In our lives, we may have all been puzzled by these questions: Why did we come into this world? Why must we face all kinds of trials, tribulations, and afflictions? We are constantly turning in the cycle of reincarnation, and even if we break through the siege of this life, we still seem unable to escape the pull of the next. The root of all these points leads to one core problem: we cannot get rid of our inner "desires".
The Chains of Desire: The Root of Reincarnation
Desire is composed of three main parts: cravings, ignorance, and attachments. These three are interlinked, trapping us in the endless cycle of reincarnation.
Cravings: We are constantly pursuing various kinds of satisfaction. This includes the craving for sensual pleasures, such as the pursuit of comfort and material wealth; the longing for "existence," which is characterised by attachment to status and position; and even the craving for "non-existence," which is the tendency to want to escape from reality, pain, or self-destruction.
Ignorance: Ignorance, also known as "delusion," stems from our failure to understand the truth of life, impermanence, suffering, and the nature of non-self. From birth, we have forgotten the events of our past lives, like someone with dementia, not knowing why we have come or how to stop the wheel of reincarnation. This foolishness causes us to create endless suffering and attachments.
Attachments: Attachments represent our stubborn adherence to people, things, ideas, and even our sense of self-identity. It's like a koala bear clinging to its favourite eucalyptus tree, unwilling to let go even if the tree burns or falls. When the objects of our attachment change or disappear, suffering follows.
Unwittingly, we befriended ignorance to satisfy our cravings and attachments, and to define our purpose in life. In this way, day after day, how can we possibly escape this cycle?
The Truth of Life: "Finding Joy in Bitterness" Built on Suffering
To escape reincarnation, one must first understand the truth of life. Truth is an eternal and unchanging principle; it remains the same regardless of how times change. The truth is: the foundation of life is built upon suffering.
We should always remember that our happiness and future are often built on the suffering of others. A mother endures the excruciating pain of childbirth to bring us into this world. Our parents, siblings, and even society as a whole have worked hard to raise us. Our house, food, and all the material things we enjoy also depend on the contributions and sweat of countless labourers. Therefore, when we feel happy, we should not be too complacent, because this is just "finding joy in bitterness," it’s the same as building a house on an unstable foundation.
Life itself is full of suffering, which can be divided into three types:
Physical and emotional pain: birth, old age, sickness, death, sorrow, and despair.
Pain caused by change: the loss of loved ones, broken relationships, and the loss of wealth and status. The impermanence and loss of happiness bring suffering.
The suffering of conditioned existence: This is the most subtle suffering, related to our will to survive and our illusion of self-identity. In our past and present lives, we have struggled relentlessly for survival, competing with others, and thus creating all kinds of karmic entanglements.
We can compare life to a "layered cake" (Kuih Lapis). Its bottom layer is sour and bitter, representing the foundation of our life. But we are misled by the illusion of self, constantly pursuing material things and dreams to numb ourselves, adding layer upon layer in the hope of covering up the bitterness at the bottom. Due to lifetimes of reincarnation, this cake has become thicker and thicker, yet we can still feel the emptiness and helplessness seeping up from the bottom. If we do not awaken, the entanglements of karma will only become more difficult to resolve in future.
The Path to Liberation: Letting Go of Desire and Moving Towards Enlightenment
Pursuing worldly happiness cannot truly solve the problem, because happiness itself is transient and illusory. It is still confined within impermanence and cannot free us from the suffering of birth, old age, sickness, death, and reincarnation.
The true path to liberation lies in letting go of desire—that is, abandoning cravings, ignorance, and attachments. When we achieve this, we can attain a state of ultimate liberation called "Nirvana," which is "enlightenment."
Enlightenment is not a distant place, but a "state of existence". In this state, a person transcends suffering, the ego, and the concept of identity, achieving deep inner peace and wisdom. Enlightenment is not an ordinary emotional feeling; it transcends joy and sorrow. An enlightened person can continue to live in the world, eating, sleeping, and interacting with others, but their heart is free from any attachment. For example, Shakyamuni Buddha, after attaining enlightenment at the age of 35, continued to teach the Dharma in the world for 45 years until his death at the age of 80. When an enlightened person passes away, they will be completely free from the cycle of birth and death and will not be reborn.
The Practical Path: The Noble Eightfold Path to Wisdom
So, how should we proceed towards enlightenment? The answer lies in following the "Noble Eightfold Path" taught by the Buddha, cultivating ourselves in three aspects: ethical conduct, mental cultivation, and wisdom.
First: Watch Your Ethical Conduct
Right Speech: Do not lie, slander, use harsh language, or engage in useless chatter.
Right Action: Do not kill, steal, or cheat; promote moral and peaceful conduct.
Right Livelihood: Choose an honourable and blameless profession; do not engage in any work that harms others, such as manufacturing weapons, dealing in drugs, or engaging in fraud.
Second: Pay Attention to Your Mental Cultivation
Right Effort: Strive to prevent unwholesome thoughts from arising, eliminate those that have arisen, and actively cultivate and perfect wholesome thoughts.
Right Mindfulness: Constantly maintain awareness and attentiveness to your body, feelings, thoughts, and ideas.
Right Concentration: Practice meditation to achieve inner peace, stability, and clarity, transcending all feelings.
Third: Enhance Your Wisdom
Right Understanding: Deeply understand and recognise the harmful "Kuih Lapis" way of life to yourself and others, and comprehend the root cause of the suffering of reincarnation.
Right Thought: Your line of thinking should be directed towards how to let go of desire, thereby achieving selfless renunciation of cravings, overcoming ignorance, and finally releasing attachments.
The outcome of life is not predetermined but depends on our choices. By choosing a way of life filled with wisdom, even if we do not attain full enlightenment in this lifetime, the wisdom we accumulate will play a role in the next, guiding us to continue our practice until final liberation. Conversely, if we devote our entire lives to material possessions and fleeting happiness, none of it can be taken with us to the next life. A single thought can determine your future—whether you will continue to be reborn or attain eternal freedom.