Unlocking the Mysteries of Life and Death

Verlag: Eternal Ganges

Seiten: 210

Sprache: Englisch

Taschenbuch

Buddhism identifies birth and death, along with aging and sickness, as universal or worldly sufferings. The Lotus Sutra, which Nichiren Buddhism holds as the core of the Mahayana movement, teaches that without the basic human impulses and the problems of life and death there can, in fact, be no enlightenment. This is the premise for Ikeda’s discussion of life and death.

“By taking a close look at each of the four sufferings,” Ikeda writes, “this book seeks to illuminate the truth and wisdom necessary to sail calmly over the troubled sea of worldly suffering.”

Beyond the theoretical, the philosophical and the scientific, Ikeda draws out from Buddhism practical wisdom in fully facing aging and death: “If we do not understand the nature of our lives—the fleeting aspect as well as the eternal—we can neither live meaningfully nor die in peace.”