Road-the other side of this life

The road here is not the road along Chang 'an Avenue and Yanshun Road, but the road to the other shore and beyond.

Not from here to there, but from this life to the future.

I never want to think about death, because death is a mockery of life. At first, it was as prosperous as boiling oil, and everything it pursued after death was completely irrelevant. Love, happiness, joy, wealth, honor or hatred, contempt, sadness and death laugh at everything, making all the meanings irrelevant.

Our Chinese dream is to live in a comfortable house, take a bus wherever we want, save a lot of money and travel every year. But all this, house, car, savings, travel, is also a joke in the face of death. I have a million dollars, and I have 100 dollars. I was bored before I died. Even Jobs and his Apple empire are so absurd in the face of death.

The smartest and greatest minds in the world are thinking about this problem. Shakespeare, the greatest English writer, borrowed Hamlet's words and asked:

To be or not to be? This is a problem.

Which is more noble, to endure the ruthless destruction of violent fate and stand up, to confront endless troubles and sweep them away? ?

It's over when we sleep. If sleep can end the trauma of our hearts and thousands of kinds of pains suffered by our bodies, it is really a great good thing to survive. Go to hell and sleep.

Go to sleep, maybe you will dream! ?

Well, that's trouble. Even if I get rid of this world, what dreams will I have in this dead sleep? Really think about it, this kind of care makes people suffer for life.

Who is willing to endure whipping and ridicule, oppression, humiliation and contempt, the pain of lovelorn, the delay of the imperial court, the extortion of the yamen, and the obscure labor, but only get much humiliation. But he can get rid of himself with a sharp knife. ?

No one wants to groan and sweat, dragging this residual life, but after death, they feel scared, and no one has ever come back from the land of death, so they are shaken. They would rather endure the present suffering than go to another kind of suffering. ?

Worry makes us all cowards, which makes the decisive nature cast a pale face of thinking. We could have done great things, but we lost the ability to act because of thinking.

Why is death terrible? The reason given by Shakespeare is that no one has ever come back from the land of the dead. They think that after death, it will be another kind of suffering, perhaps even more tragic than now.

So, what is our way from one end to the other? How can I get through it?

Actually, this is not a new problem. Great men of all ages have thought about it and given the answer. Let's have a look.

Confucianism initiated by Confucius is the source of Chinese civilization. Let's see what path Confucius pointed out.

Lu Ji asked questions about ghosts and gods. Confucius said,' If you can't serve people, how can you serve ghosts?' Dare to ask death. Yue:' If you don't know life, how can you know death?'

Confucius is very honest. He said, we don't know what life is like, let alone death. We don't know how to treat people, how can we serve ghosts?

This is the attitude of Confucius. We don't know much about death cases, and neither do we on the other side. Then, Confucius' advice to us is to live well in the world. And after that? This is none of our business anymore.

Such a road is actually no road. Confucius didn't give us an answer, even the questions were deleted. Such an answer can't eliminate our desire for the road.

The ancients in China gave a guess about the other side of death, although they didn't know anything about life. That is, people go to the underworld after death. Started a new life in another place. The Book of Changes has a profound influence on the traditional culture of China. The Book of Changes says that Taiji gives birth to two devices, one yin and one yang, and everything has yin and yang. Men are yang, women are yin, the front is yang, and the back is yin. If life is dead, there will be hell after death. Therefore, China people's funerals, if possible, will be extremely grand. Almost as soon as the emperor ascended the throne, he began to build a tomb, which is easy to understand, because after a short life, he will live in the underworld forever.

The road to the underworld is not as difficult as the ancients in China imagined. As long as you die, you go to the underworld. But if you accumulate virtue and wealth when you are among the dead, you will be happy when you go to the grave and bless your children.

Such a road gives China people a certainty about life and death, a belief about virtue, and also gives people the motivation to do good and accumulate virtue. This grasp of the other side of death is based on the relatively simple Taiji theory. Not very convincing.

