A Glorious Vision

In the teachings of Buddha, there is a list of what is called “the four sorrows.” The first is “sickness.” The second is “death.” The third is “old age.” And the fourth is “to be born into the world.”

Mark Twain wrote:

A myriad of men are born; they labor and struggle and sweat for bread; they squabble and scold and fight; they scramble for little mean advantages over each other. Age creeps upon them and infirmities follow; shame and humiliation bring down their pride and vanities. Those they love are taken away from them, and the joy of life is turned to aching grief. The burden of pain, care, misery, grows heavier year by year. At length ambition is dead; longing for relief is in its place. It comes at last — the only unpoisoned gift earth has found for them — and they vanish from a world where they were of no consequence, where they achieved nothing, where they were a…