Chapter 60: 142 Chapters, Life

142 chapters, life

142 chapters,

life

Liu Guozong

What is life? Life is a blank sheet of paper prepared for us by God.

When we open our eyes each day, the angel brings this blank sheet before us. Thus, we begin to write all kinds of words and draw all kinds of pictures on this blank sheet.

All that we do, say, and laugh is fully displayed on this blank sheet; this is life.

Some people's life is so glorious and splendid; some people's life is so ugly and dirty.

Who to blame? The good or bad of life is entirely due to how we live it.

All life is lived by oneself; no one else takes your hand to smear your life.

It is you yourself who lives your life this way or that; all of this has nothing to do with others.

You live as you wish, you act as you wish; it is not others telling you how to speak or how to act.

But although we say that, our life is still in others' hands. Some things are not done as we wish, but as others tell us to do, and we do them; some words are not spoken as we wish, but as others say, and we speak them.

Some of the time in life is not in our own hands, but in others' hands.

Some people have their entire life in others' hands.

Like the eunuchs who served past emperors, even before birth, all the days of his life's course had already been booked by others; he had no power to control his own time and the space of his activities. All his time was used to serve people. Serving people was his heavenly duty. Only by serving people well could he have a good life, and his life could be good.

Everyone has their own life; how to live it well, everyone has their own plans. Some people, even when given a good life, refuse it and instead seek suffering.

For example, Robinson Crusoe in *Robinson Crusoe* has a warm, spring-like home; he could 'rely on his own effort and diligence to live a comfortable and happy life for a lifetime.'

Without wind, without waves, in the warm cradle of family, savoring the sweet taste of life, experiencing his own happy life; but this Robinson Crusoe, on the contrary, does not do so, for he has an irresistible inner force that makes him weary of ordinary life, to undergo life's tribulations, he wants to change his original self, to change that original self, to break out of the trap designed for him by heaven.

He wants to understand the world, to know the world, to go outside and venture forth; he wants to walk a path he has never walked, to experience things he has never experienced, to say words he has never said.

He does not cling to the present life, but lives days he has never lived. Even if ahead are wind, rain, blades mountains, and seas of fire, he still wants to venture forth.

Such a person, of course, will not have a good life.

Because he violates the norms of life, he goes against the reason of living.

Look at that eunuch, all day long fawning and obsequious, never daring to take an extra step, never daring to say an extra word; his life passes comfortably and peacefully.

Isn't it said that peace brings blessing?

Each life has its own way of living; shrimp have their way, crabs have their way.

In the vast world, nothing is strange, nothing is lacking.

May all people in the world be able to live their lives well, and grasp each day well—

The sun we see, each day is new; the life we live, each day is happy.