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Introduction
Why do we want to explore death and rebirth?
How can we really understand life if we don't understand death?
Buddhists do not have a morbid fascination with death, but, as
Tibetan Master Drakpa Gyaltsen said:
'Humans prepare for the future all their lives, yet meet the next
life totally unprepared.'
Indian Poem
"This day is a special day, it is yours.
Yesterday slipped away, it cannot be filled anymore with meaning.
About tomorrow nothing is known.
But this day, today, is yours, make use of it.
Today you can make someone happy.
Today you can help another.
This day is a special day, it is yours."
Body and Mind
In Buddhism, the way to describe the body and mind, is to talk
about the five aggregates. The first aggregate is form, which
refers to the physical aspect or body of a sentient being, and the
next four aggregates are aspects of the mind. All five are:
1. Form - the body
2. Feeling or sensation - this refers to the mental separation of
sensations into pleasant, unpleasant and neutral.
3. Recognition, discrimination or distinguishing awareness - in
many ways similar to the discriminating intellect
4. Primary Consciousness - the five sense consciousnesses (smell,
touch, taste, seeing and hearing) and mental consciousness
5. Compositional Factors, volition - these are all other remaining
mental processes, in general "thoughts".
Another essential distinction is made between the different levels
of subtlety of body and mind. Distinctions are made between:
Gross Body: our "normal" physical body of muscles, fat, bones etc.
Gross Mind: our "normal" observed continuation of thoughts and
feelings etc.
Subtle Body: the "energy" within our body as it flows in our
energy channels, similar to their description in Chinese
acupuncture or Indian yoga.
Subtle Mind: the state of mind that we are normally unaware of,
and which becomes noticeable during deep meditation. This is not
really identical to our Western concept of sub-consciousness,
although some aspects may overlap. It may be more similar to
intuition and inner wisdom.
Most Subtle Body / Mind: this is the most essential and subtle
part of a sentient being. This aspect of ourselves is extremely
difficult to observe; body and mind at this level are inseparable
and could be described as 'mental energy'.
The above levels of mind and body are sometimes compared to going
to sleep:
Gross: when awake, we are aware of our gross body and mind.
Subtle: when we are dreaming, we have a very flexible body and
ideas in our mind that we normally do not experience, similar to
the subtle body and mind.
Very subtle: when we are in deep sleep, we are barely aware of
both body and mind.
Clear-light Mind
In Tibetan Buddhism, often the so-called 'clear-light mind' is
mentioned. This is the most subtle level of mind, which we are
normally not even aware of. It appears to the very advanced
mediator and during the death process. In the case of death, only
advanced mediators will be able to notice it. It is a
non-conceptual, 'primordial' state of mind.
From a talk given by HH Dalai Lama. Oct. 11-14, 1991 New York
City. Path of Compassion teaching preliminary to Kalachakra:
Question: When people hear of luminosity of clear light that dawns
at the moment of death they ask why it is called clear light. What
has this got to do with light as we know it?
Dalai Lama: "I don't think that in the term clear light, light
should be taken literally. It is sort of metaphoric. This could
have its roots in our terminology of mental will. According to
Buddhism, all consciousness or all cognitive mental events are
said to be in the nature of clarity and luminosity. So it is from
that point of view that the choice of the term light is used.
Clear light is the most subtle level of mind, which can be seen as
the basis or the source from which eventual experience or
realisation of Buddhahood, Buddha's wisdom might come about,
therefore it is called clear light. Clear light is a state of mind
which becomes fully manifest only as a consequence of certain
sequences or stages of dissolution, where the mind becomes devoid
of certain types of obscurations, which are again metaphorically
described in terms of sun-like, moonlike and darkness. These refer
to the earlier three stages of dissolution which are technically
called, including the clear light stage, the four empties. At the
final stage of dissolution the mind is totally free of all these
factors of obscuration. Therefore it is called clear light. Sort
of a light. It is also possible to understand the usage of the
term clear light in terms of the nature of mind itself. Mind or
consciousness is a phenomena which lacks any obstructive quality.
It is non-obstructed."
Death
"No matter where you prepare your last bed,
No matter where the sword of death falls,
The terrifying messengers of death descend,
Horrid and giant; and glare with thirsty eyes.
Friends and family, weeping, surround you.
Eyeing your wealth and possessions,
They offer prayers and enshroud you.
Unprepared, you pass away;
Helpless and alone."
