On the Qingming Festival this year, I went back to my hometown to sweep the graves of my parents-in-law, and not long after returning to my home, I suddenly received shocking news: my husband's brother passed away!
Pain and sadness instantly enveloped the whole family.
In the past few years, my parents-in-law have passed away one after another, and they have passed away very suddenly, as a child, especially my husband, this frustration of losing a loved one has not completely subsided, and now my brother has passed away suddenly, which is really unbearable for my relatives! At this time, I seemed to have seen the helplessness and sadness of my uncle, sister-in-law and nephews who were far away in my hometown.
The husband next to me was silent, and at this time, the sense of urgency in my heart kept hitting: my husband's younger brother, his dream of life is over! This impermanence came too fast! It made me suddenly feel a little fear of impermanence, and too much helplessness about life: when I die, I can't take anything with me, only karma with me...
The experience of assisting my family in handling my brother's funeral affairs made me truly realize this "impermanence of life"! I really practiced "observing impermanence"!
The next day, we hurried off early in the morning and finally rushed back to our hometown at noon, where my brother lay in a freshly painted pitch-black coffin that smelled of pungent paint, and he had been buried, and the coffin had been sealed. The little nephew, who was studying in college in another place, hurried back and was unable to open the coffin to see their father for the last time.
Early the next morning, the funeral vehicle left with the deceased......
In the afternoon, the uncle sent a photo to the family group, which showed a freshly dug pit, with newly dug soil scattered on the edge of the pit, and not far away was the dark coffin containing his brother! This relative, who is strong and less than fifty years old, we just met on Qingming Festival a few days ago, and we were still chatting, and it was only a few days, so we just said and left! Why did it disappear like this?
According to the eldest nephew, he went out to buy a bowl of rice noodles that night, and was ready to eat and go to bed, but he left before he even had time to eat the rice noodles.
I still remember that when my mother-in-law passed away, the neighbor who opened a breakfast shop next to the old house said, "This old man in your family was still having breakfast at our house a few days ago!" Why did you leave so quickly? So sudden! "Yes, suddenly! Because impermanence will not wait for us, it will not wait for us to arrange everything before letting us leave, it is very fast! It's as fast as my brother left before he could eat that bowl of rice noodles!
The Buddha of the First Ancestor of Namo told us in "Liberation Mahamudra": "The world we live in is a dream, everything is an impermanent and unreal dream, and this dream is soon over, ...... am I not moving forward in impermanence?" Isn't this the case with human life and death? A lifetime of hard work, worry, and trouble, when you die of breath, there is nothing left, this is the ironclad ending, and you will not be able to return to this dream after death......"
Yes, my brother's dream really ended like this! Looking back, isn't my parents-in-law's dream of life just like this? The Buddha of the First Ancestor of Nanwu clearly tells us in the Dharma sound "Impermanence": "The so-called impermanence means that the living must die, and the inanimate must be bad, so there is such a concept as existence and bad emptiness, and at this moment I am experiencing the real impermanence of this life!" ”
As the funeral is over, we seem to repeat that we should continue to go to work and continue to learn! Everyone's mood slowly calmed down, as if this had never happened, like throwing a stone into the water, causing a ripple and then slowly returning to normal...... But in my heart, because I heard the Dharma sound spoken by the Buddha of the First Ancestor of Namo, I know that for us ordinary beings, birth, old age, sickness, and death are both terrible and helpless, but we can always turn away from evil and accumulate good by sincerely learning Buddhism and practicing Buddhism, so that the good results can be repaid in advance and cause and effect can be converted. When we study Buddhism and practice hard to become saints, it will be a different situation when we pay off these causal debts, even like changing clothes! Therefore, I pray for the blessings of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, so that my relatives can have the fate to learn Buddhism and seize this glimmer of opportunity to escape the boundless six reincarnations of the sea of suffering!
Namo Ancestor Bodhisattva Buddha taught us to observe impermanence in "What is Practice": "...... I also observe the innocent joy of a young child, the milk is alive and fresh, but now there is no childlike appearance, the face is old, the strength is exhausted, the sick are always sick, the youth is gone, the impermanence will kill me, relatives and friends, all die in sections, like a dream, almost finished, and the heart is very afraid, so I am determined, follow the precepts, and practice according to the law......
We must no longer cling to those greed, hatred, infatuation, joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness! We must always be vigilant against impermanence, face ourselves well, and never see through and look down on things in this world, because if we don't look down, it will be too late, we must not let impermanence drag us away, and we must not stand in the worldly time and consume the past day by day, otherwise it will be too late to regret it! I always feel sad every time I think about these relatives who have passed away one after another, because they have not yet heard the teachings of the Buddha of the First Ancestor of Nanwu!
I pray that Namo Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva will compassionately bless them (she) to be born in the good path, to meet the Tathagata's Dharma, to study Buddhism and practice well, and to be able to escape from this boundless sea of suffering in the six realms of reincarnation!
May we give rise to the reality of impermanence, always remember the Buddha's teachings, practice it rigorously, and do not indulge, so that we can achieve and be liberated in this life!
Written by: Qian Xigui
Editor: Fan Shichen Yin, Wei Lang
This article only represents the author's personal knowledge and perception of Buddhism, and only listens to the Dharma sound of the Buddha living in the world today, and practicesThe supreme sage liberation Mahamudra》、《Speak the true meaning through the Heart Sutra》、《Learn Buddhism" and "What is it calledPracticeis the most correct and fastest way to achieve.
Do not commit all evil deeds, practice all good deeds, strictly observe the five precepts, practice the ten good deeds, and often recite the worship of NanwuAvalokiteshvara Bodhisattva！！！ , respectfully reciting "Prajna Paramita"Heart Sutra》、《Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva Pumenpin", "Six-character Great Ming Mantra", "Great Compassion Mantra", increase blessings and wisdom, health and longevity, peace and auspiciousness!
