From the Buddhist perspective, death is a normal process, like changing clothes when they are worn out. However, because we are too busy with our daily life, we are usually unprepared when facing Death, which could happen to us unexpectedly and unpredictably. That is why we often feel scared, worried, and even become shocked or hysterical in front of Death. Unprepared dying people need to be reassured with hope, tolerance, and forgiveness. The good deeds that the dying person has done in the past, images of Buddhas, or the chanting of sutras or names of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas could help calm the dying person's mind during the last moment. Those who are near the dying person should not cause anything to disturb or annoy the dying person. Let him/her feel relaxed and rest in peace. Quiet is necessary.
At the moment of death, there are two things that count: Whatever we have done in our lives, and what state of mind we are in at that moment. Even if we have accumulated a lot of negative karma, if we are really able to make a change of heart at the moment of death, it can decisively influence our future and transform our karma, for the moment of death is an exceptionally powerful opportunity for purifying karma. (Sogyal Rinpoche, p. 223)
Those who are experienced meditators, and have practiced contemplating on the subject of death and impermanence usually feel at ease as they are comfortably in control of their mind and body when dying. With wisdom the practitioner sees no self that he needs to claim as "him-/herself", and no attachment to others in the external world. With no attachment, the dying person leaves the worn-out skin bag of blood and flesh behind, and, chooses where to go next according to his/her vow.
The Truth of Impermanence:
This existence of ours is as transient as autumn clouds.
To watch the birth and death of beings is like looking at the movements of a dance.
A lifetime is like a flash of lightning in the sky,
Rushing by, like a torrent down a steep mountain.
Buddha
Death --An Inescapable Fact of Life:
Of all footprints
That of the elephant is supreme;
Of all mindfulness meditations
That on death is supreme.
(The Mahaparinirvana Sutra)
What is born will die,
What has been gathered will be dispersed,
What has been accumulated will be exhausted,
What has been built up will collapse,
And what has been high will be brought low.
Buddha
Finally, we must remember that we have a choice. Through our words, actions and thoughts, we can choose to put an end to suffering, and the cause of suffering, and help to awaken our Buddha Nature within us. We can be freed from our ignorance, and stop the cycle of life and death, and merge with the deathless, enlightened mind. Our only job is to purify our mindstream.
A human being is part of a whole, called by us the "Universe," a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest --a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affections for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
Albert Einstein
Ideas and Opinions (New York, NY: Crown Publishers, 1954)
Source:
Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1992)
