On Monday, I attended the funeral of a friend’s father. Due to previous disputes over inheritance, the deceased’s younger brother and sister (the uncle and aunt) did not attend. The ceremony proceeded as planned, fulfilling its formalities.

I feel my father led a truly successful life. Many people were genuinely saddened by his passing. Although my siblings and I, following his wishes, did not hold a public memorial or notify anyone outside the immediate family, some of his former colleagues still came to the memorial hall to pay their respects. My father was not particularly skilled at socializing, but he was honest, fair, caring, and hardworking, which earned him respect. After one’s passing, the warmth fades, and what remains is largely intangible—the legacy left behind—and the only thing one can truly take with them is their karma.

Most people live amidst lies, either deceiving themselves or others. A respected investor, Arnold van den Berg, and psychologist Viktor Frankl, both survivors of the Holocaust, learned the most profound lesson from their experiences: that all suffering has meaning, and one must accept reality while maintaining faith. In The Brothers Karamazov, there are many deep insights into human nature, both its ugliness and its brilliance. All evil stems from lies born of the desire to avoid pain, while all goodness originates from love given without calculation.

In Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov,” the character Zosima advises: “Above all, don’t lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.”