Once upon a time there was a princess who was the favorite child of the king, and she was by his side from morning till night. One day it rained, and as the raindrops hit against the earth, bubbles began to appear. The princess saw the bubbles and was quite delighted with them. She said to her father, the king, “I want those bubbles made into a garland I can wear on my head.”

The king said, “But these bubbles cannot even be grasped in our hands, how can they be made into a garland?”

Upset, the princess said, “If I don’t get a garland made of bubbles, then I’ll starve myself to death!”

The king then summoned his most skilled craftsmen and said to them, “You are all skilled craftsmen, and there is nothing that you cannot make. I command you to make me a garland of bubbles for my princess this instant. If you fail, I will have you all executed!”

The craftsmen were terrified. One of the craftsmen finally spoke up, “But making a garland out of bubbles is impossible!”

Just as the king was about to have them all executed, an elderly craftsman stepped forward and said to the king, “I can make a bubble garland for the princess.”

The old craftsman then approached the princess and said, “The only problem is, I don’t know which bubbles you like and which ones you don’t. I beg you, your highness, please bring me your favorite bubbles, and then I will make the garland for you.”

The princess agreed. But, as soon as she reached out to touch a bubble, it would pop. Even after working at it for a whole day she couldn’t catch one single bubble. Then the princess realized that bubbles are like an illusion, made from the coming together of causes and conditions. As the Diamond Sutra says:

All conditioned phenomena
Are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows,
Like dew and lightning.
One should contemplate them in this way.

As we learned from the story of the princess and the above verse from the Diamond Sutra, phenomena are transitory. As identified in the verse, we should contemplate phenomena in six ways:

1. Contemplate Phenomena as Dreams Worldly phenomena are like dreams, for everything will pass away. Just as when waking from a dream, once phenomena have dissipated they leave not the slightest trace behind.

2. Contemplate Phenomena as Illusions Conditioned phenomena are illusory manifestations; they are not real. The effects of karma and the cycle of birth and death are manifestations as well. They are like a play performed on a stage: parents, siblings, friends, relatives, spouses and children all make an appearance, yet the instant the curtain falls nothing is as it was. In a way, life is not truly life and death is not truly death.

3. Contemplate Phenomena as Bubbles Our emotions are like bubbles in that they are not long-lasting. Our joy, anger, sadness, and happiness, as well as the moments in between that are neither pleasure nor pain, are all as momentary and transient as bubbles.

4. Contemplate Phenomena as Shadows Worldly phenomena and all the experiences of human life are like shadows, in that they are not real.

5. Contemplate Phenomena as Dew The dew quickly disappears as soon as the sun comes out. Our bodies are not so different. For example, a baby is born and slowly grows into what we call a little girl; some more time passes and she becomes a female student, a young woman, and then later a wife, a mother, and an old woman. Sickness and senility slowly make it impossible for her to live on her own, just like a little baby. Don’t we often hear talk of a second childhood? Life changes bit by bit just like the morning dew.

6. Contemplate Phenomena as Lightning Lightning is fleeting, there for just an instant, like time itself. The past, present, and future pass away quite quickly. Human life is also like lightning, for life exists in that short moment of breathing in and out. Once the breath stops, life is no more.

Once there was a theatre troupe based in a city that was experiencing a famine, so they decided to pack up their things and become a traveling theatre troupe, seeking opportunities in neighboring villages. When traveling to the next village they hurried as fast as they could, but they arrived so late that they were unable to find lodgings for the night and had to spend the night in the mountains. The temperatures ran low in the mountains that night, and it was bone-chillingly cold, so the troupe started a fire and slept beside it to stay warm.

One member of the troupe was sick and could not withstand the bitter cold, so he dug through their costume trunk and threw on the first thing he found for some extra warmth. What the actor failed to realize was that the costume he picked just happened to be the demon costume they used in their play. So there he sat, warmed in the glow of the fire and dressed as a fearsome demon.

In the middle of the night, another member of the troupe was awakened from a dream and saw the demon sitting by the fire. He remembered that he had heard stories that there were man-eating demons in the mountains, so he leapt to his feet and began yelling to wake the others. The commotion startled everyone, and they all began running for their lives in blind terror.

The actor wearing the demon costume saw how everyone was running and thought something bad must have happened, so he took flight in a desperate attempt to catch up to his friends. The people in front saw that the demon was running after them and became even more terrified. They began a mad rush forward, fearing for their lives, heedless of all the brambles, rocks, creeks, and gullies that lay in their path. Not until daybreak did they discover that the person chasing after them was not a demon at all, but actually one of their fell ow actors. In the end they were exhausted and worn out, covered with cuts and bruises all over their bodies.

The Diamond Sutra says that all phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows, dew, and lightning. We should not cling to such negative fantasies. Just as we cannot hold on to dew and lightning vanishes in an instant, the Buddha implores us to not abide in phenomena. Metaphors like this help to facilitate teaching the Dharma and show the impermanence of worldly things, reminding us not to cling to what is unreal amid all the phenomena that are presented to us so superficially. Instead we should strive to comprehend the essential nature of emptiness. As mentioned previously, “emptiness” encompasses both existence and non-existence, for it is cause and effect itself. We should learn to use what is illusory to pursue what is true, so that we can find the true reality of prajna.

Once there were two demons who were preparing to reincarnate into the world of the living. King Yama, the lord of death, spoke to them: “You two are going to be born as human beings. You can choose to be born in a life in which you always give things to other people, or you can choose to be born in a life in which you always receive things from other people. Into which life do you choose to be born?”

One of the demons knelt down and said, “King Yama, your majesty, I would like to be born as one who spends his life receiving things from others.”

The other demon kept quiet, waiting to hear King Yama’s plans.

With a rap of his gavel, KingYama announced his judgment:

“I decree that you be born in the human world as a beggar who must ask for things from others everywhere he goes.”

“As for you.” King Yama said, pointing at the second demon,

“I decree that you shall be born into a rich and affluent family that regularly donates to charity.”

The two demons were stunned and didn’t know what to say.

Life is a journey, and when that journey has come to an end, we have the opportunity to look back upon the journey and understand its meaning and purpose. When we examine life in this way, we all learn one important lesson: things like chasing after material things, striving for real or empty glory, fighting to attain positions of power, building relationships, and other such things were only means by which we tried to maintain our lives, realize our ideals, and find meaning in life. But just as the Diamond Sutra says, they, too, are “like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows. Like dew and light-ning.” Only when we look at life from the perspective that all things will end can we be diligent and shoulder life’s responsibilities.

Food items each have a shelf life, and we must eat them before they go bad. Life is not so different. Life’s journey will come to an end in due course, so we must cherish whatever happens along the way. Our lives are limited, and time will pass, so we must not simply go through the motions frittering our lives away. When our own journeys are reaching the end, if we look back and see how we spent our lives trying to get something out of people or taking advantage of others, we cannot help but feel regret.

Giving is the only way to be a truly wealthy person; for if the mind craves possessing and acquiring, then no matter how much ealth you have, you will still be as poor as a beggar.

Source: Hsing Yun. Four Insights for Finding Fulfillment: A Practical Guide to the Buddha’s Diamond Sutra. Los Angeles: Buddha’s Light Publishing, 2012.