Next, let's talk about western philosophers. You may have heard of Socrates, Socrates, who likes to argue. It often embarrassed those Athens dignitaries who thought they were great, so they sued, tried and sentenced to death for corrupting young people.

He will die soon, but Socrates is very calm.

he said

Philosophers will be happy for death, because those who really devote themselves to philosophy actually take the initiative to prepare for death. They have been waiting for death all their lives. It would be really ridiculous if they feel confused, reluctant or sad when the long-awaited thing comes. We can't pursue true knowledge and virtue because we are forced by our bodies all our lives. Only after death, not in this life, can we get the wisdom we want. 」

Oh, now we understand that philosophers are prepared to die in order to get rid of the bondage of the body. In fact, Lao Tzu also said that we are in trouble because we have bodies. If we had no body, we wouldn't be in trouble.

Finally, when it was time to execute the death penalty, Socrates took the poisoned wine and said, "I want to thank the gods." I have to do this because I will lead to another beautiful world through death. " 」

Then Socrates drank the poisoned wine,

The prison officer put a cloth on his head. Socrates suddenly lifted the veil. He hastily said to Critto, his closest student, "Critto, you must remember that we have to present a rooster to Askro Bierce. 」

Socrates realized the immortality of human soul with his own reason, and he saw the other side of life. Socrates gave us a path of philosophy and practice. When he died, he remembered that he still owed a rooster to the Greek gods and felt that his conscience was broken. Fortunately, he still had time to entrust his students. Socrates wouldn't be so calm if the students didn't present the company and let them lose their money to the Greek god.

I wonder if Socrates still owes anything to other gods, otherwise, it is estimated that eternal life will not be better.

Socrates is a sincere man, but he doesn't really understand what the gods want from us and who is the real god. Therefore, the road he pointed out is also the most sincere guess, and our road cannot be based on speculation.

Sakyamuni and Sakyamuni are actually the names of a nation, just like Miao and Hui. The meaning of the Sanskrit sage of Manichae, together, is the sage of Sakyamuni, referring to Siddhartha Gautama after reaching the Tao. Siddhartha Gautama was also a brave road explorer whose exploration changed the world.

Siddhartha was originally the prince of a small kingdom in India. I live a comfortable life, but I am very sensitive by nature. I have seen life and death in the world, and after knowing that I will face the same fate one day, I decided to explore the road beyond this kind of tragedy, especially death.

He resolutely left home.

His father wanted him to inherit the throne, so he tried his best to persuade him to go home, but it was useless. Finally, I chose five people as bodyguards and went to a distant place with him to be realistic.

Siddhartha visited three famous scholars at that time, but none of them could meet his requirements. So he knew that there was no real solution in philosophy at that time, so he left them and went to the Nyerenchan River (Nyala? Jana is now called Lilaian) in the Woods on the shore, with the ascetic monks there (people who practice extremely hard).

In order to seek liberation, he tasted hardships and persisted for six years. But in vain, I realized that asceticism was useless. So he went to take a bath by the Nile Zen River to wash away the dirt accumulated in the past six years, and then received milk from a herder to restore his strength. The five people who followed him at that time saw him and thought that he had given up his confidence and efforts, so they left him and went to Benares to continue their asceticism.

So the prince went to a Pipala tree alone, covered with reincarnation, sat cross-legged on the east side and vowed,' If I can't achieve the greatest significance today, I'd rather have my body smashed than bear this seat.' In this way, he thought about his way out under the tree, and finally overcame his last worry-evil forces overnight, gained thorough consciousness and became a Buddha.

So what kind of path did the Buddha find?

To know what kind of road this is, we need to know the fundamental world view of the Buddha. Before the death of Buddha, there were many methods. Disciple asked the Buddha, after you left this world, how do we know what dharma you recognized?

