El blog de 道

Death is like a bend in a continuous river of becoming.

It appears that death is the end of a process of becoming, and certainly it may be so in the case of an arahant (a fully liberated being) or a Buddha, but with an ordinary person this flow of becoming continues even after death.

Death puts an end to the activities of one life and the very next instant starts the play of a new life.

On one side is the last moment of this life, and on the other side is the first moment of the next life.

It is as though the sun rises as soon as it sets with no interval of darkness in between; or as if the moment of death is the end of one chapter in the book of becoming and another chapter of life begins the very next moment.

Although no simile can convey the exact process, still one might say that this flow of becoming is like a train running on a track.

It reaches the station of death and, after slightly decreasing speed for a moment, carries on again with the same speed.

It does not stop at the station even for an instant.

For one who is not an arahant, the station of death is not a terminus but a junction from where 31 different tracks diverge.

The train, as soon as it arrives at the station, moves onto one or another of these tracks and continues.

This speeding train of becoming, fuelled by the electricity of the kammic reactions of the past, keeps on running from one station to the next, on one track or the other, a continuous journey that goes on without ceasing.

This changing of tracks happens automatically.

As the melting of ice into water and the cooling of water to form ice happen according to laws of nature, so the transition from life to life is controlled by set laws of nature.

According to these laws, the train not only changes tracks by itself;
it also lays the next tracks itself.

For this train of becoming, the junction of death, where the change of tracks takes place, is of great importance.

Here the present life is abandoned; this is called cuti (disappearance, death).

The demise of the body takes place, and immediately the next life starts.

This process is called patisandhi (conception or beginning of the next life).

The moment of patisandhi is the result of the moment of death; the moment of death creates the moment of conception.

Since every death moment creates the next birth moment, death is not only death, but birth as well.

At this junction, life changes into death and death into birth.

Thus, every life is a preparation for the next death.

If one is wise, one will use this life to the best advantage and prepare for a good death.

The best death is the one that is the last, not a junction but a terminus: the death of an arahant.

Here, there will be no track on which the train can run further.

But until such a terminus is reached, one can at least ensure that the next death gives rise to a good birth and that the terminus will be reached in due course.

It all depends on us, on our own efforts. We are the makers of our own future; we create our own welfare or misery as well as our own liberation.

How is it that we are the creators of the tracks that receive the onrushing train of becoming?

To answer this we must understand what kamma (action) is.

The healthy or unhealthy volition of our mind is kamma.

Whatever wholesome or unwholesome volition arises in the mind becomes the root of any action at the mental, vocal, or physical level.

Consciousness arises due to a contact at a sense door, then the sañña (perception and recognition) evaluates the experience, sensations (vedanā) arise, and a kammic reaction (sankhāra) takes place.

These volitional reactions are of various kinds. Some are like a line drawn on water, some like a line drawn on sand and some like a line on rock. If the volition is wholesome the action will be wholesome and the fruits will be beneficial; but if the volition is unwholesome, the action will be unwholesome and it will give fruits of misery.

Not all of these reactions result in a new birth.

Some are so shallow that they do not give any substantial fruits. Some are a bit heavier but will be used up in this lifetime; they do not carry over into the next life. Others, being still heavier, continue with the flow of life into the next birth, but they themselves do not give new birth.

Nevertheless, they can continue to multiply during this life and the next.

Many kammas, however, are bhava-kammas or bhava-sankhāras, those that give a new birth, a new life.

Each one gives rise to the process of becoming and carries a magnetic force that is in tune with the vibrations of a particular plane of existence. The vibrations of a particular bhava-kamma will unite with the vibrations of the bhava-loka (world, plane) that has the same intensity, and the two will attract each other according to the universal laws pertaining to forces of kamma.

As soon as one of these bhava-kammas is generated, this railway train of becoming gets attracted to one or the other of the 31 tracks at the station of death.

Actually these thirty-one tracks are the thirty-one fields of existence.

They are the eleven kama lokas (realms of sensuality: the four lower realms of existence, the human world and six celestial realms), the sixteen rupa-brahma lokas (where fine material body remains) and the four arupa-brahma lokas (non-material realms where only mind remains).

At the last moment of this life a specific bhava-sankhāra will arise.

This sankhāra, capable of giving a new birth, will become connected with the vibrations of the related realm of existence.

At the moment of death all thirty-one realms are open; the sankhāra that arises determines which track the train of existence runs on next.

