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.That is, if we have lived andperformed these Three Immortal Acts, then the purpose of ourlives is fulfilled and this has will be an ever-lastingsignificance.Generally, the significance of life for most people can bedivided into two groups; (i) the significance is within thepresent life and world; and (ii) the significance is in the futureheaven.Those who belong to the first group can be furtherdivided into three types.1.Life is for the family Some people place great emphasison the continuity of the family.For them, even though theindividual may pass away, the fact that the family continuesmeans that there is an ever-lasting significance for their lives.This concept is common to Confucian philosophy in China.People must remember and appreciate their ancestors.Theelderly only wish for a few grandchildren.While alive, theypropagate their families and look after the grandchildren.Forlife after death, they look forward to the worship of thedescendants.With this view of life, they are able to withstandall the suffering, and lead contented lives.According to thisconcept, there is a saying in Chinese,240 There are three major offencesagainst filial piety,and the gravest offence isif one does not produce an heir. In addition, one s descendants will reap the fruits of whateverdeeds one has done, either good or bad.Thus, there is aanother saying in Chinese, A family of accumulated good deedsshall be blessed with abundance.A family of accumulated evil deedsshall suffer misfortune. 2.Life is for the country Some people focus their attentionson their nation and country.The significance of life is tocontribute to the enhancement of national pride ordevelopment.Extremely patriotic people think that individualsbelong to the nation, and it is only within the context of thenation that an individual s life has any significance.For thesepeople, the only purpose of life is to implement the country sgoals.This concept stems from the same origin as the conceptof the family.In the past, there were tribes who treated the whole tribe asone unit.If an individual in the tribe came under duress, it wasperceived as a risk to the whole tribe, and hence the wholetribe responded to the threat.Under this concept, those whosacrificed themselves for the sake of the whole tribe wereelevated to the level of a God.As the tribes have graduallyexpanded (or assimilated/conquered other tribes) to formcountries in these modern times, so the concept of the tribe241 has been replaced with the concept of a nation.Thus thesignificance of life based on the prosperity and strength of anation is quite different to the Confucian ideal emphasizingnurturing and survival activities for only close relatives.3.Life is for all Mankind Some people prefer to considerhumanity as a whole.The significance of life is on theprogress of human society.Only with the progress andcivilization of the human race is there a meaning to life.Withthis aspiration for all human beings, one should strive for thedevelopment of all humanity, and work hard for the benefit ofthe majority.However, to place the significance of life on the family, ornation, or the human race is not one that people like to dowillingly.We try to hang on to something because of the fearthat our body and mind will degenerate one day.But can weassure that these are the real meanings of life? If thesignificance of life is on the family, for those who do not haveany offspring, does it mean that it is meaningless to live? If thesignificance of life is on the country, from the perspective ofhistory, there were so many highly prosperous countries andcivilizations, but where are they now? They have longvanished and are only regarded as anthropological evidencesnow! Then, what about living for the advancement ofmankind? Human activities rely on the existence of the earth.Although it may still be a very long time to go, it is inevitablethat the earth will degenerate one day.What is significance oflife when the earth ceases to support the human activities? Itseems these three significances of life adopted by most peoplewill eventually become void.Their ideas cannot get away fromthe ideology mentioned in the Awareness Song.242 The concept of a future in the heaven has been used bymost worldly religions, especially religion with God in theWestern countries to explain the significance of life.In thesereligions, the world where we humans now live, is just aillusion.Human beings that live in this world, believe in theGod, love the God, and abide by His instructions in order togo to the Heaven in the future.Some religions say, the end ofthe world is coming, and those who have no faith in the Godwill be trapped in the hell of eternal suffering; whereas thosewho believe in the God will get into the heaven and enjoy theeternal bliss.So it would seem, all the faith, morality and goodactions people do is motivated by their desire to prepare fortheir entry into the heaven.But this heaven is something forthe future.It is impossible to go to heaven while still living asa human being.Therefore, the concept of a heaven is only abelief.In reality, heaven cannot be proven to exist.It seemsrather vague to use the existence of something that cannot beproven as one s purpose for living!As mentioned earlier, Buddhism denies that there is anypermanent and absolute significance of life, and described lifeas unsatisfactory (s.dukkha) and void (s.sunyata).However,Buddha acknowledged that there is a relative significance oflife, and it is through this relative and conditioned nature oflife that we can achieve and realize the universal truth.According to the discourses of the Buddha, our lives, and theworld, are nothing but phenomena that rise and fall.It is aprocess of forming and degenerating
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