The Buddha gave him three principles. These principles explain the Buddhist world outlook and road view. These three principles are also called Sanfa India. Printing means "everything is impermanent, all laws are self-printed, and nirvana is silent" [3-4]? . Everything that conforms to these three principles is Buddhism.

What is impermanence? Simply put, everything in the world is constantly changing. Nothing is the same. The ancients thought that the sun was constant, but we know that the sun has been burning and changing. This is easier to understand.

The second law seal is that all laws have no self. What does this mean?

In other words, I don't exist, which means Socrates said that the recognized soul doesn't exist.

We feel my presence all the time. I am writing, I am talking, I am thinking, I am hungry, I am proud, and we feel my reality so truly. Why did the Buddha say that without me, I am not real?

Let's continue to look at the Buddha's thinking.

Buddha said, what am I? When we usually say me, I mean to be the master. For example, if I want to raise my hand, I can be the master who lifts it. This is called a master. My other meaning is that it is "unchanged" and "one", because it has always existed. Yesterday I am today, today I am tomorrow, and it has not changed, so it is called "unchanged"; Since "one" is this, then I am single and can't have two. The world thinks that "I" is unique, so it is called "Chang" and "One". I am "Lord", "Constant" and "One", which mean the same thing. I am me when I am one year old, I am still me when I am ten years old, and I am still me even when I am old, so it is still the same. But does this sense of "I" exist?

Buddha said no.

Because you said there was something, you were sure to find it, but you couldn't.

You said that the body is me, but in fact we have made it clear in Socrates. The body is not me. If so, which part of my body is me? Can you find it? In your hands, feet, or head? Neither. People who have no hands talk about me; People who have no feet say there is me, so where am I? You search and search in your body, and eventually you will find and be very sure that "I" is no longer in your body.

Since I'm not in my body, maybe I'm outside? That's even more impossible. Why? Because you can't control what's outside your body. For example, this cup is outside your body, you can't decide, you can't ask for it, so it's not me. "I" is neither outside nor inside. Is it in the middle of the body? Really? No. We can't find it inside, outside or even in the middle of the body, so "I" is not this body, and this body is not me.

If you can't find me in the two-dimensional world of time and space, then I am the soul and the spirit. The Buddha asked, what is the soul? We find it impossible to describe the soul. The so-called soul is one idea after another at the moment, or thoughts. I want to drink water at one moment, go home at the next, miss someone at the next, feel uncomfortable at the next, and want to stand up. But this idea rises, then disappears, and other ideas rise.

The eliminated thoughts can't dominate the present thoughts, and the present thoughts have also been eliminated, so these thoughts are not the same me. If I can't stop thinking, where do I live, that is, the soul?

So neither body nor soul is "I", so "I" does not exist. Judging from the above reasoning, there is no "I" beyond things, and there is no "I" inside and outside.

Then why do I feel this way?

It feels unreliable. Buddha said. When feeling runs counter to your own reason, the Buddha said, there must be something wrong with your feeling. We all know that there is no such thing as an orc, but if you see an orc, it doesn't mean that it exists, but for some reason, you have an illusion. Buddha said, in essence, I am a deep illusion, a bubble of dreams.

Then, after knowing my falsehood, what kind of destination can our life have?

The Buddha said that the third fundamental insight of life is nirvana silence.

Nirvana silence refers to the realm of nirvana. What is Nirvana? Is Nirvana Death? No, because death just enters another cycle, and it is necessary to continue the fatigue of life and death before. Nirvana is the great wisdom after realizing the impermanence of various behaviors and the selflessness of various statutes. This is a great awakening, understanding the illusion of the world and the emptiness of life. Because of this wisdom and awakening, it is out of the realm of life and death. There is no increase or decrease, no dirt and impurity, no joy and sadness.

Then how can we achieve nirvana? In fact, the Buddha explained many different methods, but here we are talking about the six methods most often mentioned by Buddhism, namely six degrees. Degree is to cross the river and reach the other side.

First, giving is to help others.

