Last weekend, I attended an SGI-UK study lecturers training day at Taplow Court. It was a really interesting talk by Mrs Takahashi, the European Study leader.
However, I really struggled with this one as it was predominantly (though not exclusively) about the Eternity of Life which is a subject that I find difficult. When I say difficult, I don't mean difficult as in dealing with death etc but how the whole process of the eternity of life works.
As those who practise know, there are three proofs in this Buddhism; theoretical proof, documentary proof and actual proof, the 'actual' being the most important. I'm sure all of us who practise have had 'actual' proof that the practise works, otherwise we wouldn't practise .. would we !!
However, and this is where it gets a bit confused for me. It is of course, impossible to have actual proof of the eternity of life .. no one has come back and told us what happens etc and at the same time, though scientists can tell us when brain waves stop, they can't tell us what happens to the 'life force' that was there.
Now, I'm not a complete sceptic on this .. I think this explanation is as good as any and more plausable than most and I do believe that lifeforce doesn't just vanish on death and continues in some form or other .. the thing I can't get my head round is how it then 're-establishes' itself ... My own thoughts are that either a) it becomes a part of the universal energy or b) that it simply exists in the form of peoples memories and the influences that we have left behind. For example, I don't believe that Martin Luther King has been 're-born', but I do believe that his memory and influences live on and that this has an effect on the current world, and I'm sure our own influences left behind will do so albeit possibly on a different scale. In many ways to be honest, I'd be ok with that.
If we take the 'energy as part of the universe' option though, what I really really struggle with is the bit that goes something like .... "and when the time is right, we are reborn" .!! I'm not saying this isn't the case but I can't quite put the bits together .... at what point and how does this happen ? As sperm ? while the babies in the womb ? once it's born ?.. and how does it get there ?... I know that sounds daft but it feels to me like a bit of the jigsaw is missing.
All that said, I'm not overly worried about it though if anyone can enlighten me, that would be great.
My own take is very similar to something Daisaku Ikeda once said (and this is from memory so not a quote as such). He said:
"The fact is that we don't know what happens after we die. Many religions have many different explanations but none can be 100% certain. However, what really matters is how a religions view of death makes us live our lives in the here and now"
So on that level, I'm happy with that, but thought I'd throw my thoughts out for possible debate ... any takers ?
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What an excellent question and certainly something that I have also thought about a great deal. By the way, I'm a 25 year SGI-USA member, practicing in Nebraska. Like Mr. CB, I'm not stressed out about what happens after death, because I'm having such a wonderful life right here, right now. And perhaps that's the point. If, and I say if, at death, there is re-birth or an eternal integration with the life of the universe, then at the last moment of my life, I want to carry with me the latent effects of the causes I've made during this lifetime. It's kind of prep work for the unknown. The happier I can become now, the more human revolution I can accomplish, the more I can help others to embrace the Gohonzon, the bigger my good karma bank account will become! We know that the law of cause and effect is a scientific reality, so at the last moment of my life I want any remaining latent effects to be so fully embraced by Buddhahood that whatever happens is directed by that fundamental nature inherent in all life. In this way, there is actual proof of this reality in our lives right now. The more confidence we gain through actual proof, the more confidence we'll have that Nam Myoho Renge Kyo exists eternally. My life is Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and is, therefore, eternal. I often say, as I look at the colors of a sunset, or see my daughter's smile, embrace my wife, feel pride in my son's journey, or touch my mom with kindness in her 86th year, that it just doesn't get any better than this. That's the actual proof I'll carry with me eternally wherever, whenever.
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