I have used the horizontal way -- that is, the space factor -- to explain the meaning of causation. I now think that you have some idea of causation. Next, I am going to use the vertical way -- that is the time factor -- to explain the meaning of life.

Everybody knows that human life lasts for only a few decades. It begins with the birth of a baby when the mother delivers the new life in a certain year and month, on a certain day and at a certain time; and that life will end with the death of that person. For anyone's death, we also know the year, month, day and time. Finally, we always hear people say, "So and so has passed away," which means that someone has died.

Now, let's take a little time to think about the following questions: If our lives start from the moment of birth, then what was there before our birth? If our lives end at the moment of death, then what will be after our death? Does life go on after the death of this body, or does life end at the moment of the death of this body?

According to Christian belief, the soul never dies. Before materialism became firmly established, Western idealism had declared that the soul never dies. Rather, the soul just returns to God and lives with God forever. This view is similar to that of the Vedic School of India, which held that the self and Brahma merge and become one. This is to say, in effect, that the self is permanent, that there is no beginning and there is no ending.

Chinese scholars had no interest in discussing these kinds of questions because Confucius had pointed out, "We should not discuss death before we understand life well." If we do not clearly know life in the present world, then how can we possibly know anything whatsoever beyond this life and this world? This, then, is why Buddhism discusses the Wheel of Life-and-Death while Confucianism does not.

The theory of the Wheel of Life-and-Death originated in India, and it interprets transmigration in six different ways. Birth-and-Death is like a turning wheel: death follows birth; after death then comes birth again; after rebirth, then comes death again. That is, there is a seemingly endless series of births and deaths, deaths and births. Buddhists and the people of India hold this philosophy to be of primary importance. Thus, many people desire to leave this world by practicing Buddhism.

According to Buddhism, life has no beginning and no end, which can be compared to rushing water in a river, which never stops but ever changes. From the time out of mind, life has changed moment after moment, like rushing water in a river, never stopping but ever changing. Furthermore, things in the universe are, also, like birth and death, never stopping, but ever changing. The cycles of birth-and-death, change after change, are called the stream of life. These cycles of birth-and-death, that are always and ever changing, are known as impermanence. If all things in the universe were permanent and never changed, then there would be no progress in the world, no need to improve our circumstances and lives, no need to talk about the end of birth-and-death, no need to transcend the worldly to attain holiness, and no need to do good and practice Buddhism. However, because there is neither a beginning nor an end and because everything is impermanent, then we have time to learn and to make some progress.

In short, everyone has life and spirit-that is, consciousness. According to the above explanation, this kind of life is produced by many conditions, and without those conditions there would be no self. Therefore, the life of human beings is without a beginning or an end, is impermanent and, also, without self. This, then, is the Buddhist view of human life.

There are two views of human life, one of which, as I have said earlier, is profound. How so? Just because human life fills every part of in the world, and conditions and results interact with and complete each other. Thus, one is all and all is one! This is an incalculable world just like the number of sand grains in the Ganges River. Likewise, even though human life is very short, it is also very long. That life, as I have said, is without beginning or end actually means that life is endless and interminable. It is infinite! If so, then why do we need to seek longevity? Taking the view of neither beginning nor end, however, you should not think about the past and the future. You should take care of the present, and alert yourself to what are you doing now? Are you doing good or evil? Using the worldly view, look at life as short but also as great and meaningful.