The only thing that goes with us into the next life is our karma. Our friends and relatives, our wealth, even our body we will leave behind. When Buddha states this truth, it is to encourage us to focus today on creating good karma and engaging in spiritual practice. If we look into the mirror of karma, what we are doing today shapes who we become and what we experience in the future, both in this life and future lives. 

 

Relatives, friends, and companions 

Rejoice 

When a long-absent person

Returns from afar

Just so, in passing from this world to the next, 

The merit we have made

Receives us

As a family does the return of a beloved relative.

--Buddha, The Dhammapada

 

Links and References

Buddha.The Dhammapada. Translated by Gil Fronsdale. Shambala, Boston and London, 2011, pp. 44.

Je Tsongkhapa. Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment,, Volume 1. Pages 297-301. Translated by the Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee. Joshua Cutler, Editor-in-Chief, and Guy Newlan, Editor.