How to Benefit the Dying and the Dead
Lama Zopa Rinpoche
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During the illness the main thing is to take care of the dying person's
mind. Many others can take care of the body, but we can take care of the mind.
The most worthwhile thing to do is
to inspire the person to think of others with loving kindness and compassion, to wish
others to be happy and free from suffering. If a person dies with the thought of
benefiting others, their mind is naturally happy and this makes their death meaningful.
You can teach the person
taking-and-giving meditation (tong-len; taking upon oneself others' suffering and giving
others one's happiness) or loving kindness meditation (metta), according to the capacity
of their mind. If the person has a more strong nature of compassion, a "brave
mind," they will be able to do tong-len, to take others' suffering and give out
happiness. If the person can do tong-len, it's the best way to die, as it means dying with
bodhicitta. His Holiness the Dalai Lama calls this a "self supporting death."
For those who don't think others are more important than themselves, wishing others
happiness and to be free of suffering is easier.
It's very important to know the
person's mind. You can teach according to their capacity: check at the time, use your own
wisdom and judge how profound a method to present to them. It would be best if you could
give the dying person some idea of the death process according to tantra; the evolution of
the dissolution of the elements, the senses, the consciousness, all the way to the subtle
consciousness.
For the person who has lost their
capacity to understand because of coma, dementia, etc., there is not much possibility for
them to understand. We should aim to help them at least get a precious human rebirth. This
should be our aim, not necessarily that the person believes in karma, for example, but
that they die with a positive, happy mind, loving kindness, compassion; this is our
precious gift. Our main aim is to take care of the physical body so that we can take care
of the mind, to transform their mind to the positive so that at least the person can die
without anger, desire, etc.
You should learn various methods to
benefit the mind, calm down the mind, to benefit now and in the future. Get an idea of
what level of method to offer.
If one visualizes Buddha, in the
mind or outside, for example, or watches the conventional nature of mind, its clarity,
other thoughts such as anger and attachment do not arise. If one can do this at the time
of death, according to the person's mind you can talk about the "fully enlightened
being" rather than the Sanskrit "Buddha." Talk about God if that's more
skillful; compassionate God or loving God, or Omniscient One. Explain to the person that
the nature of their mind, their heart, is completely pure; that the fully enlightened one,
God, is compassionate to everyone, including them. Get them to think that their loving
heart is oneness with God: the kingdom of God is within. This frees people from guilt,
anger, their negative thoughts.
Initiations, vows don't protect
from the lower realms; one just creates more negative karma after receiving or taking them
and reaccumulates the karma for a lower rebirth. But mantra, for example, helps eventually
attain a higher rebirth after their negative karma is used up. Even if the person doesn't
want to hear mantra, it leaves a positive imprint on their mind, so that sooner or later
they'll meet the path and have the ability to practice teachings, to clear obscurations
and attain enlightenment. Even if they get angry hearing mantras and die with an angry
mind, it's still better than not hearing mantras and staying peaceful. In this way, step
by step, a person's karma brings them to the Mahayana path and to enlightenment. Arhats
get stuck, while the Mahayanist gets enlightened, even if the arhat starts off with the
higher rebirth.
When the person is dying
If you have studied the death process, you will be able to recognize
the stages of a person's consciousness is going through, what elements are absorbing, and
so forth, when the person is actually dying.
It is better if the family don't
cry, as this creates clinging in the mind of the dying person. There are sounds to help
the consciousness at the time of death, sounds that benefit, mantras, etc. Other than
this, keep quiet and don't make any sounds. You should teach the family how to create this
atmosphere.
It is okay to medicate pain in
order to help the person to be able to think. But medicating for mental anguish is not
okay. Sedation before death prevents working out bad karma. Anguish becomes fruitful if
the person can experience it. It is hard to tell the difference. Often families want the
patient medicated, but it is more for their own comfort than the patient's.
At death, invite the sangha to
chant mantras nicely, in an uplifting way, as the Chinese do. When they chant like this,
the person feels that nothing is more important than Amitabha Buddha. They feel protected
and supported, guided.
Chanting the Thirty-five Buddhas'
names* is extremely powerful, people can come there and chant together. Also, the five
very powerful deities' mantras* normally used in Jangwa to liberate those dying and the
dead, and to purify living ones and liberate those in the lower realms. Giving Breath to
the Wretched* has powerful mantras, and is the text to use to help.
You can place a stupa on the
person's chest or let them hold it. It purifies negative karma each time the stupa touches
them. Even if the consciousness has already left the body it can still be beneficial to
touch the body with the stupa. This is also good to do with babies or with people who
don't understand. Even to a non-Buddhist you can say that the stupa is for peace or
healing or purification. The person can visualize light rays coming from the stupa.
It is also good to have a few
stupas on hand for healing or to dispel spirit harms. Also, a sheet of paper with the ten
great mantras written on it can be put on the dying person's body while reciting the
dedication prayer at the end of this.
When the breath has stopped
The very first thing you could do after the breath has stopped is
Medicine Buddha practice* as a group or individually (for animals as well), chant the
names and the mantra: Medicine Buddha made a promise that whoever chants his name and
mantra, that all their prayers and wishes will succeed. The power of the prayer has been
achieved by Medicine Buddha, so it's very powerful for their prayers to succeed. Of the
ten powers, one is prayer, so pray as if you are the Medicine Buddha's agent, on behalf of
the being who has died.
