DEATH AND REBIRTH
In
Buddhism it is very important to engage in any activity with the
correct motivation. By adapting a different intention and motivation,
we can change the way we see things.
All
the traditions use prayer as an instrument for the development of
this valid motivation. In Buddhism prayer is understood as the
process of familiarisation with the correct motivation. Prayer does
not necessarily have to be something which is verbally recited, but
it is more of an attitude coming from the heart. This is the most
important type of prayer. From a Buddhist point of view, the mind is
the principal key that allows us to transform the other elements we
are made of, mainly body and awareness. Especially in the beginning,
it is very important for Dharma practitioners to place the emphasis
on their mental activity. All the chants, rituals and ceremonies we
may assist are secondary instruments of development and
transformation of the mind.
The
mind in a transformed state is the element that enables us to modify
our intention in regards to any kind of activity we want to entertain
in daily life. By changing our intention and motivation we can change
the course of our present life and the course of all the lives to
come.
The
topics of the teachings are based on the Four Noble Truths. Today we
will go into a different subject: the concept of living and dying
according to the Vajrayana
vehicle. The
concept of living and dying is very important and should be brought
into our practises. In fact, our lives can be regarded as the result
of small deaths we endure every day. I
very much believe in this lack of certainties and when I go to sleep
at night, I am not sure whether I am going to wake up the next
morning. The basic process we run through in order to achieve the
phase of deep sleep is, in a way, similar to the process we go
through when we die. Deep sleep is the result of many small deaths.
The topic of death is a very interesting one and also a simpler
subject than one would think it to be. We must not see death as
something scary and difficult to face.
The
fact of being alive brings us joy thanks to our special abilities
such as mindfulness and the capacity of acting, but in fact, being
alive in and of itself would not be possible if it were not resulting
from the phase of death we have been talking about before. We can
say, for instance, that a good day is the result of a good rest we
had during the night. In fact, when we fall asleep we lose contact to
a certain reality and remain in a semi-unconscious state. This state
is necessary in order to be able to accumulate energy and through
that to be more active during the day. Therefore, a good nights’
sleep is necessary in order to have a positive and active day. But
the opposite is also true. When we spent a pleasant day, rich of
satisfactory and well concluded activities, the results of this day
will lead us to get good quality sleep. Therefore, we see a certain
interdependence between a good sleep and an active and positive day,
between a boring day and bad quality sleep. It is very difficult to
talk about techniques and methods that allow the development of good
quality sleep. The Buddhist tradition holds a view about “methods”
that enable us to decide what type of sleep we want to get, or even
to decide at what time we want to wake up the next morning. One can
get acquainted with these topics through mental activity. What I am
trying to explain is the relationship between the nocturnal cycle
during which we sleep and the active cycle of our day. One influences
the other and vice versa. Generally speaking, when we sleep we attain
a phase of relaxation during which we cannot do particular
activities. In the Vajrayana
vehicle
it is affirmed that there are some practitioners who manage to
practise the Dharma better while they are asleep than in the awake
state. This means that one can also use sleep as an instrument for
the practise of Dharma. It follows that a high level practitioner can
actually practise Dharma twenty-four hours a day. By practising the
Dharma we intend the correct development of intentions, correct
mindfulness and the correct development of all our qualities. A
person who looks at life as an instrument for practising the Dharma
will inevitably regard death as another moment to use for the
practise of Dharma. From a Vajrayana
practitioner’s
point of view, death is an event that occurs only once in life and is
an irretrievable chance to increase and let their own realisations
grow. Death represents a great treasure and a precious opportunity to
develop amazing qualities for a great practitioner Going trough this
experience offers the possibility to expand and increase our own
realisations. According to the Vajrayana
tradition, the moment of death of us ordinary beings is the only
moment, in which the so called “innate mind” appears. When this
innate mind manifests in the moment of death and we manage to keep a
mindful state and to recognise this appearance, we can then utilise
the innate mind to ripen our experience and increase our
realisations. In the moment of death we come into contact with the
innate nature of the mind and we are given the possibility to deepen
the truths expressed in the Dharma. If we do not manage to develop
this mindfulness and limit ourselves to a conventional and
superficial type of knowledge about the truth, which we have
developed during our lives, the perception of everything we will
encounter, will be the one of ordinary beings with a gross level of
mind.
In
order to recognise the manifestation of the innate mind, it is
necessary to mainly get acquainted with the process of disintegration
of the five aggregates, which is the process we will have to go
through when we die. The “I” is composed of five aggregates.