From 'Songs of spiritual change' by His Holiness the 7th Dalai
Lama (transl. Glenn Mullin)
Death is in Buddhism defined as 'the separation of the Most Subtle
Body & Mind from the more gross aspects of the body and mind'. As
this separation is a gradual process, death is not a point in
time, like in Western thought, but it describes a period during
which this separation occurs.
During the death process, it is said that we have a sequence of
experiences. What these will be exactly, how long they last and
their exact order may depend on the individual person and the
death cause. Generally they are described as "visions", which
appear when the experience of the various physical elements
dissolves and sense awareness diminishes.
In common sequential order they are:
-
Mirage vision: vision become blurred,
mirages and dark images appear, the sense of seeing dissolves.
Earth absorbs into Water: the body becomes weak and powerless, a
feeling of sinking or falling.
-
Smoke vision: feeling absorbed in
smoke, the sense of hearing dissolves. Feelings of pleasant,
unpleasant or neutral cease. Water absorbs into Fire: the bodily
fluids dry up.
-
Fireflies: feeling surrounded by
sparks or fireflies, the sense of smell dissolves. Memories of
friends and enemies fade away. Fire absorbs into Air: food and
drinks are not digested anymore.
-
Butter-lamp: appearance of a dying
flame, the sense of taste dissolves and the body cannot be moved
anymore. No more thoughts of worldly activities or purpose etc.
Air absorbs into Consciousness: the breath ceases. Somewhere
around here one would become "clinically dead" according to
Western science
-
White vision: appearance of a vacuum
filled with white light.
-
Red vision: appearance of a vacuum
filled with red light, like at dawn.
-
Black vision: appearance of darkness,
slowly losing consciousness.
-
Clear light of death: appearance of
an empty vacuum. Few people have a sufficiently trained
awareness to experience this clearly.
As this state appears quite similar to the highly evolved state
of the clear light mind of an enlightened Buddha, very advanced
practitioners are able to remain in this state for weeks by the
power of their meditation; clinically dead, but without decay of
the body. In Tibet, many stories are told of masters who died in
meditation position, and whose body would not decompose or even
fall over for weeks.
A dedication by the Panchen Lama:
"When the doctor gives me up,
When rituals no longer work,
When friends have given up hope for my life,
When anything I do is futile,
May I be blessed to remember my guru's instructions."
Intermediate state - Bardo
Following the death process, a similar process like the above
visions is experienced in reverse order. After the mirage vision,
one finds oneself in the intermediate state or bardo in Tibetan.
The experiences in this state are described as being similar to
dreaming. The "body" moves as fast as thought and - confused as
most beings are by death - it can even take the aspect of a very
long nightmare. Of course, nothing but our own karma is at work
here, creating pleasant or unpleasant experiences.
Traditionally, it is explained that the maximum period that one
can stay in bardo is 49 days. Within that period, all beings have
been attracted to a new body to take rebirth. Every 7 days in
bardo, a kind of 'small death and rebirth' occurs. Very advanced
practitioners can use this period to make quick spiritual progress
by realising the mental and karmic processes at work.
Rebirth
In the bardo, one will be attracted to a copulating male and
female. At this stage, a kind of small death from the bardo
occurs. The reverse process as described above in the 'visions' is
experienced while the most subtle body / mind is connecting to the
fertilised egg. With this, contact to a subtle and gross body is
established, and gradually the subtle and gross levels of mind
will arise as well. If one is attracted to the female, one will be
reborn as a male and vice versa.
"A school teacher would not suggest that pupils should disbelieve
the ‘round earth theory’ until they had circumnavigated the globe.
So the ‘round earth theory’ is actually accepted on faith in the
West under the auspices of a scientific rationale. We have science
but we allow ‘faith’ in science. Buddhism is an experiential
science which also allows ‘faith’. I would say that the similarity
between the two went further – I would say that both use ‘faith’
in terms of ‘working hypothesis’. And that is how Khandro Déchen
and I present rebirth: it’s a beneficial working hypothesis. One
doesn’t have to believe it, but one should not disbelieve it
either. To disbelieve without experiential evidence is the same as
to believe without experiential evidence."
From; Ngak'Chang Rinpoche
The Desire Realms
A short story from 'Zen flesh, Zen bones', called The Gates of
Paradise:
A soldier named Nobushige came to Hakuin and asked: "Is there
really a paradise and a hell?"
"Who are you?" inquired Hakuin.
"I am a samurai", the warrior replied.
