ACCS / Message from Grandmaster

Life's Sadness is an Illusion

The first thing you may say is, what sadness? But, if you look into the lives of the people of the world you will see sadness everywhere.

The Buddha saw it and was shocked into trying to find a way out of this misery here on earth. He succeeded in enlightening himself, but he was just one man. The rest of the world remains in the darkness and under control of the human mind. People are dying of various diseases, unhappiness, poverty, the list goes on.

In reality, there is not much to life—a short span of time, just a twinkling of the eye, and then you're gone. Nothing remains but a memory of you, and that only remains for a short time, until everyone you knew has also gone; then nothing is left. What is to be gained that you can take with you? Of course, nothing. You come into the world with nothing and you go with the same, nothing.

You're born and the training begins: first with school, then you sell yourself to a company doing some work and years later you retire, having gained nothing. Then you are old, what is to be gained now? There is no real freedom; you are a slave to your work, to your family and to your country. Some call this the American Dream. I call it the American Nightmare.

We do all this with the hope that some day it will be better for us, but that day never comes and we suffer until the very last minute of life, still hoping things will be better, but they never are. How depressing this all sounds, and it is, if you look at life this way.

Society has not learned what is really important: to enjoy without expectations. We should all try to enjoy our brief time here by doing those things which fill us with joy and inner peace. Society has not figured out how to do this yet. We act as if we are going to live forever, so we chase the American Dream only to find out that it is just that, a dream. Nothing will remain after you're gone—your money, homes, cars, whatever you have accumulated, will all eventually disappear.

As sad as this may sound, if we just focus on what is real we could live a life filled with peace and joy and an understanding of how life works. We could use our time here to develop our immortal soul to that of an enlightened being—one who has accumulated enough merit here on earth to progress to the next level of existence.

This higher level does exist; there are numerous dimensions in time. Science now confirms there are more than three dimensions. They say there is a fourth, and I say there are many more yet to be discovered. We are composed of energy, the same energy that the comprises the universe. We cannot actually die—the body dies, yes—but the energy remains, only to be absorbed back into the whole, to be reissued in another form. This energy has a consciousness that transcends time and space. It grows from lifetime to lifetime, bringing with it an understanding of how life works and what it should be used for: not for the cars, or houses, but for spiritual knowing, which carries through the passage of death and into the next incarnation.

No, you cannot die and will not die until the time is right. And because of that, you are in fact a "superman" or "superwoman." Only when the allocated time comes will you perish. But then only the body will disappear. Your higher consciousness will survive and move again into another rebirth of your making.

So don't waste time now by pursuing futile goals, but rather focus on your higher mind. When you do, you will find life is not that bad at all, but rather is a great opportunity to advance to a higher level of knowing and being.

Once the Buddha found this out his fear and anguish vanished and his life took on a beauty he had never known. He realized that there was nothing to fear, and everything that happens in this life happens for reasons which we don't yet fully understand. He realized this and tried his best to convey this truth to us all.

But even with all his explanations of the reasons why things are the way they are, few have the power to break away from this nightmare we call the American Dream. We keep striving to attain things, we keep accumulating material things as if we can own them forever, but in reality nothing will remain. So I ask you, why seek them in the first place?

As a Buddhist/Taoist I have come to know where my happiness lies, and it is in finding the truth that will finally satisfy my spiritual needs. I don't own a home; in fact everything I supposedly own is not mine, it is only borrowed for a short time. Everything belongs to the Dao. I own nothing, but then, I am the Dao, and when I discover that, I will be an immortal.

I spend my time trying to find reason in a world of confusion, but there is nothing to be found. However, if you find the Dao, your life will change and you will not cling to the world, you will cling to the soul. This godlike soul will live on and on, changing from one form into another.

This soul is your prized possession, yet few claim it or purify it in preparation for the next journey into a new life. And because of that, each successive birth is no better than the last and in some cases even worse. If we neglect what we have to do now while we have the chance, that chance will be lost, and that is the real sadness of life.

Be free of the grip of the world and in that freedom the world will transform into something of great value: the chance to enlighten yourself. This is the real purpose of why we are here: to advance, to come to know truth. Yes, life is a dream, but dreams are not real. Yet we cling to them. Be free of the dream, and when the dream ends and you open your inner eye, you will see heaven waiting for you.

The more I study, meditate and contemplate, the more the mystery of life falls away and what is revealed is something worth seeking. It is that something which we can and do take with us into the next incarnation.

Whatever you take, be it good or bad, the choice is yours and it is your choice that will free or condemn you. If you pick the good it will serve you well in your next incarnation. If you pick the dream then be ready for the consequences. The choice is all yours.

To contact the American Center for Chinese Studies:

Email: MaShrya@hotmail.com