BUDDHIST PRINCIPLES FOR HUMAN DIGNITY
Because of selfish desire we like to lead a perpetual permanent, peaceful and prosperous life notwithstanding the fact that things that which appear before us are all impermanent. So our selfish desires cannot ever be satisfied because everything is impermanent. Change is a universal constant. Nothing remains static, and we are condemned to grasp at things which forever remain beyond our reach – because we and the things change the moment they are touched. But regardless of such changes, goaded by delusion and selfish desires we desperately hope for an unchangeable life.
One day the Buddha advised Ananda, “If anybody should ask the question as to why death takes place, you will have to tell them that death takes place because of birth. If there is no birth then there is no death. If you try to prevent death by force, then you do not understand the nature. You are in fact going against the laws of nature”.
People generally are happy with birth but have an intense fear of decay and death. If there is no birth then there will be no death. The setting sun in one country becomes the rising sun in another country. So a setting sun is not the end of the sun. In the same manner, death itself is not the end of a life for death in fact is the beginning of another life. Birth then is the beginning of death*. Death is the beginning of a life. Birth brings the death certificate. So if we want to avoid death, we must prevent birth.
Therefore we must be wise not to repeat our follies and prepare ourselves not to suffer again. Through observation and study we understand why there is so much injustice and inequality in the world. We begin to see that it is not the work of a whimsical creator but the working our own good or bad action (karma) in the past. We can even observe the good or evil effects of our actions in this very life: good begets good, evil begets evil.
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