What Is Equal in the Samsara?

Some say viruses are the most egalitarian, affecting regardless of wealth, power, or status, regardless of gender or age. Yet some people neither contract the virus nor fall ill. Death, however, is different—it inevitably comes for all. Those who attain the four dhyanas may prolong their lifespan, yet ultimately, the five aggregates still cease. A Buddha may abide in the world for great kalpas or even immeasurable kalpas, yet ultimately must relinquish the position and depart from the land established by oneself.

If karma belongs to this world, then karma is the most supremely impartial: good deeds bring good retribution, evil deeds bring evil retribution. When the time arrives, the retribution for good and evil manifests and cannot be avoided.

In one’s lifetime, one may possess everything. Yet after death, all becomes useless—wealth, power, status, reputation, knowledge, learning, relatives, family, and so forth. In the face of death, none of these avail or offer any recourse. At this moment, upon reflection, nothing remains of use except the good and evil karma accumulated over a lifetime, which one carries along according to one’s will, to undergo the corresponding retribution. Therefore, we should understand what the wise should most pursue while living in the secular world, what can bring oneself the greatest benefit, what can bring oneself suffering and poverty or degradation, and what can never be obtained or taken along.