Second, keeping precepts means not doing bad things. There are mainly five commandments: don't kill; Don't steal; Do not commit adultery; Don't lie; No drinking.

Third, bear the burden of humiliation, endure all kinds of humiliation and maintain peace of mind.

Fourth, keep forging ahead and pursue a higher level of understanding.

Fifth, meditation, through meditation to eliminate all kinds of delusions in the mind.

Sixth, Prajna and Sanskrit, translated as wisdom, require us to read widely, have profound knowledge, experience the world, be able to argue with others and gain insight into the causes and solutions of various things.

Siddhartha called himself the Awakener after enlightenment. When he woke up, he found that all the people in the world were reversing their dreams. He wants to wake up those who are dreaming and teach the world six ways to wake up and get rid of reversing dreams. The road he gave has many original ideas. It can be said, but it is also puzzling.

If our world is a dream, where does the power of this dream come from? Our own dreams are so absurd when we think about them, but the reality is full of wisdom. I desperately fantasized about dreaming of a BMW from the void, but I couldn't get out in ten thousand years, because BMW cars were not fantasies, but made by countless scientists and industrial craftsmen.

If the whole world is an upside-down dream, this dream is too exquisite. It is far-fetched to explain all the wisdom in the world just because of one karma. Just like the smart phone we use now, you listen to our voice on the phone, the human wisdom condensed on the phone, my careful preparation here, and the inheritance and evolution of Chinese for thousands of years all contain infinite wisdom and creation. If we didn't take the initiative to create and deliberately pass on scientific and technological knowledge, it is estimated that after tens of thousands of years, we still can't communicate through radio waves as we do now. So I refuse to agree with impermanence.

Because people can create and make progress, because there are constant things behind the ever-changing world, such as the nature of water, which boils at about 100 degrees and freezes at 0 degrees. Because of the invariability of water, people can invent steam engines and refrigerators, which greatly promote the welfare of mankind. There are too many such examples. For example, the constancy of iron is hard, so people use this constancy to make weapons and plows for cultivated land. The invariable characteristic of wood is that it burns easily, so it is used for cooking.

Westerners who believe that everything in the world is changing, but there are unchanging laws and principles behind it, have created a developed civilization. It is estimated that fickle India can't escape the infinite cycle for tens of thousands of years, and after several generations, it is almost the same world, and the west has long been different.

Besides, the Bible says that the world and everything in it will pass away, but only the will of God will last forever. The will of God includes the moral will of God.

So no matter what the Buddha said, there is no self in all dharma, and the origin is empty.

He can never erase the basic concept of kindness. Like don't kill people. Since I don't exist, if my body kills people, I won't kill people. My last thought of killing people was not the last. Although it can be said in theory that putting down the butcher's knife and becoming a Buddha, we still have to accept the punishment of conscience and law.

So the Bible always emphasizes your reality and your initiative. Repentance, love and forgiveness. Because no matter how critical we are, we can never escape our responsibilities in this world.

Finally, I want to talk about Darwin.

We all know that Darwin invented the theory of evolution. Before Darwin, the whole west and the most developed areas of human beings believed in creationism. As the Bible says in Genesis, God created the world in seven days.

But in 1859, Darwin published Evolution, a brand-new theory of the origin of species and his views on the world, the future and the road, which began to be popular all over the world.

What is the basic view of evolution on the world and what path does it provide us?

Evolution basically thinks that the world has nothing to do with God, and we can even believe that the omniscient and omnipotent God described in the Bible does not exist.

Complex creatures and states in the world are all evolved from very simple substances.

Without soul, man is a simple substance, which is not essentially different from animals, monkeys, cows and horses.

So what kind of road did Darwin find for mankind? How does evolution transcend death?

Darwin did not believe that death can be surpassed, and death is the limit of all living things. But on the side of death, that is, life, it has its own path, which Darwin summed up as four points.

First, excessive reproduction.

Second, the competition for survival

Third, genetic variation.