In the same way as a train gets shunted onto a new track, the force of the bhava kamma reaction provides a push to the flow of consciousness into the next existence.

For example, the bhava-kamma of anger or malice, being of the nature of heat and agitation, will unite with some lower field of existence.

Similarly, one with the nature of mettā (compassionate love), having peaceful and cool vibrations can only unite with some brahma-loka.

This is the law of nature, and these laws are so perfectly ordered that there is never any flaw in the operation.

Of course it must be understood there is no passenger on the train except the force of the accumulated sankhāras.

At the moment of death, generally, some intense sankhāra will arise.

It may be either of a wholesome nature or of an unwholesome nature.

For example, if one has murdered one’s father or mother or perhaps some saintly person in this lifetime, then the memory of this episode will arise at the moment of death.

Likewise, if one has done some deep meditation practice, a similar state of mind will arise.

When there is no such intense bhava-kamma to arise, then a comparatively less intense kamma will arise.

Whatever memory is awakened will manifest as the kamma.

For example, one may remember a wholesome kamma of giving food to a saintly person, or one may remember killing someone.

Reflections on such past kammas as these may arise.

Otherwise, objects related to this particular kamma may arise.

One may see the plate full of food that was offered as dāna (donation), or the gun that was used to kill another.

These are called the kamma-nimittas (signs).

Or perhaps a sign or a symbol of the next life may appear. This is called gati-nimitta (departing sign).

These nimittas correspond to the bhava-loka towards which the flow is being attracted.

It could be the scene of some celestial world or perhaps of the animal world. The dying person will often experience one of these signs as a forewarning, just as the train’s headlight illuminates the track ahead.

The vibrations of these nimittas are identical to the vibrations of the plane of existence of the next birth.

A good Vipassana meditator has the capacity to avoid the tracks leading to the lower realms of existence.

One clearly understands the laws of nature and practices to keep ready for death at all times.

If one has reached an advanced age, there is all the more reason to remain aware every moment.

What preparations are undertaken?

One practices Vipassana by remaining equanimous with whatever sensations arise on the body, thereby breaking the habit pattern of reacting to them.

Thus, the mind, which is usually generating new unwholesome sankhāras, develops the new habit of remaining equanimous.

At the approach of death it is likely that one will experience very unpleasant sensations.

Old age, disease and death are dukkha (misery).

They produce unpleasant sensations of a grosser type.

If one is not skillful in observing these sensations with equanimity, one will be likely to react with feelings of anger, irritation or malice, providing an opportunity for a bhava-sankhāra of like vibration to arise.

However, as in the cases of some well developed meditators, one can work to avoid reacting to these immensely painful sensations by maintaining equanimity at the time of death.

Then, even those related bhava-sankhāras lying deep in the unconscious will not have an opportunity to arise.

An ordinary person will usually remain apprehensive, even terror-stricken at the approach of death, and thus will give occasion for a fearful bhava-sankhāra to surface.

In the same way, grief, sorrow, depression and other feelings may arise at the thought of separation from loved ones, and the related sankhāra will come up and dominate the mind.

A Vipassana meditator, by observing all his or her sensations with equanimity, weakens these sankhāras so that they will not arise at the time of death.

The real preparation for death is this: developing a habit pattern of repeatedly observing the sensations manifesting in the body and mind with equanimity and with the understanding of anicca.

At the time of death this strong habit of equanimity will automatically appear and the train of existence will link up with a track on which it will be possible to practice Vipassana in the new life.

In this way one saves oneself from birth in a lower realm and attains one of the higher realms.

This step is very important because Vipassana cannot be practiced in the lower realms.

A meditator who is at the point of death is fortunate to have close relatives or friends nearby who can practice Vipassana and generate vibrations of mettā which are most favorable for a peaceful death.

They will maintain a good Dhamma atmosphere, free from lamenting and gloom.

At times a non-meditator will attain a favorable rebirth at the time of death due to the manifestation of wholesome bhava-sankhāras such as generosity, morality and other strong, wholesome qualities.

But the special achievement of an established Vipassana meditator is that one enables one-self to attain an existence where one can continue to practice Vipassana.

In this way, by slowly decreasing the stock of accumulated bhava-sankhāras, one shortens one’s journey of becoming and reaches the goal sooner.

One comes into contact with the Dhamma in this life because of great merits one has performed in the past.

Make this human life successful by practicing Vipassana, so that when death comes, it will come with an equanimous mind, bringing with it well-being for the future.

– Vipassana international newsletter.April’92