Master Huijing’s Short Dharma Teachings about the Truth of Impermanence
諸行無常
(continued)
We think a hundred billion years is a very long time; however, it is as temporary as a dewdrop or a bolt of lightning from the Buddha’s point of view. This is because, as long as it conditioned, its existence is bound to a finite framework of time and space.
As it is bound to time and space, it is finite and temporary, no matter how long it is, unless you can transcend time and space.
So, though we may live for a hundred or ten thousand years, it is still regarded as a short lifespan. As compared with the nearest heaven( the Heaven of the Four Kings), the average lifespan of heavenly beings is 500 years, and one day in that heaven is equivalent to 50 years in our human world. Though its scale is much “larger”, their lifespans are as short as dew and lightning from the Buddha’s point of view.
一百億年我們感覺好漫長,但以佛的眼光來看,還是如露亦如電的短暫。因為只要是有為的,一定是有時間性、有空間性的,既然有時間性、空間性,就是有限量,既然有限量就是短暫,再怎麼樣的長也都是短暫,除非你超越時間、空間。
所以,人生即使活一百歲、一萬歲都是短命。比如出生在天上,離我們最近的是四天王天,他的壽命是五百年,他的一天是我們的五十歲,但即使是這樣,以佛的眼光來看還是如露如電,還是短命的。
Namo Amituofo!
