Guest guest Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 Dear David-Roy & All, Many thanks for explaining the Buddhist perspective concerning my brother. It is hard to accept his possible suffering fate; whether the teaching is from the east or west, when it is someone you love. Since he suffered in this life, I struggle with the thought of him suffering in another or in a different realm. I started reading last night " The Tibetan Book of the Dead, third edition " by Dr. Evan-Wentz. This material is a bit difficult to understand since I am not familiar with it. But,... I did glean this from the Preface: *** " Right Directing of Thought When Dying Buddhist and Hindus alike believe that the last thought at the moment of death determines the character of the next incarnation. As the Bardo Thodol teaches, so have the Sages of India long taught, the the thought-process of a dying person should be rightly directed, preferably by the dying person if he or she has been initiated or psychically trained to meet death, or otherwise, by a guru or a friend or relative versed in the science of death. Sri Krishna, in the Bhagavad Gita (viii, 6), says to Arjuna, 'One attaineth whatever state [of being] one thinketh about at the last when relinquishing the body, being ever absorbed in the thought thereof.' Our past thinking has determined our present status, and our present thinking will determine our future status; for man is what man thinks. In the words of the opening verse of the Dhammapada, 'All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts.' Likewise did the Hebrew Sages teach, as in Proverbs xxiii, 7, 'As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he'. " *** The " Right Directing of Thought When Dying " immediately reminded me of a story in the New Testament, Luke 23:39-43 39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. 40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. So,... where I am going with this is... I'm hoping that my brother's thoughts were not inward on his suffering but outward on deliverance and freedom and possibly paradise - I hope there is a merciful god somewhere that loves him, understands him, and has healed him for eternity. Thanks again for your help... Respectfully, Danamarie PS: I have decided to try to read " The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying " by Sogyal Rinpoche. This book seems to present the material in a more simplistic form of writing and understanding. Maybe, you have a better recommendation? ***************************** Dana, below is a Buddhist perspective from a long time Theravada/Zen practitioner! Dom. From the standpoint that all life is suffering once adopted most people do not think life should be anything else, and Buddhism as a religion has the least amount of suicides. It is most often belived that suicide is not an escape from suffering, once you die as your last thought is one of angish and pain it is said that your next life will be even worse. In Buddhism I see no right or wrong, how you see life is what is important. In Theravada we say the Buddha could have kept living forever, he had many super-powers/magic. He also understood the wheel of life and death and knew he could not extend his life forever. Letting go of his life-force the earth shook. He knew he had done all he could do, had many Arahants to keep the Dharma going. Personal desision and intention is most stressed in Buddhism. If you make a wrong desion (even one of killing yourself) that is your decision to make. Suffing is good as a tool to learn from but too much and you cannot get past it and it becomes a detriment to your practice. If you need to start over because you cannot get past your suffering then I would choose to start again. w/metta, David-Roy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 Dana: All of those are good sources, here is another. Tony Smith has an interesting essay on the Tibetan Book: http://www.valdostamuseum.org/hamsmith/Bardo.html How we pass out of this life is quite important, so the recent interest in the west about hospices and death with dignity is really important. Regards, Jack --- das4145 <asenat45 wrote: > Dear David-Roy & All, > > Many thanks for explaining the Buddhist perspective > concerning my > brother. It is hard to accept his possible > suffering fate; whether > the teaching is from the east or west, when it is > someone you love. > Since he suffered in this life, I struggle with the > thought of him > suffering in another or in a different realm. > > I started reading last night " The Tibetan Book of > the Dead, third > edition " by Dr. Evan-Wentz. This material is a bit > difficult to > understand since I am not familiar with it. But,... > I did glean > this from the Preface: > > *** > > " Right Directing of Thought When Dying > > Buddhist and Hindus alike believe that the last > thought at the > moment of death determines the character of the next > incarnation. > As the Bardo Thodol teaches, so have the Sages of > India long taught, > the the thought-process of a dying person should be > rightly > directed, preferably by the dying person if he or > she has been > initiated or psychically trained to meet death, or > otherwise, by a > guru or a friend or relative versed in the science > of death. > > Sri Krishna, in the Bhagavad Gita (viii, 6), says to > Arjuna, 'One > attaineth whatever state [of being] one thinketh > about at the last > when relinquishing the body, being ever absorbed in > the thought > thereof.' > > Our past thinking has determined our present status, > and our present > thinking will determine our future status; for man > is what man > thinks. In the words of the opening verse of the > Dhammapada, 'All > that we are is the result of what we have thought: > it is founded on > our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts.' > > Likewise did the Hebrew Sages teach, as in Proverbs > xxiii, 7, 'As a > man thinketh in his heart, so is he'. " > > *** > > The " Right Directing of Thought When Dying " > immediately reminded me > of a story in the New Testament, Luke 23:39-43 > > 39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged > railed on him, > saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. > 40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, > Dost not thou fear > God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? > 41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due > reward of our > deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. > 42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when > thou comest into > thy kingdom. > 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, > To day shalt > thou be with me in paradise. > > So,... where I am going with this is... I'm hoping > that my brother's > thoughts were not inward on his suffering but > outward on deliverance > and freedom and possibly paradise - I hope there is > a merciful god > somewhere that loves him, understands him, and has > healed him for > eternity. > > Thanks again for your help... Respectfully, > Danamarie > > PS: I have decided to try to read " The Tibetan Book > of Living and > Dying " by Sogyal Rinpoche. This book seems to > present the material > in a more simplistic form of writing and > understanding. Maybe, you > have a better recommendation? > > ***************************** > > Dana, below is a Buddhist perspective from a long > time Theravada/Zen > practitioner! > > > Dom. > From the standpoint that all life is suffering once > adopted most > people do not think life should be anything else, > and Buddhism as a > religion has the least amount of suicides. It is > most often belived > that suicide is not an escape from suffering, once > you die as your > last thought is one of angish and pain it is said > that your next life > will be even worse. > > In Buddhism I see no right or wrong, how you see > life is what is > important. In Theravada we say the Buddha could have > kept living > forever, he had many super-powers/magic. He also > understood the wheel > of life and death and knew he could not extend his > life forever. > Letting go of his life-force the earth shook. He > knew he had done all > he could do, had many Arahants to keep the Dharma > going. > > Personal desision and intention is most stressed in > Buddhism. If you > make a wrong desion (even one of killing yourself) > that is your > decision to make. > > Suffing is good as a tool to learn from but too much > and you cannot > get past it and it becomes a detriment to your > practice. If you need > to start over because you cannot get past your > suffering then I would > choose to start again. > > w/metta, David-Roy > > > > > > > > > for Good - Make a difference this year. http://brand./cybergivingweek2005/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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