Question: I read this ‘一般人认为遇到空难,水灾,车祸,火灾,地震,战争,或是其他各种意外死亡,就是横死,其实这是错误的看法.他们的死亡其实是代众生受报,因此是现身说法的菩萨,是以身命來给我们做教材的老师.我们应该感恩他们,并为他们祈福,他们都是菩萨,当然都会往生善处.’ Is this true?
Answer: It’s not true that all accident, disaster and war victims die for others, or that they are all Bodhisattvas. If we are really sure they are so, why do we Buddhists grieve over them and aid them to have better rebirths? And if they are Bodhisattvas, why should we prevent such deaths, especially if their deaths help us to relieve our negative karma? In fact, most accident victims have sudden deaths due to strong negative karma suddenly ripening. They can be ‘imagined’ to be ‘Bodhisattvas’ teaching us about impermanence, but that doesn’t mean they definitely are so.
