From the moment we are born, we rush towards death. In the vastness of time andspace, a life is just a fleeting moment, yet it leaves behind its traces.The meaning of life is not just the process. What matters more are the results. If themeaning of life was just in the process, then we could trace out a magnificentskyscraper on the ice of a frozen lake, and drink in the praise from the public.If the meaning of life was just in the process, then we would not doggedly struggle inthe face of bitterness and hardship.

　　If we only pursue the stimulation of the process, with no concern for the severity ofthe outcomes, then we will one day end up like a restless youth suddenly andinexplicably stricken with a terminal illness, our hearts filled with longing and regret.

　　It is because we do not place importance on outcomes that we do so many thingswithout care, that so much precious life is wasted on meaningless experiments,bounding through the phenomena of the world with nothing to show for it, filling ourlives with difficulties, travesties and anxieties.It is because we do not place importance on outcomes that even if we were to extendour lifespans by thousands of times, it would only be a one day stay of execution, anextension of the rituals and fears that precede death.

　　When a fly randomly buzzes into a room, it doesn't matter how you chase it or swat atit. What matters is whether it can leave. A candle is burned to its end in exchange forlight, but when a life is burned to the end, all it brings is darkness. Do not grasp atseductive words, thinking you will find yourself, because it is nothing but trickery.Illusion can never bear the heavy burden of reality.

　　Do not, out of fear of karmic action and reaction, only believe in the process of life,passing your way through the last remaining light of life in self-deception. We werenot born to be ignorant. If you wish for joy, then plant the corresponding seeds.The spring rains come and the clouds float by. No one cares to ask how they fly, butthey are astonished by the rain and thunder.

Written on October 5, 2011, in Ganze, Sichuan Province

作者：蔡志松