"You, a soldier!" sneered Hakuin, "What kind of ruler would have
you as his guard? You look like a beggar". Nobushige became so
angry that he began to draw his sword, but Hakuin continued: "So
you have a sword! Your weapon is probably to dull to cut off my
head."
As Nobushige drew his sword Hakuin remarked:"Here open the gates
of hell!"
At these words the samurai, perceiving the master's discipline,
put away his sword and bowed.
"Here open the gates of paradise", said Hakuin.
The concepts of the different realms in Buddhism can be seen as a
direct consequence of the law of karma. When beings accumulate
many negative actions, they can be expected to receive "hellish"
experiences in return; similarly, many positive actions can give
rise to a "heavenly" existence.
The reason that these realms are called "Desire Realms" is that
desire (and other delusions) is in some way or another present in
all of them.
There is also mention of the 'Form Realms' and 'Formless Realms';
which are more like being in advanced stages of meditation, and
are actually results of advanced meditation. Although desire is
not really experienced in these states (they are sometimes called
Desireless realms), apart from the desire to meditate, progress to
enlightenment not possible here.
The "realms" do not necessarily need to exist in different
locations or dimensions. Basically, they are described in terms of
the main type of experience that beings have. All these realms are
all within "cyclic existence", meaning they are all temporary
states within the cycles of death and birth.
According to Buddhism, we cannot only be born as human beings the
next time, but also as animal, "god", "half-god", "hungry ghost"
or even in "hell". Obviously, these words have specific
connotations in most religions, and the expressions in Buddhism
refer to different experiences than e.g. in Christianity. The main
difference is that a stay in none of the realms is permanent.
After a life in "god-realm" one could be reborn in the
"hell-realm"; it all just depends on our karma ripening.
A brief description of the six desire realms:
-
God-realm: Life is experienced as
happiness virtually without any problems whatsoever. The largest
problem of this realm comes when the time is near to die, one
begins to experience suffering as one can see the next rebirth
coming up, which is usually much less pleasant. So a life as a
god definitely does not refer to anything like "God" in the
Judeo-Christian-Muslim traditions; maybe more like the Greek
gods.
-
Demigod realm: Life is experiences at
much happiness, the main problems are caused by jealousy. The
demigods can see the perfect life the gods are experiencing and
become jealous, as the gods have somewhat better lives. They
then want to fight the gods, but are always defeated.
-
Human realm: Life is more or less a
balance between happiness and suffering. The biggest advantage
of being born as a human is that one has the possibilities (and
good reasons because of the problems) to change one's karma and
do practices to become liberated from cyclic existence or even
achieve Buddhahood; see below in Precious Human Rebirth.
-
Animal realm: Life is ruled by
ignorance. Happiness and suffering happen, but understanding it
or even controlling it does not occur in the darkened awareness
of an animal.
-
Hungry ghost or Preta (Tib.) realm:
Life is marked by suffering, especially from attachment and
craving, without being able to satisfy one's needs. Life here is
often described as a continuous suffering from hunger and
thirst, but one cannot eat or drink.
-
Hell realm: Life is defined as
suffering virtually without any happiness whatsoever. The only
positive thing about the Buddhist hell realm is the fact that it
is not eternal. After consuming up much of the negative karmic
potential, one will die and has the chance to be reborn in a
different (more pleasant) realm.
Precious Human Rebirth
The human rebirth is often called precious in Buddhism, as one has
unique possibilities to free oneself from the cycle of rebirth.
Simply said, in the 'lower realms', one is usually completely
engulfed in misery (hell and hungry ghost realm) or simply unable
to reason logically (animal realm). In the 'higher realms' like of
the gods and demigods, one tends to indulge luxury and comfort,
and barely realises the problems of rebirth until that life comes
to an end.
In the Tibetan tradition, the factors making up the preciousness
of human life are listed as the 8 leisures and 10 endowments (note
that some of them actually are repeated twice with marginally
different meanings):
The 8 leisures are freedom from: rebirth as hell-being, preta,
animal, demigod or god, incomplete organs, having done the 5
heinous crimes, and having no views opposite to 3 jewels of
refuge.
The 10 endowments are: being human, having one's organs intact,
not having performed the 5 heinous crimes, no views opposite the 3
jewels of refuge, not being crazy, living in land where Dharma
exists, not living in a barbarian country, living in a time when
Dharma is available, having Dharma teachers/centers/practitioners
around, and other people appreciate and help practitioners.
Our courtesy to Rudy Harderwijk
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