So young and lovely yet having a painful mind. Is a good doubt
whether is suicide ends everything, if it really does, all human
would end theirs, instead of going through so many trouble of
living to make daily joys....life is positively magnificent and
amazing if you have the know-how, goes simple. Hope that the below
will help you to open up a box of doubt to investigate your loving
self and its surrounding...cheers!
All
phenomena in this world cannot escape the workings of the wheel of
rebirth. It is because of the workings of rebirth that we are
reborn into a blessed or suffering realm of existence, of which
there are six. The life processes of being born and dying are
examples of rebirths. Changes in nature are also manifestations of
rebirths. There is the change of the four seasons. There is the
time cycle of past, present, and future. There is the cycle of day
and night. These are temporal types of rebirths. The change of
directions and the movement from one place to the next are spatial
types of rebirths. In short, everything around us is the result of
rebirth. The wind blows and gathers the clouds; clouds turn into
rain, which falls to the ground. The rain evaporates into the sky
and becomes clouds again. This continuous process of the water
cycle is a form of rebirth. When an automobile burns gasoline, it
generates energy and produces carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide is
absorbed by plants. When the plants die, they decompose and become
natural oil deposits many years later. This is another form of
rebirth. A light can be turned on, off, and on again. This is
rebirth, too.
The
wheel of rebirth is not only found in changes in the universe, it
is also evident in the many changes that one experiences during
one's
lifetime, from the time one is born to when one dies. According to
scientific research, there is not one single cell in our body that
has not changed in seven years. In other words, our body is totally
renewed every seven years. The cellular structure, perception, and
cognition of all living creatures, from simple organisms to
advanced humans, are constantly moving, changing, living, and
dying. This constant state of flux, renewal, and metabolic change
that we experience physically (birth, old age, sickness, and death)
and in our minds (the forming, existing, changing, and ceasing of
thoughts) is what we call the wheel of rebirth. This can be
compared to the cyclic motion of the wheels of a car. The wheel of
rebirth is also at work in family relationships; at one time we are
the children of our parents, and yet in another time we become the
parents of our children. The changes in our economic welfare and
the ups and downs of our emotions are also examples of
rebirth.
Of all the above examples of
rebirths, the one that we must thoroughly understand in Buddhism is
the wheel of rebirth within the six realms of existence. According
to the Buddhist teachings, we humans are constantly going through
cycles of rebirth. It is just that we refer to the slow and gradual
changes as "forming and ceasing" or "changing and transforming,"
and we reserve the term the "cycle of rebirth" to those changes
that are rapid and sudden. These cycles are the direct consequences
of karma. Karma is the force that is created as a result of our
actions and thoughts. The force of karma is what perpetuates the
cycle of cause-and-effect, giving rise to the endless and
beginningless flow of life in which different variations of life
forms, such as celestial beings, humans, spirits, and animals are
manifested. In Buddhism, this is referred to as the "wheel of
rebirth within the six realms of existence." Master Sheng An in his
piece Inspiration to Pledge the Bodhicitta said, "All
beings and I have been trapped in the cycle of rebirth from time
eternal and cannot be liberated. Heaven and earth, here and there,
we live in many forms, rising and falling." Yet, this profound and
important law of rebirth is not accepted by the many who are
ignorant of it. No wonder ancient masters would sigh and lament,
"Only the sutras can reveal such truth; only the Buddha can speak
on such matters." Rebirth is not a religious theory; it is not an
escape or a psycho-logical comfort when the unforgiving moment of
death befalls us. It is a precise science that explains our
existence from the past into the future. We should develop a
thorough understanding of rebirth, not because we are expected to
do so in Buddhism, but because this understanding can help us
examine our life intelligently.
