See related Health Care Directive class.
Cognizance of one's own mortality, acceptance of death's certainty, and preparedness for life's inevitable end serve as agents in the evolution of one’s being and realization. There is no time to make plans when you are dying. To die without knowledge of your mind and its nature is to die in a pathetic helplessness like a dirty dog in the gutter. Death is the irreversible damage to the web of connectedness between persons. Would it not be more useful to change the mind now, accept death and it's certainties today while the time for training remains?Medicine Buddha (Click for large image.)
Understand, one need not fear death. One's fear should be in how one lives their life! Death and acceptance of finiteness serve as golden keys for releasing the shackles of ignorance. Death's denial is responsible for the emptiness of this life. No one controls the past or the future, yet we all live "as if" we have all the time in the world. By procrastinating in our process of inner growth we lose our sense of purpose, direction, and ability to live meaningful lives that can not only benefit others but ourselves. This holds true, especially at the time of death.
Acceptance of the certainties of death can be both difficult and terrifying but not impossible. Humanity survives through the individual who chooses to accept responsibility in living each moment. Free from hatred, attachment, and ignorance we can explore the nature of mind and increase our capacity for caring and cooperating through wisdom and compassion.
Tibetan Buddhist training in the "art of dying" is highly honored by spiritual aspirants on the path to self-knowledge. The Tibetans provide a vast amount of literature and training in dying and death with a daily focus on death awareness as a means toward evolving beyond imposed limitations of worldly life. We are reminded time and again that human life is an opportunity not given freely. It is up to us to discover life's purpose and meaning and to strive to its highest potential.
This teaching is taken from a presentation "Tibetan Buddhism: The Way of Death and Rebirth" that I put together for the Cultural Magnet Fair offered by North Memorial Medical Center in early November, 2004. It just so happened I was flying home to visit my mother that week because she was refusing to take medication and just wanted to be left in peace at the nursing home. I knew that her life was in transition to dying and death. As I put together the presentation I was able to absorb specific information in regards to Buddhism and dying. In turn, I was able to help my mom in a more spiritual way in those last 3 days that I spent with her. Sadly enough, 2 months later Stacy's mother died after a short but devastating illness in Fargo. If I didn't spend time practicing Tong len meditation and think quite frequently on impermanence, suffering and Dharma, I would be at a loss to explain the tremendous suffering that my family and myself have experienced over the last 18 months. My hope is that you will take this information and put it to beneficial use for your family, friends and ultimately yourself.
The teachings depicted in the Tibetan Wheel of Existence(Click for large image.) are to help beings out of the suffering of samsara. The visual descriptions in the wheel are focused on suffering and the origins of suffering. An analysis of this display of suffering, its causes and conditions, can lead to the truth of freedom and the truth of the path as described in Buddha’s Four Noble Truths. The implementation of Buddha's teaching is the antidote to the suffering and is illustrated in the overall image by the Buddha who stands outside the wheel and points to the way out.
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