Is There Life After Death?
There were two buildings. The Statue of Liberty.
Then, the man was suddenly falling off. His leg broke, too.
It sounds like a scene from a horror movie, but these are the last things then 3-year-old Cade remembered of his past life before his former self died in the September 11 attacks.
Everyone dies eventually. Where do we go next?
In the second session, the Venerables reminded us of an eternal truth: Death happens to all of us. Then, on June 16, we explored if there really is life after death.
Cade's story isn't the first suspected case of reincarnation. As experts endeavoured to find out more, the Buddha already shared the truth about rebirth with us over 2,500 years ago:
Yes, there is an afterlife waiting for you when you die.
No sentient being is exempted from this rule. Not seeing it happen doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
Lay practitioners like us typically have no memory of our past lives, but advanced spiritual practitioners who have gained meditative concentration may have the ability to see rebirth.
Here are two examples:
I. in the Jataka stories, the Enlightened One shared extensively about his past lives;
II. the present Dalai Lama, too, is recognised as his own 14th incarnation.
Since the cycle of life and death repeats, don’t you want to keep doing better?
Next, find out how you can attain a better human life!
Think about the sort of life you want in your next human life:
Is it better brawn and better brains? Is it good looks? Is it more wealth, or better health?
Or, is it all of the above?
In the next session, participants told our Venerables what qualities they'd like to be reborn with and received tips on how they can be achieved.
These tips were shared based on the wisdom of the Buddha. To find out more about the issues of life and death, be sure to join us every Sunday at Auspicious Puja!
See you at the next session of Auspicious Puja!
AUSPICIOUS PUJA (ENGLISH)
Date: Every Sunday
Time: 9.45am to 10.45am
Venue: Hall of Jewels, BW Monastery*
*The venue may subject to change. Check out BW Monastery’s Facebook Page for more updates!