Birth is not a beginning; death is not an end. There is existence without limitation; there is continuity without a starting point. Existence without limitation is space. Continuity without a starting point is time. There is birth, there is death, there is issuing forth, there is entering in. That through which one passes in and out without seeing its form, that is the Portal of God.

My 22nd Birthday is tomorrow, so I am thinking on the ideas of eternity. The quote highlights a Taoist principle of reincarnation under certain interpretations, but it also poses interesting ideas on the nature of one's existence and life. If your birth does not begin your life, then could you trace your life story back to the previous generation's action culmination in your creation. If death is not the end, then can you interpret into the future what your actions will create.

A look backwards and a look forward into the future is a deep concept about life that extends beyond one person's lifetime and one person's desires.

A reason why I appreciate certain German philosophies over the English or French is the intrinsic need to look backwards and forwards upon the nature of human actions, which is similar in line to the Far Eastern view and it creates a bridge between existence and life, which neither English or French philosophy creates.

Well, just be lucky, I don't have a mid-life crisis yet; the existential issues might force me to form a new ideal altogether.