During the process of death, these five aggregates dissolve by
following an elaborated process of different phases, which takes
place more or less in the same way for everybody. The dissolution of
the five aggregates is linked to the four elements. The five
aggregates are composed of the four elements. Consequently, the
disintegration of the first ones leads to the dissolution of the
others. These four elements are: earth, water, fire and air (winds).
The order in which the four elements are aligned, is the same in
which they dissolve: the first one to dissolve is the earth element,
water is the second element, the third one is the fire element and
the last one to dissolve in the last stadium of consciousness is the
air element (winds). When the dissolution of the earth element
occurs, specific internal experiences happen within the dying person.
The manifestation of internal experiences specific to this phase will
also take place when the water element dissolves. The same occurs
during the process of dissolution of the fire and wind elements. This
last element produces particular signs within our consciousness. This
process of disintegration is connected to our five senses, so that
when the disintegration of the four elements progresses, our five
senses disintegrate and dissolve too. While we sleep parts of these
elements dissolve as well. This explains why the five senses do not
function and are not active. Practitioners therefore try to follow
the process of death but also the moment of changeover from the awake
state to dormancy. Going to sleep is an excellent opportunity for
great practitioners to try and recognise these signs. Therefore, if
we go to sleep very late and are tired out from our daily work, we
cannot engage in this type of practise. It would therefore be
accurate to go to sleep with a bit of physical and mental energy left
to be able to engage in this practise. After the dissolution of the
four elements our external senses are completely blocked. This is
when we are declared clinically dead. The Vajrayana
tradition
though does not define it as death, as it is considered that there
are four more phases to be passed, before the dissolution of the
consciousness is completed.
Our
consciousness can be observed from two main levels. The first level,
which is gross and superficial, consists of afflictive emotions. The
second level of mind is more subtle. When we talk about the gross
level of consciousness, we refer to three emotions: attachment,
aversion and ignorance. These three afflictive emotions are dissolved
in the order we have enunciated before. Once all of the three
afflictive emotions have dissolved, what is known as the “clear
light” appears to us. The “clear light” could be defined as the
innate nature of the mind. Trying to explain the concept of “clear
light” in an easily understandable language, I would say that it is
the essence of our deepest level of mind. In this phase, when we
refer to attachment, aversion and ignorance, we do not talk about
their practical expression, but we actually mean the signs that the
expression of these three afflictive emotions can generate. When
these three types of signs dissolve, four internal signs appear
within us. The moment when the innate nature of mind, the essence of
our mind, emerges following the dissolution of the three afflictive
emotions, is the moment when we can implement our whole knowledge
accumulated during our existence and through that yield results. This
is a very important phase as it represents the moment when we place
the emphasis on the flow of our awareness.
Great
practitioners (yogis)
are able to make use of this innate mind, to use it for meditation,
practise and for the implementation of all the realisations they have
gained during their life.
I
can testify for the existence of great lamas, who in fact are
clinically dead and are still able to remain in a state of
meditation. On a physical level they do not seem to be dead, but when
they end their meditation, their body collapses and falls. In this
case, when I mention great Lamas, I do not mean people to whom great
position and honour have been bestowed, but very simple people who
have practised the Dharma for a long time. When this meditation ends,
they separate the mind from the body by using the innate mind, and at
the same time migrate into the intermediate state called “Bardo”.
All
these words to define life, death and the various phases occurring
between one and the other are important. Though, not as important as
our willingness to get acquainted with these events through our daily
practise and familiarisation. In short, it is about having constant
mindfulness of all our experiences during our daily life.
According
to what the historical Buddha stated in the Sutras,
good
practitioners are able to be mindful of all the phases in their life:
when they are awake, when they eat, when they sleep……and they are
also able to remember in an intuitive way any moment of their life
because they try to remain in a constant state of good and correct
mindfulness. Consequently, if we do not maintain this mindfulness in
daily life, during all our activities, it will be impossible to
remember our experiences as something spirited that must be used when
we go to sleep or in the moment of our death. The same Buddha also
said that frequent introspection and attention is necessary to be
able to maintain a good level of mindfulness every day. This
mindfulness, which is the capacity to take a moment before doing an
action, allows us to value if the action we are about to do is
correct or not.
The
capacity of taking time before jumping into an activity is the actual
practise of mindfulness. This practise is the only one that allows us
to lead a virtuous life. In the Vajrayana
vehicle, the practise of mindfulness is neglected in some verses as
it is taken for granted that mindfulness is part of other practises.
