INTRODUCTION

SAMSARA

In the depths of my slumber, I have been awakened to the realization that the cycle of life and death is as boundless as the mind. My journey has been ceaseless, much like the infinity of the universe - belonging to no one, beholden to nothing. Uncertainty shrouds my birth, yet the finality of death is certain. However, I have discovered that death is not the end; rather, it is a transition to a new existence in the six realms governed by the past, perhaps even by pasts I cannot fathom. The future once filled me with wonder - who will I become? What will befall me? But now I know that life is woven together by a single thread of existence and that the present is constructed by the karmic choices made in the past.

May it be my austere devotion to the Gods, raised upon a world of desires and gifted with countless luxuries. However if one is not cautious of this glorious life, they will be deceived by illusive attachments and neglectful to spiritual development. A luxurious life among the heavens may seem eternal, however, it is a life that is ultimately impermanent.

May it be my caution of temperament, for it is the Asuras who have risen through a thirsting envy that cannot be quenched and a fury that cannot be settled. Bloodshed is their passion and violence is their livelihood. Although gifted with impeccable power, the turmoil of endless wrath is as sickening as a malignant disease. 

May it be my pity for humans enduring senescence, illness, and countless adversaries. The moral agent and passion of a man is the source of discovering his destiny within infinite eternities. Whether his actions bring him a fruitful future or unfavourable misery, his mind will determine the outcome of personal adversaries as he succumbs to the inescapable sufferings of life.

May it be my acknowledgement of a beast that walks on four, or one that walks on none. Little wanderers or perhaps giant walkers are subjected to a mind wired by instinct and a livelihood of survival. Upon hundreds and thousands of consecutive births in the body of a beast, the sins of this rebirth can only be hoped to be expiated.

May it be my doubt of diabolic fiends or perhaps a wandering ghost. A fate that is to be feared by the timid, yet challenged by the brave. Like bats hidden in the shadows of the day, yet becoming the darkness of the mysterious night, the birth of a starving apparition is a repaying debt of insufferable cravings.

May it be my fear of the unfortunate soul that has fallen to Naraka, atoning unfavourable deeds through unimaginable torment that is precisely fitting for one's sins. Though rebirth as a fallen soul is as impermanent as a fortunate member of the gods.

Amidst the six realms of existence, the burdensome shackles of seven emotions and six desires ensnare all beings, inflicting wounds upon the soul and erosion upon the flesh. Yet, there are those valiant spirits who dare to traverse the boundless sea of ignorance, possessed of a heart that burns with purity, a heart that seeks to quell the flames of enmity, and a will to staunch the ceaseless flow of avarice. Such a mind is capable of severing the unyielding chains of the past, and subduing the uncertain winds of the future, for all that remains is the enigmatic path that stretches before us.

What is a destined fate? That is for one to discover. What is the right path one should take? That is for one to decide.

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