Does the match light the flame, or does the flame light the match?
Who came first, the hen or the egg?
Where does the energy that is in us come from?
Questions upon questions!
I maintain that we can control energies, especially those within us. We can also move energies within us, control them, direct them to every corner of our body. This is especially noticeable in yoga exercises, in Qi Gong and in sports in general.
Also, with these exercises we can nurture and increase the energies within us, we can even ration them. Of course, we can also waste them, drink and smoke too much, eat badly, not move, then the energies decrease visibly.
At the end of the day, our energies (Chinese: Qi) are to a large extent the oxygen we get from our breath, which is why maximizing our oxygen intake leads directly to more energy.
But where does the ignition energy come from, and why does it go out one fine day with death?
That in turn comes back to the most important question: who are you? And that leads to: where do I come from? Where am I going to go?
According to Buddha, we must take care of our body, take care of it, otherwise we will not be able to reach the mind, the six windows will be lost in the accumulation of garbage.
Where do you want the journey to take you? You are reading on a Buddhist website, so in any case you are interested in the search of the self. But easier said than done, where to get the discipline to maintain, strengthen, cultivate the fire?
Buddha taught his followers a fair amount of discipline, since the body is our vehicle, the six windows allow the energy to flow into us, no obstruction is acceptable.
The match is therefore us, which is ignited by the flame (our energy), thus also consumes our body thus also, since each match once burned down, has come to the end. Then we can still burn our fingers briefly at the end of the match, then the life energy of the body goes out, but your ego just not. The concept of rebirth means that we are born again, that there is more of us than just the ephemeral match.
It is always difficult for us humans to think about such connections, too terribly the fate with birth, illness, age and death appears. NOTHING will remain of the shell, alone the idea of the future makes us shudder.
But with death it is by no means finished. Where were you, before you were conceived?
The way is the goal!

Three fires are to be avoided, not to be entertained: the fire of lust, the fire of hate, the fire of delusion. And three fires are to be worshipped and practiced for true salvation: the fire of filial reverence, the fire of the good householder and the fire of pious giving
- Buddha - honorary name of the Indian philosopher Siddhartha Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero

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