(46) To bid eternal farewell to samsara (the cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth) is the common objective of all those who want to become votaries of Buddhism. However some of them misinterpret samsara as a term synonymous with “immortality” and wrongly believe that attainment of Buddhahood is equal to becoming an immortal of the Taoist Faith. This is confounding Buddhism and Taoism. Sakyamuni attained enlightenment at thirty. From then on he preached Buddhist gospel for forty-nine years. He demised when his life expired. According to Buddhism, the consecutive processes of genesis, abiding, dissolution, and lapse into emptiness form a universal pattern that governs the evolution in the universe. To such an evolutional pattern nothing can stay immune. Origination presupposes annihilation. Every being presupposes its opposite. There is nothing immortal in the universe. Therefore Buddhism professes its opposition to all obsessions, including the obsession with longevity, not to say immortality, because obsession is bound to ruin the one who cherishes it. Even when in particular circumstances you need to get yourself committed to something, still I would advise that you “look before you leap”. Remember, don’t articulate your committal before you are really clear about the consequence to arise therefrom.(From My Heart My Buddha)