Toolkit for dying unexpectedly?

I wonder if there are any special instructions for how to practice
if one finds oneself dying all of a sudden, whether the
basic 3-speed approach applies pretty much the same to that
circumstance?

(It was hard for me when I was young, and maybe in American culture,
to really feel the relevance of this topic. But after working for
years at a Police Dept. and now a hospital, the routine reality of it
has been unavoidable. And personally, I have an aneurysm where the
aorta meets the heart (medically supervised). And we're all compound
things, so decided not to wait to ask this.)

what-buddha-taught.net/Books/Ajahn_Chah_Our_Real_Home.htm

A Talk given to an Ageing Lay Disciple Approaching Death
by Ajahn Chah

The best and maybe only preparation I know is to learn how to relax completely, letting go completely till you as 'grasper" aren't even there anymore, and learn to do it on a dime. Then resolve to do this whenever death seems immanent, rather than doing anything else at that time (which means-- be ready to completely drop the stories and reactions and just disappear).

"In Northern India, the 14th Dalai Lama rises at 4 a.m. and, having offered obeisance to the Buddha, sits down on his meditation cushion to contemplate his death. Knowing that death is certain, but the time of death is uncertain, he prepares for death daily." -Lopez, The Story of Buddhism (HarperCollins, 2001)

It seems to me that in contemplating your own inevitable death, you are doing yourself a favor. It's become a cliche to say "Live life as if it was your last day on Earth", but to really do so, to really look your own mortality in the eye, can be powerfully transformational. To affirm complete annihilation has the paradoxical benefit of affirming life in it's fullness.
As for some specific practice, the book quoted above goes on to detail the HH DL's daily death meditation, which seems to involve a fairly esoteric visualization and body-energy routine. That may be well suited for a man in his position. For most of us, though, I really agree with jhsaintonge's recommendation in post #2. There is really no way to know when we will meet our own end, so I think all we can do is train ourselves in radical acceptance of all conditions, all the time.

Great question, Kacchapa, and great advice from Mu, Jake, and Gabriel. Also check out the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The whole point of the book is to prepare you for your own death. They say that having heard the instructions even once will ensure that you successfully navigate the bardos. Is it true? Who knows? But it's a beautiful and inspiring notion. And as Gabriel points out, preparing for the inevitable just makes good sense.

The Tibetans have mapped dying very well. Sogyal Rinpoche's "The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying" is the easiest to read, and very inspiring. Another good book explaining the process of dying and how to prepare for it is Dzogchen Ponlop's book "Mind Beyond Death." The practice of phowa is the actual practice that is used at the time of death, either by the dying person if they have trained in it, or by another person who can perform phowa for the dying. Phowa is the method of transferring consciousness to an environment of enlightened awareness.

If you can rest in enlightened awareness at the time of death, then there is no need for phowa, but the strong emotions/mental stuff that can occur during dying can be fairly disorienting. As for sudden death, recognizing the stages of death is key, and Gabriel's advice of "radical acceptance of all conditions" is good advice.

So yes, the basic 3 speed approach seems like it would be good training.

1st post....
1. get your ass pathed
or
2. learn Phowa (although the path of seeing is recommended by milarepa as a prereq.)
or
3. do the tibetan mind bend
a. note your precious human birth
b. note that all is impermanent
c. understand that causality is working 24/7
d. that samsara can be a very unpleasant place to spend eternity

well, i'd better get to it

video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3219838328703873592#

Cool 1.5 hour documentary - the tibetan book of the dead - a way of life

This is a treasure trove of responses, many thanks.

Found this moving chapter from the Egyptian Book of the Dead: Becoming the Lotus From the Papyrus of Ani

"As if I'd slept a thousand years underwater I wake into a new season. I am the blue lotus rising. I am the cup of dreams and memory opening--I, the thousand-petaled flower. At dawn the sun rises naked and new as a babe; I open myself and am entered by light. This is the joy, the slow awakening into fire as one by one the petals open, as the fingers that held tight the secret unfurl. I let go of the past and release the fragrance of flowers.

I open and light descends, fills me and passes through, each thin blue petal reflected perfectly in clear water. I am that lotus filled with light reflected in the world. I float content within myself, one flower with a thousand petals, one life lived a thousand years without haste, one universe sparking a thousand stars, one god alive in a thousand people.

If you stood on a summer's morning on the bank under a brillant sky, you would see the thousand petals and say that together they make the lotus. But if you lived in its heart, invisible from without, you might see how the ecstasy at its fragrant core gives rise to its thousand petals. What is beautiful is always that which is itself in essence, a certaintly of being. I marvel at myself and the things of earth.

I float among the days in peace, content. Not part of the world, the world is all the parts of me. I open toward the light and lift myself to the gods on the perfume of prayer. I ask for nothing beyond myself. I own everything I need. I am content in the company of god, a prayer that contains its own answer. I am the lotus. As if from a dream, I wake up laughing."
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0933999747/camprossenterpri
nichirenscoffeehouse.net/books/Osiris_46.html

(cont.)

