Escaping the Traps of Life

Deiform Buddha

August 18, 2006

The universe contains 36 Eight-Diagram Arrays, and life is filled with countless traps. Only by escaping these traps can one achieve freedom in life.

Everyone yearns for paradise and wishes to live a life like that in paradise. Buddhism speaks of the Western Pure Land (the Elysium World), but in reality, the Elysium World exists in the east, south, and north as well. The question is, how do we reach these paradisiacal worlds?

Let me guide you step by step. First, we must recognize that our inability to reach the Elysium World is due to our entrapment in the pitfalls of life. These traps are like prisons that confine our freedom. If we do not escape these life traps, we will never reach the Elysium World.

Many of us have likely experienced this: when watching war scenes on TV or in movies, the scenes may evoke our emotions, but our suffering and fear are not as intense as those depicted because we are not actually involved in those life-threatening situations. For instance, the South Asian tsunami claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. Those directly affected suffered greatly, but those who were not involved would not feel as pained. If we were unaware of the tsunami, the deaths of so many people would not cause us distress.

Similarly, if our neighbors are fighting, their quarrel is a complete mess, with threats of life and death as if the end of the world is coming. The neighbors are in great pain, but we are not as distressed because we are not caught in that life trap.

Military service is a trap. Soldiers sent to Iraq, for example, become part of a deadly conflict. If you are not a soldier, you will not be sent to fight in Iraq. Once enlisted, you enter the trap of war, and once war starts, there is no escaping it.

Marriage is another trap. Once you enter this trap, you are bound by endless household responsibilities, making it difficult to find peace. If one does not marry, they avoid the pitfalls of marital conflict and divorce, gaining relative freedom in life.

Forming factions or alliances is a trap. Once you join a faction, you are bound by its constraints and controls, losing autonomy.

Joining a political party is also a trap. Engaging in party politics involves struggles over interests and power, and you cannot avoid conflicts with other parties. You are forced to participate in political movements and organizational activities. If you are correct, it’s fine, but if you make a mistake, you may end up shouldering the blame.

Religion is another trap. As a believer, you must participate in various religious activities and endure repetitive moral teachings. In extreme cases, you might even be compelled to strap a bomb to yourself to carry out some so-called sacred mission.

We can remain indifferent to the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, but if we were Israeli citizens or Hezbollah members, we would inevitably have to contribute labor or even our lives to this war. Thus, nations are also traps. Once you become a citizen of a country, you are inevitably subject to its constraints. If we do not belong to any country, then the troubles of nations will not bother us.

People often worry about the destruction of the Earth’s ecological resources and are anxious about the future crises facing humanity. But if we were outside Earth, we wouldn’t be troubled by such issues. Thus, the world of Earth is also a life trap.

Imagine living in a paradise outside Earth, free from family, political parties, religions, nations, and factions. How would our lives be? That would be freedom, my comrades! That would be peace, my comrades!

Humans bait fish with some “sweet thing” to lure them into traps. Once the fish takes the bait, it falls into the trap of life. Why do people marry? Because of the “sweetness.” Why join parties? Because of the “sweetness.” Why participate in religious or political groups? Because of the “sweetness.” Why love a country? Because of the “sweetness.” Why did the seven celestial maidens descend to the human world? Because of the “sweetness.” This “sweetness” is the fragrant “bait.” Once taken, it leads us into the traps of life.

Falling into these traps is easy, but escaping them is difficult, much like how marriage is easy to enter but hard to exit, climbing mountains is easy but getting down is difficult, or starting a business is easy, but closing it is hard.

Hunters set traps by scattering food around them. Animals, tempted by the food, fall into the traps.

Everyone wants to go to heaven, but how can that be possible? Some must remain human, some must be animals. Therefore, Satan must dig various kinds of traps to ensnare confused individuals. Once someone falls into a trap, they lose their freedom and cannot reach heaven.

We must escape the traps of life. Many people from poor countries strive to reach developed countries. Once they escape, they free themselves from the constraints of their own country. Many fugitives escape to remote places because “the sky is high, and the emperor is far away,” thus avoiding the risk of being captured and imprisoned.

Reaching heaven is both easy and difficult; it depends on whether one wants to escape the traps of LIFE.

I have a special trick in my dreams: invisibility. Once I sense danger or feel uncomfortable in a certain environment, I immediately become invisible, so that people or animals around me cannot see me. Sometimes, I even disappear completely, making it impossible for even Deity Celestial Beings to find me.

If you observe the events in each family from outside the realm of marriage, you will not be troubled. If you watch the dramas of religious and political parties from outside those domains, it can be quite entertaining. If you view the conflicts between nations from outside the countries, it is like watching a movie. If you observe the changes on Earth from the realm of the Thousand-year World, you will not be anxious. As long as you remain detached from events, you will attain a blissful heart.

You may think I am too heartless and unkind, lacking compassion, right? But what about you? Do you save the countless livestock and poultry slaughtered daily, the numerous plants and insects dying? Do you rescue the lives lost in hospitals, homes, and under car wheels every day? I see you still eating and laughing every day. In reality, you too are heartless and unkind, lacking compassion!

Who can change history? Who can change death? Who can change the evolutionary program of the Dao? We should not try to change these things. What we need is to escape the traps of life. Those who cannot save themselves cannot save others. Can a poor person provide financial assistance to others? Can a person in prison help fellow inmates escape?

Of course, you can infiltrate the “enemy’s ranks” to save someone, or descend from heaven to the human world disguised as an ordinary person to carry out a plan. But no matter what, you must first be fully awakened. Once enlightened, it doesn’t matter whether you are inside or outside of the family, party, religion, or country, as there is little difference – you can escape the traps of life at any time.

Those already trapped must first escape mentally. As long as your spirit is awake and your heart is clear, you can gradually escape the traps of life.