The Purpose of Life

[PureInsight.org] What is the purpose of life? It is not that everyone can truly understand and experience the purpose of life. If mankind understood the true purpose of life, or what the truth of life is, mankind would most certainly strive forward toward the truth of life, instead of being so lost, self-abandoned and degenerate.

During cultivation, many Dafa practitioners, who are diligently and truly cultivating themselves, are fulfilling the purpose of life. They are doing their best with their thoughts and actions to display the magnificence and preciousness of life in this human realm.

Today there are some Dafa practitioners who haven't caught up with what the Fa requires of them in the Fa-rectification period. They either don't understand or don't fully appreciate Teacher's compassion or the profound meaning of cultivation in the Fa-rectification period. Instead, they are judging, with their limited understanding or scope, the seemingly complicated situation before them. If we can't expand the capacity and borders of our wisdom, we won't be able to overcome the "realistic" tribulations that we encounter today.

Many people who went through near-death experiences learned the purpose of life through their experiences. Mankind is lost in the maze of the human realm. Because man has dropped into this maze, he cannot see other dimensions and the truth of matter. Because man's intelligence is confined and restricted within this maze, he creates enormous karma and chooses the road to degeneration. Outside of the maze is the true and final destination that each man must face at the end of his life. It is not an illusion or a made-up story. The moment a person who is completely lost, who refuses to believe in the truth of life, falls into the abyss of hell he will suddenly see the truth and understand the purpose of life, but will no longer have any opportunity to make amends. That is the saddest moment of a person's existence.

A truly blessed life is born as a human in the maze of the human realm with the opportunity to be under the guidance of a great enlightened being, who has descended to the human realm to give the sentient beings salvation and to tell them the truth of life. This allows one the choice of cherishing this opportunity to return to his or her true self via cultivation and to carry out the purpose of life.

As for those degenerate sentient beings that have been condemned to extinction of body and soul, what will be on their minds the moment they drop to that state? What will be the only thing on their minds? It has to be deep regret. They will most certainly be willing to do everything to avoid the endless extinction and torment, but will they be given another opportunity to make amends once they have been condemned to that state? That's absolutely impossible. They will be forever trapped in their eternal regret and remorse. If those who have been condemned to extinction of body and soul were to given a slightest opportunity of salvation, they would most certainly cherish it more than anything, although we all know that after the Fa-rectification, they will never be given another chance of salvation once they have fallen to that state.

We have so many opportunities right now to carry out the meaning of life, but many of us become nonchalant about these opportunities, or fail to cherish these precious predestined opportunities. In a sense, we are even wasting these precious opportunities to save those condemned lives in the abyss of torment, who are eternally denied from any opportunity of salvation, and who are hungry for that chance.

Those who had near-death experiences realized the meaning of life when they visited the twilight zone between life and death. When they returned from death, they started to cherish their lives, become truly responsible for their own lives, treat others with sincerity and kindness, and, by so doing, experienced the true happiness and joys of life. One of the people who had a near-death experience was a handicapped person. He chose to continue his life as a handicapped person to experience the meaning of life, to live a full life with hope, and to carry out the truth of life.

Teacher has told us before that we would feel very different if we saw the truth of the universe. It may appear that we are enduring a tremendous amount of tribulations and are contributing a lot to Dafa. It may even appear to those of us who are stubbornly attached to selfishness that Teacher has given up on them. It may also appear to us that we are doing a lot of Fa-rectification work for Teacher. In the near future, when our selfish, confined, and restricted wisdom are released, when we see how much Teacher has endured for us, when we see those lives who have entered the gate of no-life suffering from eternal torment, when we see countless lives eternally denied an opportunity for salvation, when we see countless lives envious the tremendous blessing upon us, then what will we think? I don't think we would ever fix our eyes on our puny contributions and what we have endured. Instead, I believe we will be utterly embarrassed when we see the truth of the universe, and mention nothing of our contribution. I think we will have regret for our unrighteous thoughts and actions right now, as well as for our waste of the most precious period of time when we could forge ourselves to become a great enlightened being, and when we could have experienced the most meaningful period of our lives.

Teacher cautions us repeatedly that we must study the Fa diligently, and do the three tasks well. Meanwhile, Teacher continues to extend new opportunities for us, protect us, guide with his immense compassion, and give the best of all to us.

Teacher requires us to study the Fa diligently because studying the Fa will help us become more clear-minded, expand our capacity of the Fa, and understand the arrangements and the truth of higher-dimensions. Thus we will make the best of ourselves, utilize this precious predestined opportunities, accomplish ourselves, and savor the glory of life by making it a meaningful one. When Teacher asks us to clarify the truth to offer sentient beings salvation, he is actually blessing us with the best and the most meaningful opportunity.

Let's again consider those who had near-death experiences. They realized that the real happiness and meaning of life was to think about others. As for those lives condemned with extinction of both life and soul, what would be one thing that they are hungry for? They hunger for salvation. They ache for salvation by great enlightened beings. They are extremely envious of the sentient beings in the human realm for their abundant opportunities and hope for salvation, one thing they are denied forever. Today we are not only blessed with such precious predestined opportunities of cultivation, but also given opportunities to offer sentient beings salvation. This is the most meaningful and sacred mission that a life can ever wish for.

Imagine the magnificence, majesty and holiness of an enlightened being that offers sentient beings salvation! If we can accomplish this sacred mission of offering sentient beings salvation with which Teacher has blessed us, then we will make our lives incomparably meaningful. If our lives become meaningful, it is all because of Teacher.

Many of those Dafa practitioners who are not very clear-headed and are laden with attachments have become lost in the very best period of time when they should instead transform and improve themselves. They are ungrateful for these predestined opportunities. When the truth is revealed, there will be no more opportunities for them to make amends. Because of this, Teacher continues to give us new opportunities to carry out the meaning of life and to improve ourselves. Nowadays Teacher sometimes gives the most obvious hints or even turns hints into plain instructions because he wishes to give sentient beings opportunities to make the best of their lives.

If we evaluate our own cultivation and measure to which degree we have utilized the opportunities that Teacher has given us, I believe that many of us will realize how much or how little we have accomplished!

Finally, I would like to share some unnamed fellow practitioners' thoughts on cultivation:

i) "If a Dafa disciple in the Fa-rectification period fails to validate the Fa in all environments, his life or death becomes a completely meaningless matter. I have also realized that, when I passively endured tribulations and fail to eliminate the evil, I have not eliminated my attachment to myself, or selfishness, in the Fa-rectification cultivation."

ii) "It does not matter to me whether I can achieve a highest cultivation level or not. It only matters that I am connected with Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance, because only then will I feel my life is meaningful."

iii) "Let our lives become glorious via Fa-rectification work!"

iv) "As future guardians of the universe, we must cultivate ourselves until we have eliminated all of our attachments. This is what the Fa requires of the true cultivators."

This is my humble understanding of the Fa. Please point out anything erroneous. Meanwhile, let's encourage each other to cherish our cultivation paths.

Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2003/11/7/24411.html