The Sustenance of Life

Xuefeng

Laozi, the sage, once said, “He who values his body as the world may be entrusted with the world; he who loves the world as he loves his body may be entrusted with the world.” This means that the world can be entrusted to those who cherish the lives of others as much as they cherish their own.

The idea of entrusting the world might seem far removed from the lives of ordinary people, so let us reflect on where we place the trust for our own lives.

The most precious thing in the world is LIFE; likewise, the most valuable part of human existence is also LIFE. If life requires a foundation, where should we place our trust for our lives? In what or whom should we entrust our lives?

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei entrusted their lives to Liu Bei, just as Liu Bei and King Wu of the Zhou Dynasty entrusted their lives to Zhuge Liang and Jiang Ziya. Historically, the common people of China often entrusted their lives to wise rulers. While this kind of trust is admirable, it is also illusory.

Some people place their lives in the hands of their spouses: wives relying on their husbands, and husbands relying on their wives. This kind of dependence is risky. Some devote their lives to their immediate families, believing that as long as their family endures, so does their life; but if the family falls apart, so does their existence.

Some people place their trust in wealth, toiling from dawn till dusk for money, believing that only wealth offers security, thinking that once they have money, all problems can be solved. Others pour their lives into their jobs, companies, or personal achievements, focusing all their efforts on career advancement, company growth, and professional success. However, when their status is lost, their company goes bankrupt, or their career declines, their sense of life fades too.

Some place their lives in the hands of their mentors, while others attach themselves to political parties, religions, ethnic groups, or nations. They cry out for their masters’ honor or sacrifice their lives for their party, religion, ethnicity, or nation.

This is life’s confusion. To place your trust in a spouse, in others, in money or power, in family, political parties, religions, ethnic groups, or nations is to place it in something as fragile as a mirage in the sky. Such trust will inevitably lead to disappointment, for these things may disappear at any moment. How can we entrust our precious lives to people or things that are doomed to pass away?

Floods can rise to the heavens, but they are temporary. Enterprises may flourish, but they too can vanish like smoke. Even the mightiest empires have been buried in the ruins of history, and once-great figures have been forgotten in the shifting tides of time. We, as beings of LIFE, cannot place our existence in things that are not eternal.

There is one thing, however, that is eternal. From the distant past to the boundless future, it remains constant and selfless. Its form may change, but its essence never does. Whether in the past, present, or future, if we are willing, we can always rely on it. This is where we should entrust our lives.

That eternal thing is the Tao, it is what we have always longed for. Because it is eternal, when we entrust our lives to the Tao, our lives can become eternal too.

What is the Tao? The Tao is the consciousness of the Greatest Creator, the spirit of the Greatest Creator. To entrust your life to the Tao means to entrust it to the consciousness and spirit of the Greatest Creator. To put it simply, we should entrust our lives to the Greatest Creator.

Only Christ Jesus and the Buddha Shakyamuni have truly valued the world and loved all life. They gave up everything, dedicating their entire lives to the suffering masses. We can entrust our lives to the Greatest Creator by listening to the teachings of Jesus and Shakyamuni, which will guide us in realizing this goal.

Shakyamuni devoted his life to creating a vessel for eternal life, and if we board this vessel, we are sure to reach the ideal shore of existence.

Jesus Christ, with his precious blood, has shown us the direction of LIFE: only those who follow the will of my Father in Heaven can enter the Kingdom of Heaven and attain eternal life. This is where we place the trust of our lives—by boarding the vessel created by Shakyamuni and following the direction illuminated by Jesus Christ, we can draw closer to the Greatest Creator! Closer! Ever closer!