We will
die, but we don’t believe it.
Death
believes totally in equal opportunity.
What
makes death so difficult is attachment, desire, clinging: to this life, to the
body, possessions, family, friends and so forth. This clinging makes death difficult. … and we
cause this ourselves.
Wherever we are, whatever we do, whoever we are with, if we always
remain aware that the purpose of our life is to help others, to give happiness
to others, we will never create the causes of suffering, either for ourselves
or others. Then we become the source of
happiness for everybody around us – every being – and they become the cause of
our enlightenment.
When we
meet people we should feel that our job in meeting them is to make them
happy. When we eat we should feel we are
eating to get the energy to help others.
The main
thing at the time of death is to cut attachment, clinging, so we must give away
our things, either mentally or actually.
It is extremely urgent to let go of your material possessions,
especially those that you are most strongly attached to.
In
your heart, you can offer everything to Guru, Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Even if there is nobody around to hear you,
from your heart think, “I am offering these things to the Guru and Rare Sublime
Ones.” Having offered them, think it
belongs to them.
During
our lifetime we constantly check our motivation to ensure it is as vast and
positive as possible. Every morning we
would think, “The purpose of my life is to free every sentient being from
suffering and its causes and bring them every happiness. Today, that is my job and I will do nothing
else but that".
From
now until I achieve enlightenment – before the time of death, while I am dying,
in the intermediate state, and in all future lives --- I will never allow
myself to come under the control of self-cherishing and I will never separate
from bodhichitta.
Set the intention to be really careful for however many seconds
there are from now until the time of death.
Put all your effort into this, just as some ones crossing over a
dangerous bridge would pay full attention to making sure they do not fall off.
Whatever
I experience as I face death and move through the death process and into the
next rebirth, I will always only ever think of benefitting others.
It
might seem that our life would be perfect if it weren’t for all the external
factors that keep interfering and bringing us suffering. But if we examine deeply it will be very
obvious that if we didn’t have the attitude of self-cherishing we simply
wouldn’t suffer, no matter what situation arises in our life.
Without
the inner enemy, there is no outer enemy.
We
are mistaken to blame the mugger who takes our wallet or the person who steals
our partner, but we are totally justified and right in blaming and begrudging
this sneakiest of thieves, the self-cherishing mind.
The wind
energies of the subtle body – more subtle than the air we breathe—carry our
mind through a system of 72000 channels throughout the body. It is said that our consciousness, our mind,
“rides” on these winds.
Death
is the most important time of life.
We need to deal with the physical needs of our loved ones at the
time of death, of course, but the spiritual needs are paramount. To die with a happy mind, a peaceful mind,
that is a spiritual concern.
To
die without anger or clinging is vital for a happy death.
Write
down what you want to practice at the time of your death, how you want to
die. Write down in your diary right
now! Whether you die gradually or
suddenly, you need to know this.
Otherwise, when death comes, or when the doctor tells you that you have
cancer, you will have no time to prepare, and because of attachment to this
life you’ll panic.
A
happy death depends upon how we live our life every day, every moment.
The
future depends on the present.
Practicing
every day and preparing for the time of your death is far more important than
going to the hospital to check the body, because death can happen at any time –
even for healthy people. Today, many
people have died, healthy as well as unhealthy.
When you know how to die with full confidence…. That death is just
change, that you’re leaving this old, sick body for a new, healthy one – then
you are qualified to help others who are dying… you will know how to help them
die with a happy mind.
That
we can’t remember our previous life is because our mind is too clouded, not
because there has been no previous life.
