The Purpose of Our Life

My very dear Neela,
I heard that you have cancer and they have to operate on your breast, unfortunately. Many women in the world have had to experience this. There are numberless others who have cancer and who have to have their breasts removed.

You are quite a spiritual person, so you don’t need to be afraid of death—it is normal, after one is born one has to die. Like plants grow and die, it is a part of nature.

Of course, sentient beings can reach arhatship by actualizing total aversion to samsara, realizing that the whole of samsara is in the nature of suffering, including the desire realm—where we are—the deva realm, form realm, and formless realm. Then, by achieving the five Hinayana paths: the path of accumulation, path of merit, path of seeing, path of meditation, and path of no more learning, one is able to overcome death.

Then there are the five Mahayana paths: the path of accumulation, path of merit, path of seeing, path of meditation, and path of no more learning. When the Mahayana paramita path is achieved, one completely abandons the sufferings of old age, sickness, and death. Then one actualizes the highest tantra generation and completion stages in order to achieve enlightenment quickly. The completion stage has five paths: isolation of body, isolation of speech and isolation of mind, illusory body, clear light, and the state of union—the path of no-more-learning. Clear light has two kinds—example clear light and meaning clear light. When one achieves the meaning clear light, then one overcomes death and one is totally, completely free.

If you are able to achieve even one path then you are free of death, with no more rebirths, no more suffering between birth and death. If not, then we have to go through the cycle of death and rebirth and all the suffering, such as the three types of suffering: the suffering of change, the suffering of pain, and the suffering of conditionality. Then there are the six types of suffering: the suffering of uncertainty, the suffering of insatiability, the suffering of casting off bodies repeatedly, the suffering of repeated rebirth, the suffering of repeatedly descending from high to low, and the suffering of having no companions. Also, there is the general suffering and four types of suffering: of birth, old age, sickness, and death.

There are also the specific sufferings, such as being reborn in the eight hot hells, eight cold hells, and 16 surrounding hells, with the inconceivable suffering of heat and cold, being killed, beaten, tortured, etc.

There is the suffering of the pretas: the heavy suffering of hunger and thirst for thousands of years, unable to find a spoonful of food or to find a drop of water, and suffering extreme heat and cold.

There is the suffering of the animal realm: being eaten by others, always having incredible fear, the suffering of being hot and cold, being used for work, and being beaten.

There is the suffering of humans: of pain, hunger and thirst, unpleasant sensations of heat and cold, the suffering of searching for sustenance, becoming fatigued, as well as the sufferings of birth, old age, sickness, and death.

There are the sufferings of the demigods: being tortured by envy and fighting, enduring the suffering of having their bodies cut; and the suffering of being intelligent but unable to see the truth because of mental obscurations.

There is the suffering of the god realm: the suffering of dying and falling to a lower rebirth.

Therefore, we need to actually practice. Just worshipping is not sufficient; we need to actualize the path. If we don’t like suffering then we need to eliminate the causes of suffering: the delusions and karma. Only then can we achieve ultimate happiness, liberation, and freedom from samsara.

Then, if one can actualize the Mahayana path, one eliminates even the subtle defilements and achieves full enlightenment, and one is able to liberate numberless sentient beings, freeing them from the vast suffering of samsara and bringing them to full enlightenment; one is able to enlighten all sentient beings. That is the main object of our life, the purpose of our life and purpose of living. The purpose of our survival is to accomplish this.

So, we really need to learn what Buddha taught. Buddha is the only one who taught the whole path to liberation. Other religions are good but do not include the complete path to enlightenment.

I send you my love and prayers and also I am making prayers for you.