We use the word self [to refer to ourselves], but this word actually refers to the universe. When we ask how the life of the universe is different from the life of each one of you, the only differences we find are those of your bodies and minds. Your life and that of the universe are the same.
In the discussion on the philosophy of life, there are two common analogies used.
The first described life as tree. With the
source of life beginning from the roots or the stem, and each individual lives
as the leaves or the flowers and fruits. In a sense, life begins from a
foundational primal force and everything else is created from there. Such
thinking is common in many mythologies and the Abrahamic religions. It tends to
define the lives of each individual as having separate independent souls while being
denominated to a common creator.
The Lotus Sutra, however, finds the above
understanding of life lacking and aligned itself with the second analogy with
views lives as waves on the ocean. Perceiving each individual life as even more
closely related than merely sharing a creator, it views that each life actually
common with the comic life itself.
For example, each of our lives is like waves on the
ocean. We interact with those close to us constantly. And the winds
(representing karma) influence us heavily. When we are born, it is like the wave
riding high. And when we die, it is like the wave returning to the embrace of the
ocean. But when we examine the nature of the waves, we find the same water that
is the ocean. When we fully accept this interpretation of life, then true compassion
can be developed. Because if every lives share the same entity, hurting another
person would be like the cancer cells destroying their host body, they are hurting
themselves ultimately.
What is life?
It is an entity which is simultaneously the infinite macrocosm and each of the microcosms that represent countless individual living beings. It is an enormous life-entity, always undergoing dynamic change and, at the same time, eternal and everlasting. The Buddha and the Mystic Law are names that we give to this undeniable entity--cosmic life. We are all embodiment of this sublime entity.
