Everyone´s life is the time granted to him/her. In current standards, that can mean 80 years of age or more. How should we spend such a treasure?
A person that works in a job or in his/her own business to raise a child or pay for trip overseas spends such hours out of total that he/she has left for living. Little by little, we sell our lives to achieve what we want.
(Adapted from the book “Why do we live?”, by Kentetsu Takamori)
We invest the time of our lives in what we aim. The student that is willing to enter the best university in the country exchanges the time he/she would enjoy with friend or boy(girl)friend for studying. We dedicate a fair share of time of our day to work and earn the money required to survive and satisfy our wishes. Thus, we waive being with our family or doing what actually gives us pleasure.
All that is part of the game of life. It is necessary, relevant and inevitable.
The essential question is knowing how to invest our valuable time, so that, in the end, we can say, with no doubts or regrets: it was worth to have lived and used the time of my life the way I did!
Whenever this expectation is not effective, we suffer. So, we need to think and reflect seriously on life and the reason to live. Thinking on the question ‘Why do we live’ is not, anyhow, being in an abnormal situation, in disharmony, depressed, sick or with psychological problems, as many people may think. It is, absolutely, a normal, and above all, human questioning.
Buddhist philosophy explains that, as one thinks seriously about life, any person shall question him/herself why he/she was born and lives. This is the starting point for a genuinely happy life. The second step shall be learning the answer to this questions.
More than 2600, Shakyamuni, the Buddha, answered that question clearly and all this answer explanation originated what we know today as Buddhism. Reading and knowing Buddhist philosophy is understanding better who we are and why we live.
ITIMAN provides weekly, to people that are interested, various texts, articles and videos on Buddhist philosophy on its website.
Questions and comments shall also be submitted through our internet channels.