Then you can do Amitabha powa
(transference of consciousness to a pure land), then other practices.
You can recite Sang Chö, The
Prayer of Good Deeds (commonly known as The King of Prayers)*. At funerals it is also good
for everyone attending to read it together.
You can recite the Namgyelma
(Ushnisha Vijaya) mantra twenty-one times, then blow on water, sesame seeds or perfume or
talcum powder, blessing it with the mantra, and then sprinkle that over the dead body. The
Namgyelma mantra is very powerful for purifying; it is best to recite the long mantra if
possible, but the short mantra can also be recited.
If it is written on a cloth or
paper and placed on a mountain top or roof and if it is written on cloth or where the wind
can blow it, whoever is touched by the wind receives blessings and their karma is
purified. Circumambulating a stupa that contains the mantra purifies all the karma to be
reborn in the hot hells.
When the breath stops, in Tibet you
would not touch the body until a lama in the village did powa; this is important. Look for
signs that the consciousness has left the body (after powa), for example: the white drop,
like pus or water from the nostril or, for a woman, blood and water from the lower part.
First pull the hair in the center of the crown towards the back, so that the consciousness
comes out through there. Also, hair falls out from the back of the head.
Preparing for death during life
His Holiness the Dalai Lama says that is it difficult at the time of
death to really meditate as you did in life. If during your life you couldn't meditate
well, then you can't at death, you can't hold the concentration.
The essence is to have accumulated
merit and done purification in every day life in your relationship with sentient beings;
to have served others with a sincere heart, loving kindness and compassion, to have done
the hard work to benefit them. And to have made offerings to the Guru Triple Gem.
Practicing the good heart during
your life, that is, bodhicitta, purifies so much negative karma, even very heavy karma,
and it stops creating more negative karma. It is this negative karma that makes the mind
experience fear of death. Especially, bodhicitta stops the immeasurable suffering, the
suffering rebirths, that arise later from these negative actions. And you should live in
morality, the precepts, taking the precepts from a spiritual master or in the front of
holy objects.
It is very important to integrate
into your life the Five Powers and to learn the Five Powers to be practiced at death.
These are very special practices to achieve enlightenment quickly. They involve powa,
transference of consciousness at the time of death into a pure land. In the pure land one
receives teachings on the Vajrayana, which enables one to achieve enlightenment in one
lifetime. How effective the powa is depends on how well one practices the Five Powers at
death. And this depends on how well one does the general practices in the life.
The Lam-rim explains the four ways
to accumulate powerful, extensive merit. One should attempt this in every day life, while
doing all the normal activities, eating, sleeping and walking, etc., rather than the
actions being done out of worldly desire, samsaric attachment.
Creating a conducive environment for the dying
(advice to Tara Home, a hospice to be established at Land of Medicine
Buddha in Soquel, CA)
Make the place as beautiful as possible: a calm, peaceful, serene, holy
environment is so important. There should be beautiful views, beautiful art, flowers, Tara
images. Flowers give a very special spiritual feeling. The point is to create a positive
imprint on the person's mind. By being there, the person is not afraid of dying, their
mind is elevated. When families come, they see it's a nice place and want to come, a place
that makes them feel there's no need to be afraid of death.
Because of His Holiness the Dalai
Lama's wisdom and compassion, more and more people are feeling comfortable with Buddhism
these days. We need to help people have an open mind to different methods. You can make it
clear to people that Tara Home is Buddhist, then if they're okay with that, they can come.
The religious tradition of the
residents depends on their prior practice in daily life. Advice you give them depends on
what you have been doing yourself—lam-rim, thought transformation—how one has been
practicing in daily life, and not just sitting meditation. In general, Mahayana has much
to offer to the dying, or to anyone with problems. And Highest Yoga Tantra is the only
system that offers a real explanation of death. The precise instructions only exist in the
Highest Tantra, not in other traditions. Only general instructions are given in other
traditions, not explanations in terms of the subtle consciousness, winds, chakras, etc.
The robed sangha can live in Tara
Home for several months at a time, to distinguish the level of practice that each patient
can relate to, and to create a holding environment.
The new people just joining, who
haven't done this service before, need to learn from the people who have been doing
service for a long time. Those who are experienced in how peoples' minds are should study
different books, different teachings from different sources, and from their experience
come to know what states of mind people die with.
Meet together once or twice a
month; everyone should read what has been compiled. People with more skill and wisdom can
then edit this and it can become a book. No need to rush. This book will become a guide
for the long run, for the organization, and to benefit other organizations.
You should practice powa. Each year
you should take powa teachings and retreat on powa so that you can practice. It is very
important to do powa retreat every year.
If one becomes accomplished at powa
and receives the signs of accomplishment, then this can be the best public service—liberating
others and helping them at the time of death. It is okay to ask other lamas to do powa,
any Tibetan lama who is a good practitioner. Bring in high lamas to do powa and to do
Jangwa purification. If it is difficult to invite the lamas to the hospice, then the lamas
can do powa wherever they are, from a distance. You need to inform the lama which
direction the head is facing.
In general, it would be good to do
the elaborate Medicine Buddha once a week, very good for success for dying. Also, you can
do The Medicine Buddha Sutra once a month. The special text with 100,000 Buddha's names by
Pabongka Rinpoche can be recited at death. Ribur Rinpoche got the text recently from
Lhasa; it is at Tushita Meditation Centre in Delhi and Tibetan monks can read it.
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Source: http://www.lamayeshe.com/