Mankind has had a fascination with what happens after our physical bodies have ceased to function. Whether we are interred in mausoleums or pyramids, buried in graves or consumed by fire, all of us hope there's something after the efforts of this life.
The age-old question remains: What happens to us when we die? Every major religion teaches us that we are transients on this planet earth.
___________________________________________________________________
From the book "THE LAWUDO LAMA: Tales of reincarnation form the Mount Everest Region"
Buddhist texts explain that at the time of death, beings are tortured by their own past actions and experience all kinds of terrifying visions. For instance, those who have killed many humans or animals have the experience of being attacked by the beings they have killed and they die with great fear. In Dharamsala, a Tibetan man who had been a butcher could see sheep and goats attacking him, but those around him could do nothing to help. Actually, no external beings are attacking the dying person, but their own negative karma creates all those terrifying mental projections. And these are just the visions before death; the actual experience of being reborn in the lower realms is far more frightening.
Even though intellectually you do not believe in future lives, at the time of death you have the intuitive feeling that you may have wasted your life and that some very heavy things are going to happen. So, if you sincerely check your heart, the answer about reincarnation is: not sure.
These questions are very important. You may not accept reincarnation because it is not your experience to remember past lives, but that is just fooling yourself. If that were the case, what about the things you did in this life that you don't remember? Would you say that you did not do those things? As a child you did many things that you do not remember now. You do not remember coming out of your mother's womb, but you have been told that you were born from her and you believe it. Using the same logic, you should not believe that either.
Some people argue that since the body disappears after death, reincarnation is not possible. This is a misunderstanding based on the lack of differentiation between body and mind. The body has form - color and shape - where as the mind is a formless phenomenon that has the ability to know objects and whose nature is clarity. What goes on to the next life is the mind, not the body; the body does not reincarnate.
In short, not a single person has realized that there is no such thing as reincarnation. Some people have such an assumption, but they have no direct realization. On the other hand, there are numberless persons, even just ordinary human beings, who have definitely realized the certainty of reincarnation.
__________________________________________________________________
From the book "SIMPLE TIBETAN BUDDHISM"
What is death? Western science thinks of it as a moment of flatline, a shutting down of the life processes. To some people, death symbolizes final rest and absolute peace. Tibetans, however, believe that this is a narrow, incorrect perspective. People who have been revived from death often report having profound experiences, such as seeing a white light or reviewing their life in a flash. Tibetans take this as evidence that consciousness continues after death. They have developed a science of death, exploring inner consciousness just as scientists explore the outer world.
Tibetans view birth, life, and death as an ongoing continuum. Life is a between the time between birth and death. The cycle continues after death with a between period lasting from death to rebirth.
This continuum is very real to Tibetans, and they offer an a interesting argument to justify their position. Few of us have any memory of our birth. Yet we are all absolutely certain that we were born. Similarly few of us remember our rebirth. So why are we so certain that we have not been reborn? Just because we do not remember the time between death and rebirth is not proof that these periods do not exist.
The Bardo Thol, The Tibetan Book of the Dead
The Tibetan Book of the Dead, attributed to Padmasambhava, is one of the important texts in human history. It is a guide for people going through the dying process so they can find their way to a higher rebirth and eventually to nirvana.
__________________________________________________________________
What is the Bardo?
Used loosely, the term "bardo" refers to the state of existence intermediate between two lives on earth. According to Tibetan tradition, after death and before one's next birth, when one's consciousness is not connected with a physical body, one experiences a variety of phenomena.
__________________________________________________________________________
PEACEFUL DEATH JOYOUS REBIRTH
Page 213) Any virtuous deed that you perform whether mental or physical in nature - while you are alive and especially while you are on your deathbed - will greatly benefit your future life. Rites such as purification, merit making, empowerments, and dedications are important to practice before death, but also after death.
Purification
In order to make your present life, your future after death journey, and your rebirth free from difficulties and obstacles, it is extremely important to purify your negative karmic effects from the past.
Al the ills of your life and future lives are the products of negative karmic causality. Only by purifying those afflicting karmic causes can you improve your life. Through purification, you nullify your misdeeds and their effects.
Any variety of positive actions or exercises can be effective as the means of purification. Purification practices include meditations on the Buddhas and prayers for the benefit of all mother - beings. They may entail saying prayers and practicing any meditations for purification from the depth of your heart.
Merit Making
In order to enjoy a peaceful and happy life and rebirths, it is essential to cultivate merits and cultivate positive qualities. Whatever happiness and peace you are enjoying today is the direct result of your meritorious behavior in the past. To further improve your future life, you must continue to make more merits by performing virtuous deeds.
Any positive deeds or service will work as the means of making merit. You could accumulate merits by saying prayers and doing meditations. You could make merits by serving the poor, making offerings for religious projects, saving and ransoming lives (as by buying and freeing domestic animals), building and repairing temples and religious monuments, and sponsoring or performing prayers and meditations with love, respect, and devotion.
Empowerments
Empowerments or initiations are highly effective as the means of purification of the ill effects of misdeeds, reinforcement of past virtuous deeds, reminders of past spiritual experiences and attainments, showing the path to liberation or pure lands, introduction to the buddhas and pure lands, bestowal of the blessings of the buddhas, and awakening the primordial wisdom, or buddhahood, of the recipient.
No comments:
Post a Comment