Reborn: I Beat Up My Scumbag Brother and Dug a Pit for My Scumbag Husband

People have heard that life is like a dream, but few know that life holds two dreams: one of fate arriving, and one of fate departing. The book records that on the rooftop stands a tree called the Fate-Sweeping Tree. Fate-Sweeping, fate-sweeping: it sweeps away all karma and worldly ties. The dead are generally supposed to go to the underworld, but not always.

Kneeling three times before the Buddha, one may pray for a peaceful and healthy life, a smooth career, and a happy marriage. Yet some people ask for things beyond those three prayers. On a bright, sunny day, a sudden downpour began. Gazing at a hazy blush-red figure in the rain, the Buddha’s disciple lit a lamp of repentance, then a lamp of eternal life. The emperor wept until he went blind, consumed by lifelong regret. Father said, “My child, I wish all of this were only a dream.” Mother added, “I made you pumpkin pancakes in the kitchen. Wherever you go, never forget the way home.”

A monk who is no monk, a person who is no person. One kneels before the Buddha, and all living beings are equal. The human heart may be treacherous, yet it can also be utterly absurd.