Affinity Has No Boundaries, Love No Discrimination

We have lived uncountable lifetimes since time without beginning.

We have loved uncountable beings. We have cared for them when they were ill, protected them when they were in danger, thrilled at their smallest accomplishment, given up our own comfort so they would be happy.

And we have taken for granted those we love, thinking there will always be a tomorrow. Always another opportunity to care for them. Always another opportunity to protect them. Always another opportunity to smile at their accomplishments. 

Always another opportunity to say "I love you." 

Imagine losing someone.

And then finding them again.

The utter contentment.

The sheer joy.

The love.

Comments

[Claire]

That was the exact emotion, the sheer joy I utterly felt (as well as experiencing the complete shock of De Ja Vu and was dumbfounded) when finding my spiritual teacher all over again in this lifetime, the first moment I laid eyes on her !!! :-)

Amituofo

[krm]

Venerable,

How do we find them again?


Amituofo

[Venerable Wuling]

krm,

We often find them.

Every time we meet someone and feel drawn to him or her, that's an affinity. Sadly, most of the time we don't know what is going on because we don't remember those past lifetimes or how we were connected to this other person. And so we feel an emotional connection, but do not know how to wisely proceed from there.

Giving in to our love for the other person, our attachment for him or her can deepen. (Or worse, turn into enmity.) The attachments keep pulling us back into the cycle of rebirth where we undergo one of the eight suffering of always losing those we love. So this cycle of rebirth is a seemingly endless round of loving and losing.

But there is a way to find "find them" and know what is happening and how to show our love for them.

When we are reborn in the Western Pure Land, we will have the ability to find those we loved and the wisdom to truly help them. Not just those we loved in one lifetime, but in our countless lifetimes. In the Pure Land, our lives are immeasurably long. So instead of loving and losing lifetime after lifetime, we will be able to find those we loved and show our love as we help them to also be free from suffering and to know true happiness.