Merging with Heaven and Earth, Life and Death Hold No Fear

Tao Yuanming's attitude toward life and death was broad-minded. He wrote: "Floating freely in the great transformation, neither joyous nor afraid. When it is time to end, just end; there is no need to worry unduly." He regarded death as part of the "great transformation of heaven and earth," adopting a natural attitude toward it. Thus he could meet death with peace of mind, with neither regret nor sorrow in his heart.

Many people fear death; I do not. I do not believe in ghosts or gods, do not believe in reincarnation after death, and do not believe in heaven or hell. I seek no comfort from expectations of an afterlife; I am simply not afraid of death.

I have reflected on the question of life and death, and in that reflection I understood that I am part of nature. So-called birth and death are merely transformations of the form in which existence manifests in the natural world. When alive in human form, I am a living person; after death I return to a handful of loess. Some nutrients in that loess may be absorbed by plants, perhaps growing into a flower or a blade of grass; when those flowers, grasses, or fruits are eaten by animals, they become nourishment for the animals' growth. Therefore there is no such thing as life, and no such thing as death. The universe is vast, time and space are boundless, and matter is indestructible; I am simply, together with all things, freely and ceaselessly switching modes and states of existence. There is neither birth nor extinction; neither coming nor going.

Once this is understood, there is nothing to fear about death, and no craving or attachment to any material or spiritual thing in the human world. Recently I have often been reading in a nearly abandoned small temple halfway up a mountain. It is very quiet here; no one is around, only the calls of birds. Life here returns to its original and most authentic state. There is no loftiness and no baseness, no wealth and no poverty. Everything follows its natural course: eat when hungry, drink when thirsty. No blame, no praise; no thought, no care—only the innocence of a child.

People need such solitary time. Only through such solitude can we illuminate the essence of life, so as not to be controlled by all kinds of prejudices and ideologies, sinking into them and breeding much pain and worry. People bind themselves like silkworms spinning cocoons. I once said: "Sages create rules that bind ordinary people." The various ideas in our minds bind us firmly like ropes. Once we break free from these ropes, our lives can become very simple and light.

I do not want to label myself with any tags—Buddhist, Daoist, xx-ist, yy-ist—I keep all such labels at a respectful distance, and I have no interest in "the Way" either. I am nothing; I do not want to be caught by any rope. I live by only a few simple rules, such as not harming others and not courting trouble. These few simple rules are enough to keep my heart immensely at peace, and that is sufficient.