Fourth, the survival of the fittest.

So Darwin's road is to adapt himself to the environment, constantly absorb the favorable factors in the environment, evolve with the environment, and go all out to gain a favorable position in the competition.

Evolution has a natural contempt for the weak who can't adapt to the environment. Just as nature has no compassion and ruthlessly eliminates unsuitable creatures, the weak among human beings are not worthy of sympathy.

The popularity of the theory of evolution makes westerners feel that they are a higher race, especially Germans. The nobility of Aryan descent made Germans feel that they had the right to rule the world, which led to the most tragic era in human history.

Evolution has now become the blood of living things, but it can only rotate in what physical world, but what should it be? What was it? Human meaning, human value and human dignity. Evolution has no good answer. Facing death, evolution is more desperate.

We have reached a dead end. Countless saints have gone astray in hard exploration.

What should we do?

When we came back to Jesus, we found that only one person in the whole human history once declared, "I am the way!" " "

Everyone calls himself a man looking for a way out. Confucius said, it's enough to die if you listen to the Tao in the morning. In other words, you can hear the truth of the road in the morning and die at night. Socrates said more sincerely that the only thing I know is that I know nothing. About the road, it is all his rational inference. Sakyamuni thought he had awakened and found a way. But only Jesus said, "I am the way."

Is Jesus talking big?

If we think this is outrageous, then other things Jesus said are even more bizarre.

Jesus said, the resurrection is in me, the life is in me, and those who believe will never die.

Jesus even admitted to his disciples that he was Christ and the son of the most high God.

Jesus said to them, When you see me, you see the Father and God.

Jesus said, no one has seen the father, only the only son in the father's arms has revealed him.

Jesus said, No one can come to the Father except through me.

Jesus said, I am the way and the truth. Life.

Humans have been trying to find, above, he is looking for the green void, below, the yellow spring, but they have been trying to find. But Jesus declared that I was the way you were looking for.

Why did Jesus say that? In Jesus' time, he also faced such doubts. Many people ask, by what authority do you do these things? Jesus was in the temple, because many people exchanged money and bought and sold in it, which turned the temple into a profitable shopping mall. Jesus was furious and overturned the table for changing money. Caused a lot of confusion. A powerful victim asked, Jesus, why did you do this? Before Jesus healed others, he sometimes said, Your sins have been forgiven. On that occasion, four boys released a paralyzed man from the roof. When Jesus saw this stall, the first thing he said was not that you are well, but that your sins are forgiven. The Pharisees present said, Why do you say so? Only God can forgive sins? but who are you , then?

Okay, so what does Jesus rely on?

At the last judgment, the high priest asked, Jesus, are you the son of God? Jesus said, I am.

Pilate asked, "Jesus, are you a king?" Jesus said, "You are right, but my kingdom does not belong to this world.

In other words, the authority that Jesus relies on is the authority of the son of God and the authority of the ruler of the kingdom of heaven.

Many people used to say that they were the sons of God, or that they were God. For example, Emperor Nero of Rome. But these emperors all died in the end, and many of them were killed. Nero finally abandoned his relatives and died at the hands of his own guards.

Then Jesus said, I am the son of God, and I am the way. Am I lying?

Prove it to me.

All right.

Everything Jesus did in the world was to prove to people.

First, naturally listen to him.

And Jesus got into the boat, and his disciples followed him.

Suddenly there was a storm in the sea, so that the boat was covered by the waves, but Jesus fell asleep.

8:25 His disciples came and woke him up, saying, "Lord, help us. We are dying. ”。

Jesus said to them, "Why are you afraid, you of little faith?" He got up and rebuked the wind and the sea, and the wind and the sea were greatly calm.

Mt. 8: 27 and all the people were amazed and said, "What kind of man is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?" .

Second, all the ghosts admit that Jesus is the son of God.

8:29 They cried out and said, "What have we to do with you, Son of God?". Did you come to torture us before the time came? ”。

At 8:30, far away from them, there was a large group of pigs eating.

