The Buddhist View Of Life And Death
A seeker asked a Zen Master, "What happens after death?" The Zen master replied, "I don't know". The practitioner was surprised. "ButIam not the dead master," came the reply. Death is a matter of experience. Death can be experienced while dyingand one is not able to share the experience after death. Both life and death are matters of experience. What is death? We can easily answer that death is when life ends; it is cessation of life. It is not so easy to answer what life is, though. And how does one describe cessation? The teachings of Gautama Buddha help us to ponder over these issues. The Buddha said that all of us will pass away eventually as part of the natural process of birth, old age and death. Therefore we should always remember the fact of the impermanence of life. Buddhism calls it the 'suchness of life. So, death is not the end of life to Buddhism as it is merely the end of the physical body we inhabit in this life. Our fear of death comes from the fear of ceasing to exist and losing one's identity and foothold in the world we are familiar with. Krishna in the Bhagwad Gita presents this eternal truth in a different manner by saying that there is no death as such, because nothing dies, only forms change. Life is a continuum. This indicates that death happens millions of times in the longjourney of a continuous life. Death is merely incidental; it is something that happens in between It is natural to be grieved at the loss of family members and other dear ones, as we will then have to adjust to living without them.Wemiss them as they were so much apart of our life. The death of a loved one or even someone who is not so close to us, is a terribly painful event. This reminds us of our own inevitable end-in-waiting and we begin to feel that everything is a blip on the screen; so transient and impermanent. The greater the element of sadness of grief and personal loss, the more one tends to feel sorrow for oneself. The Mahayana tradition uses the concept of "death awareness" to further its fundamental interest in compassion and as an aid to helping people to comprehend the impermanence of life-not only of all other beings but all material things also. Awareness is the key. Awareness helps us to overcome the fear of death also. If one can learn to view death from the Buddhist point of view, one carfind that it becomes easier to suppoothers when they are dyingand oncan offer them comfort and the knowledge that there are many pospossibilities ahead. Keeping in mind the fact that liimpermanent and that everythingtransient even though life is one locontinuum, you may be able to brinlesson of non-attachment more inpractice. As a result, it is possiblefdying person to learn to bid goodbyhis dear ones and for his loved onesalso bid him farewell-with the Thoth at the time has come and the oneis departing is now going to a new We must provide all the support arlove that we can offer, to a person o threshold of death. The time of dear great opportunity for transformafor any sentient being who is awarwhile dying.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Kamal kumar Jain and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Kamal kumar Jain and Speaking Tree,Times of India
The Buddhist View Of Life And Death
A seeker asked a Zen Master, "What happens after death?" The Zen master replied, "I don't know". The practitioner was surprised. "ButIam not the dead master," came the reply. Death is a matter of experience. Death can be experienced while dyingand one is not able to share the experience after death. Both life and death are matters of experience. What is death? We can easily answer that death is when life ends; it is cessation of life. It is not so easy to answer what life is, though. And how does one describe cessation? The teachings of Gautama Buddha help us to ponder over these issues. The Buddha said that all of us will pass away eventually as part of the natural process of birth, old age and death. Therefore we should always remember the fact of the impermanence of life. Buddhism calls it the 'suchness of life. So, death is not the end of life to Buddhism as it is merely the end of the physical body we inhabit in this life. Our fear of death comes from the fear of ceasing to exist and losing one's identity and foothold in the world we are familiar with. Krishna in the Bhagwad Gita presents this eternal truth in a different manner by saying that there is no death as such, because nothing dies, only forms change. Life is a continuum. This indicates that death happens millions of times in the longjourney of a continuous life. Death is merely incidental; it is something that happens in between It is natural to be grieved at the loss of family members and other dear ones, as we will then have to adjust to living without them.Wemiss them as they were so much apart of our life. The death of a loved one or even someone who is not so close to us, is a terribly painful event. This reminds us of our own inevitable end-in-waiting and we begin to feel that everything is a blip on the screen; so transient and impermanent. The greater the element of sadness of grief and personal loss, the more one tends to feel sorrow for oneself. The Mahayana tradition uses the concept of "death awareness" to further its fundamental interest in compassion and as an aid to helping people to comprehend the impermanence of life-not only of all other beings but all material things also. Awareness is the key. Awareness helps us to overcome the fear of death also. If one can learn to view death from the Buddhist point of view, one carfind that it becomes easier to suppoothers when they are dyingand oncan offer them comfort and the knowledge that there are many pospossibilities ahead. Keeping in mind the fact that liimpermanent and that everythingtransient even though life is one locontinuum, you may be able to brinlesson of non-attachment more inpractice. As a result, it is possiblefdying person to learn to bid goodbyhis dear ones and for his loved onesalso bid him farewell-with the Thoth at the time has come and the oneis departing is now going to a new We must provide all the support arlove that we can offer, to a person o threshold of death. The time of dear great opportunity for transformafor any sentient being who is awarwhile dying.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Kamal kumar Jain and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Kamal kumar Jain and Speaking Tree,Times of India