Wisdom from The Platform Sutra

One line I often return to—one of my favorites from the Platform Sutra—is this:

Life and death are the most serious matters we face. Yet people spend their days chasing blessings instead of seeking freedom from the suffering of birth and death. When we lose sight of our true nature, how could blessings save us?

世人生死事大。汝等終日只求福田。不求出離生死苦海。自性若迷。福何可救。《六祖壇經》

A monk turns toward a light that comes from within.

This is one of the most memorable lines for me in the Platform Sutra. We don’t hear much from the Fifth Patriarch in the text, so reading this passage feels like a sudden wake-up call to a lost soul. 

Life and death are the most serious matters (生死事大). This isn’t an abstract idea. It points to the basic facts of being human. Birth and death are always with us, whether we think about them or not. From the perspective of cultivation, nothing matters more than how we meet them. Everything else eventually comes back to this.

Life is short, and death is certain. No matter who we are or what we gain, we can’t escape this. Yet most of us spend our days chasing blessings. We hope things will go smoothly. We want protection, comfort, and an easier path. There’s nothing wrong with that. But the passage quietly reminds us of something we often miss: blessings don’t free us from the suffering tied to birth and death.

That suffering isn’t only about the final moment. It includes aging, illness, loss, fear, and separation. Even during happy times, there’s often a quiet uneasiness underneath, a sense that things won’t last. Life and death are the most serious matters gives a name to this deep condition that follows us through life.

What stays with me most is the line about true nature. If we lose sight of it, how could blessings save us? The question is simple, yet it lands firmly. It suggests that suffering doesn’t come from a lack of good fortune. It comes from forgetting who we are. When clarity is missing, even good circumstances can’t bring real peace.

When we forget life and death, we also become careless with our time and our hearts. We chase comfort, praise, and good outcomes as if they could protect us forever. This line wakes us up from that habit. It reminds us that no one else can face birth and death for us. Family, teachers, and blessings can support us, but they can’t see clearly in our place.

I notice this in everyday life. When something goes my way, there’s relief, but it doesn’t last. The mind quickly looks for the next thing to secure. But in moments of simple clarity, even when nothing has changed on the outside, the heart feels lighter. There’s less grasping and less fear. Nothing has been added. Something has been remembered.

This passage doesn’t reject blessings. It puts them in their proper place. Blessings can support life, but they can’t replace awakening. If we never look into who is born and who dies, practice stays shallow. When we do, the heart naturally turns inward and becomes sincere.

Reading this now feels like a gentle yet urgent reminder. Don’t let the mind drift endlessly toward small hopes. Don’t trade what truly matters for what only comforts us for a moment. Life and death are the most serious matters are not meant to frighten us. They steady us. When clarity returns, the struggle around life and death begins to loosen on its own.

Here is a video with a brief explanation:

Here is the link to The Selected Lines from the Platform Sutra.