Therefore it is not specifically studied. In the Theravadan
tradition the word mindfulness comes up more frequently. When we ask
a Theravadan
master
which type of practise he would suggest we engage in when the moment
of death occurs, he will certainly reply that we should die by trying
to keep our mindfulness. If, on the other hand, we ask a Vajrayana
teacher,
he will give us a line-up of complicated subjects like the four
elements, all the processes of dissolution and eventually we will not
be able to remember any of that.
The connection between these two traditions consists in the common
aim of wanting to die with a positive mental attitude, with a
virtuous mind. As we are the lucky ones to live in the Western world,
where many Buddhist traditions have met, we should try and apply both
methods. We must have done a good practise of mindfulness, in order
to be able to take cognisance of the moment of death, even if we do
not know all the details of the dissolution process. Therefore, we
must focus on our ability to maintain a positive mental attitude and
a virtuous mind.
Since
I have been in the West, I have had the opportunity to come across
many different traditions: apart from Chan/Zen
and Theravada,
which were not part of the Tibetan context, I got to know other
lineages like Kagyu
and
Nyingma.
I
did not know much about them when I studied in my monastery, and
obviously I also got acquainted with Christianity.
We can draw from all these beautiful traditions, in order to further
add to our knowledge. This is one of the advantages that our Western
culture offers. The advantage of living in a multicultural and
democratic environment that allows us to get to know various things
without that mental closure that leads us to think: “What I do is
better than what others do.” This attitude is wrong and shows the
ignorance which is the root of all our problems. Destroying this
attitude and opening ourselves to others is one of the objectives of
the practise of Dharma. When we open ourselves to others, we have the
opportunity to receive much and to carry further our personal
spiritual growth.
The
word “ignorance” in Buddhist terms could be explained in many
ways and with different levels of introspection. In this context, we
interpret it as mental closure. Accepting or considering something as
positive only because it is mine, is a symptom of mental closure and
selfishness. According to a Tibetan definition, this attitude can be
translated as “self-grasping”. The root phrase to define this
wrong mental attitude reads: “This is good because it belongs to
me”. In
order to define this concept, students of philosophical schools study
piles of books to describe in a deeper way what we are saying here.
Ignorance can be described as small-mindedness and grasping to the
self. That is how we clarify the relation between ignorance and
self-grasping. One of the aims is to destroy these wrong mental
attitudes because they are perceived as the root and the origin of
all our problems. It is also true that many Buddhist practitioners
show great ignorance.
Sometimes
there are people who are considered to be great practitioners with a
deep level of knowledge about Buddhism, who also show great ignorance
as their mind seems to be closed. In some cases, to possess an
exclusive knowledge of Buddhism without knowing anything else, can be
the reason for small-mindedness. Even if this opinion of mine may be
regarded as wrong.
Living
and dying, both have to be part of our existence and be experienced
with mindfulness. Living with mindfulness and dying with mindfulness
is the advice given in the Theravadan
tradition, which from my point of view captures the essence of the
Dharma in the most straightforward way.
Question:
what happens to a person in the course of an accidental death?
Answer:
it is a more difficult kind of death. If ones lapses into a coma due
to an illness and one gets there gradually, this process of
dissolution can take longer. Those dying of an illness that gradually
takes them to the moment of death are more fortunate because this
process in stages allows them more time to bring all their
experiences to their mind and to make the most of this opportunity.
It is a good opportunity to reflect in a slow and gradual way. Good
practitioners, whether they die from an accident or a violent event
of any kind, possess the ability to bring all their experience to
their mind in no time into that very particular moment. But in order
to be able to achieve this, it is necessary to be gifted with
extraordinary mindfulness. In the moment of his death, after he had
been shot, Gandhi managed to invoke the name “Ram”,
the equivalent to God. The deadly attempt on his life was not an
event that would disturb him to the point of losing his mental
stillness. Gandhi was able to keep his peaceful state of mind
intact….. great mindfulness.
Question:
does the way we die influence our rebirth?
Answer:
the kind of future rebirth will be determined by the imprint given to
the innate mind in that particular moment. Death is a unique
opportunity. In a certain sense we practise all our life to prepare
for that particular moment. If we influence the moment of death by
giving it an imprint marked by feelings of anger, this can be the
cause of a reincarnation in the lower realms. It is like writing an
e-mail, we can type so many messages on our computer, but if we make
a mistake with the address of the receiver, we lose all the work…..
a lifetime’s work. It is one of the secrets of Buddhism.
