your son a hermit... a monk, I would like to arrange things so that he cannot see the suffering with his eyes. Let no one of the wicked come before him, let no ugly person pass near him, remove the flowers that are blooming in the royal garden before they wither, let the king's son only look at the blooming flowers, let only young men and women be close to him, let no sign of old age touch him.”

Based on the predictions of the astrologers, King Suddhodana had arranged for Prince Siddhartha not to see his illness, not to see the withering flowers, and to be far from death, so that neither the sound of death nor the sound of death could be heard.

The English poet Arnold has artistically composed about this role in his famous collection of poems, The Light of Asia.

One night, the young women danced and fell asleep. When Prince Siddhartha woke up in the middle of the night, he saw that one of them had his mouth open. One had a disfigured face. One had snot in his eyes. One was drooling. One was talking nonsense. Their clothes were all disheveled. In Siddhartha's eyes, all the young women who were sleeping looked like ghosts.

As he left the city in the morning, Siddhartha saw the old, the sick, and the dead. That night, he took one look at his wife Deviya Soudhara and his son Rahula, who were sleeping, and left the palace.

Twelve years later, when Prince Siddhartha returned to Kapilavatthu after becoming truly enlightened, Yasodhara...

"Where are you going after leaving this worldly life? Can't you get what you want in your own home, in your own place?"

He asked the question.

Buddha said -

"If one can wear whatever one wants in one's own house, in one's own land, in one's own home, then there are an infinite number of people in the world. Where do these infinite number of people attain liberation or moksha?"

Countless people have been celebrating festivals for many lives. But even by celebrating festivals, you will not get anything. You will only get something from the kind of festival that makes you lose yourself. You will not get anything from the death. Even if you get something from the death, there are countless people who go to the grave every day. What do these countless people achieve? If you get something from suffering, there are countless people who suffer. .

It will not be attained through festivals, nor through death, nor through suffering. It will be attained through practice until the self is lost.