Death and Dying in Tibetan Buddhism

[Dondrup Shugden]

In every religion and cultural beliefs, Death is inevitable but yet it is so seldom that we are prepared for it.  In many cultures, people do not even want to talk about death and some people do not even like to attend funerals.

So in ignorance we spend our lives indulging in self preservation and become selfish by nature. In Tibetan Buddhism, practitioners are taught to contemplate on death and rebirth.  To live with focus out on others to create selflessness so that on death it is the beginning of a swift and good rebirth to be with the Dharma.

One contributor to this article even wrote of the death of the mind before the physical body.  And that can happen without realisation except for periods of depression and sadness.  All this suffering can be controlled by the study of the Great Dharma and realisation of the delusions of this short life.

[pinecone]

The duration of one’s life span is uncertain i.e. the young will die before the old or the healthy before the sick. Most of us, will eventually have fear and avoidance when the topic of death being brought into discussion. From the Buddhist point of view, our life will not end after death and eventually one will immediately reincarnate . There are three principal causes of death: the ending of the karmically determined life span, exhaustion of merit, and loss of power of the life force. Hence, without any further delay or ponder, we should be engaging in pure Dharma practice and to apply any methods we have learnt for extending our life span, such as the practices of Amitayus and White Tara.

[eyesoftara]

Only by fearing death; I mean really fearing death does one start to thing about doing something about it. Depending on ones background and affinity, one may start to be spiritual. To be spiritual to any religion, whether it is Islam, Chritianity, Hinduism or Buddhism...etc is good. Practice the basic tenets of the religion well we will meet with a good rebirth, whether it is Heaven or meeting God or in Buddhism, the best would be as Human with the 18 opportune condition.
My point is, "Fear Death" and do something about it.