Buddhism's philosophy of life and death sparks a conversation with the Buddha. It emphasizes finding a genuine path to self-discovery, warning against losing oneself in extremes like asceticism or materialism. In Zen Buddhism, it is said to kill the Buddha if encountered on the road, highlighting the importance of forging one's own path. Different paths and stories exist, like the tale of Rama in the Ramayana, serving as instructive narratives.
This episode of Living Myth is about accepting elements of fate in order to find the threads of destiny that are woven within our own lives to begin with.
“Each child must be born to a particular family, yet the purpose of each soul rises from a different conception and aims at a different destination. Each has a family legacy of some kind, yet each also has a deeper birthright waiting to be discovered. Elements of fate and destiny press upon us from within and also call us from outside the walls of the family complex. Unseen threads and inner designs secretly pull us into the crossroads where meaningful choices must be made.
There are many paths and endless plot lines in the great skein of life and therefore many instructive stories. Two of the great tales from ancient India describe the different ways in which the Buddha and Lord Rama found their path of destiny. In the marketplace of life, Prince Siddhartha had to first encounter death before the Buddha waiting within him could be born. For Rama, being a ruler in this earthly realm was his true destiny. But he had to become homeless and wander far before he could find a truth that was within him all along.
An eternal thread has been woven within each of us. It secretly ties us to a path of meaning that can lead to a way of being that is our true inheritance in life. In order to find that holy thread, we must experience a brush with death or some other fateful encounter that allows our greater life to grow. Encounters with fate and brushes death are intended to awaken people to the exact value of the gift of life that they have been given. Not the life given by one's parents, not usually the life defined by the marketplace, not even the life attributed to famous spiritual guides or cultural leaders.
The point is to find the path already set within one's own soul from before the time of birth. The point is to be willing to undergo a little death in order to find the genuine thread that can lead to one's natural destiny. A wise sage once said: ‘The search for truth is really a search for one's true self. When people truly understand who they already are, they realize that they are part of the Divine. This understanding cannot come from the intellect alone, nor can it be given to you by others. It must come from a place deep inside you. All truth comes from within. The search for truth is really the search for one's true self.’”
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