81The demon begged Jesus, saying, "If you drive us out, send us into the pigs.".

8:32 Jesus said, "Go." So the ghost came out and entered the pig's body. Suddenly, the whole herd rushed off the cliff and drowned in the sea.

Third, Jesus is the Lord of life.

And when he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out.

1 1:44 The dead man came out with his hands and feet wrapped in cloth and his face wrapped in towels. Jesus said to them, "untie him and let him go."

1 1:45 Many Jews who came to see Mary saw what Jesus had done and believed in him.

All the above poems are quoted from the Bible.

John, a disciple of Jesus, followed Jesus to the mountain in the skull land and witnessed Jesus' death, but soon after Jesus was crucified, he firmly believed that Jesus was resurrected. Even more than forty years after Jesus was crucified, John recalled the situation and recorded a disciple who completely doubted Jesus' resurrection.

One of the twelve disciples, named Thomas, was not with them when Jesus came.

Mt. 20: 25 and his disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord. But Thomas said, "I won't believe it unless I see the nail mark on his hand and put my finger in it, and my hand in his side." "

20. After eight days, the disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them, and the doors were closed. Jesus came, stood in the middle and said, "Peace be with you.

20:27 He said to Thomas, "Put out your finger and touch my hand. Reach out your hand and put it by my side. Don't doubt, believe. ”。

Thomas said, "My Lord, my God.

Is that really the case? We find it hard to believe. But it's harder not to believe. Because if Jesus didn't come back to life, why didn't the Jews find Jesus' body? Why are disciples willing to be crucified and burned to death for such a lie? James, the brother of Jesus, laughed at Jesus before his death and said, Jesus, you like to show off. You like to show off in Jerusalem, not at home. Jesus said, My time has not yet come. It is recorded in Acts that such a younger brother believed that Jesus was the son and savior of God after his death. How can you believe that your brothers and sisters are the sons and saviors of God? It's impossible. Jacob can't believe that Jesus is the son of God unless Jesus is really resurrected.

History is so incredible.

Therefore, Jesus, not in words, not in theory, not in profound theory, expounded that he was the road beyond death. Jesus used his resurrection to prove that he is the road that human beings have been searching for. He went to the other side of life and came back to tell the human beings on this side of life. He is the only way. No one has seen the father except him, and no one can go to the father.

This is equivalent to saying that Socrates used the road of human wisdom and rationality, the so-called Sakyamuni Eight Righteousness, Darwin's Evolution, and Muhammad's religious merits to deceive people. The path of religion and the path of reason are false and futile. All beautiful lies. They give people tempting promises. If you are a good Buddhist, you can go to the western paradise in the future. If you do the worship, zakat, donation, charity and pilgrimage that Allah asks you to do, you can go to heaven. If you have enough wisdom and knowledge, you can build a kingdom of heaven on earth. All these promises of a bright future are illusory. We will be disappointed one day.

There is a man in the Bible who is similar to the sincere explorers above, but the more he explores, the more confused he becomes. This man is Nicodemus.

Nicodemus is old. He has studied religious law all his life. Finally, he was not sure that he had found the way, so he came to Jesus.

Jesus said to him, your exploration is useless. You need to be reborn.

Jesus' way to the afterlife is not to repair the original life, nor to make the original life better, so as to surpass death. These are all in vain. Through the sublimation of reason and wisdom, through the sublimation of hard practice, through the sublimation of fasting and chanting Buddha, nothing is desirable before God, because human righteousness is like filthy clothes before God. Jesus said, what we need, just as Nicodemus needs, is not the repair of life, nor the merits of human beings, but rebirth.

This is a new life.

It has nothing to do with your own efforts

God gave it for nothing.

God loved the world so much that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

This life is the second life that all people who believe in Jesus get from God because of his love, and it is also a truly immortal life.

The basis of this life is not selfish ambition, but God's love.