~Cloud and Water~                           by Grand Master Hsing Yun

Life comes and goes like lightning, love brings endless suffering.  When one realizes the nature of truth and falsehood, he will be free from the net of birth and death.

“ Life comes and goes like lightning.” Our life span is very short, as short as a spark of a flint or a flash of lightning. Even if we live to eighty, to ninety, to a hundred and twenty, our life span in the scheme of the universe is as short as a flash.

Why are we in this rat race? What are we striving for? Besides working for a livelihood, most of our toils are for love, thus we say, “Love brings endless suffering.” We were born out of the love between our parents. The Buddha referred to us as “ emotional sentient beings,” because we were born out of emotions. We often cling and grasp to love and emotions- love of our family, love between a husband and wife, even the love of a hobby. Because of our clingings and graspings onto all kinds of love and emotions, we have suffered a lot of pain.

What is love? Why is love so hotly pursued? Is it worth it? To put it bluntly, love is a potion smeared on the blade of a knife. It is sweet, bitter, sour, and spicy all mixed together. One has to risk cutting one’s tongue to taste the little bit of sweetness. Some people even risk their lives for love. It is very important that we balance our love so as not to fall into extremes. Nowadays, a lot of young people fall in love blindly. If they do not get what they want, they get angry. Some even commit suicide.

Once, I talked to a young man who was contemplating suicide, “Why are so foolish?” He replied, “She is so pretty; but she does not love me!” Then I told him, “Why do you torture yourself? Why so you want to commit suicide just because she does not love you? There are more pretty girls than the countless stars in the night. There are lots of other girls that you can fall in love with when the time is right. There is no sense in killing yourself just because of one girl.”

True love is as open as the clear blue sky. If we can widen our hearts, there are lots of things we can embrace with love: love of our society, our country, all fellow mankind, and all sentient beings. “ When one realizes the nature of truth and falsehood, he will be free from the net of birth and death.” If we can love what should be loves, and let go what does not deserve our love, then we will not be tortured by love. If we can know the true nature of love, then not only will we not commit any sinful acts, we will also be able to escape from cycle of rebirth.