Life as a Ball

What can we compare life with?

Someone said: “Life is a dream” while there are also such other sayings as: “Life is a play”, “Life is a dewdrop”, “Life is an ocean of sufferings” or each of us just exists as “a traveller or a drifting cloud in our living journey”.

If all these comparisons are right, human life is so discouraging. In fact, life which has a wide range of ups and downs is impermanence and non-self. People are born and dead for nothing. Until the end of one’s life, if there is nothing meaningful left for others, for example: merit, virtue and speech, that life is definitely called “came with nothing and will go for nothing”

So what can we compare it with?

Is it neccessary to see life from such negative perspectives? We can take this quote as an example: “Life as a ball”

At young age, people try hard to study and build their own career till they get married and become parents. Since then, they are considered as “basketballs” because in a basketball match, players compete to take the ball and they all say: “this is my ball”. At that time, they are the centre of their children’s life.

However, when their parents get old, their children begin to deny the responsibility of nursing them. One person says this would be the oldest child’s obligation. Then, the oldest one argues the youngest sib has to take care of their parents while the youngest child assumes that they need to divide such duty. As a result, the parents are imposed on taking turn to live with each of them for a period of time. For instance, one month with this person and two months with that one, ect. They are so pathetic as “volleyballs” which is set alternately by their own children.

When they get even older, they are regarded as “soccer-balls” . Whereas their children are occupied with work and the desire to earn more money, parents become a burden that they want to get rid of at any cost. Yet as a human, they are not allowed to do so.

On the other hand, when the memtioned parents have their own virtue, academic knowledge and savings, they may not be treated as any kinds of ball. Instead, they may be considered as weights. Even though their children want to throw them away, they will not go too far. In contrast, some hold the parents as tightly as a rugby ball and determinedly not to let them go.

So, for you, what is life? Should your behavior be the same as Bodhisattva, everyone will respect you naturally. Otherwise, if you let yourself become a ghost or devil, people around will leave you obviously.

Therefore, we are able to plan our lives to be the ground that supports everything; the sky that shields every living beings; the land that people grow their crops on or the source of knowledge that can be learned endlessly.

Is life so sad as everyone usually says?

Translated into English by Thanh Ngan

Tinh Van senior monk