When the red and white essences meet at the heart, consciousness is enclosed between them. Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, an outstanding master who lives in Nepal, says: 'The experience is like the meeting of the sky and earth. 'As an outer sign, we experience 'blackness,' like an empty sky shrouded in utter darkness. The inner sign is an experience of a state of mind free of thoughts. The seven states resulting from ignorance and delusion are brought to an end. This is known as 'Full Attainment.'

Then, as we become slightly conscious again, the Ground Luminosity dawns, like an immaculate sky, free of clouds, fog, or mist. It is sometimes called 'the mind of clear light of death.' His Holiness the Dalai Lama says: 'This consciousness is the innermost subtle mind. We call it the Buddha nature, the real source of all consciousness. The continuum of this mind lasts even through Buddhahood.'

Sorry for a long quote, but I think there are interesting parallels with what we do here. Perhaps doing our practises will help us recognizing these states when they occur during the process dying, who knows?

Antero.

One practical book on the subject that changed my view on dying and death is 'The Tibetan book of living and dying' by Sogyal Rinpoche that desertlizard already mentioned. The author gives advices on how to prepare for dying and what happens in the process of dying and how to avoid rebirth.

The process of dying is divided in outer dissolution where the senses and elements dissolve one by one and inner dissolution where gross and subtle thoughts and emotions dissolve and increasingly subtle levels of consciousness are encountered.

'Here the process of death mirrors in reverse the process of conception. When our parents' sperm and ovum unite, our conciousness, impelled by karm, is drawn in. During the development of the fetus, our father's essence, a nucleus that is described as 'white and blissful,' rests in the chakra at the crown of our head at the top of the central channel. The mother's essence, a nucleus that is 'red and hot,' rests in the chakra said to be located four finger-widths below the navel. It is from these two essences that the next phases of the dissolution evolve.

With the disappearance of the wind that holds it there, the white essence inherited from our father descends the central channel toward the heart. As an outer sign, there is an experience of 'whiteness,' like 'a pure sky struck by moonlight.' As an outer sign, our awareness becomes extremely clear, and all the thought states resulting from anger, thirty-three of them in all, come to an end. This phase is known as 'Appearance.'

Then the mother's essence begins to rise through the central channel, with the disappearance of the winds that keeps it in place. The outer sign is an experience of 'redness,' like a sun shining in a pure sky. As an inner sign, there arises a great experience of bliss, as all the thought states resulting from desire, forty in all, cease to function. This stage is known as 'Increase.'

(cont.)

I think this day is the last day Ill live everyday.


this thread is really something I think about alot for some reason. It seems that thinking that this is it, gives invigorating energy and makes surrender a whole lot easier.

As a practical matter, I do the "meteor meditation". Anytime I remember to (usually when catching myself either feeling bad/angry/upset or neutral/spaced out) I imagine a meteor crashing out of the sky obliterating me-- would i want to die hanging on to this resentment or being spaced out and unappreciative like this or restlessly seeking the next pleasant experience? NO! hahaha Plus imagining a meteor exploding me is kind of funny, and can help lighten up a serious mood. The whole process takes a split second, and when cultivated, really works.

meteor meditation- Love it!! Thanks I'll keep it it in mind when I start thinking my sensations matter.

lol POW!

Buddhist reflections on the nature of Near Death Experiences and the ways/modes of existence after the death of the body - Ashin Ottama (dhammatube) - Relevant!

Part 1:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BwpeWWOuJ0

Part 2:

Thanks for this mumuwu! got sucked in and watched the whole thing.

A vipassana teacher, Jim Bedard, I went to a couple of retreats with
wrote a powerful book about his almost dying from leukemia including
a near death experience in which he met the cancer patient from
the next hospital room who had just died. He spent some time holding
her hand and floating over the city with her until she was ready to
go. Later he visited a hungry/thirsty being realm where he said
it was clear that the inhabitants were stuck to their suffering
there by their own attachment to it! While there he met a
bodhisattva who was living among the suffering beings and took
him to another realm where many kinds of beings were listening
to a Dharma talk. His book is more about how he drew on his
Zen practice of that time to open to the horrors of near fatal
cancer treatment, but includes this account. Worth reading!

www.amazon.com/Lotus-Fire-Jim-Bedard/dp/...id=1307063002&sr=1-1

I was just wondering today, why would someone work toward the goal
of stream entry? Lately I think because it will supercharge my concentration
and daily life mindfulness.

Then I recalled the 1st time I heard about SE, at an IMS retreat where
I'm pretty sure the teacher (Joseph or Jack) explained that according
to Theravada theory, entering the stream is supposed to be not limited
to this current life. A subsequent being who inherits a stream enterer's
karma starts life alread in the stream and, thanks to the efforts of their
predecessor, continues from where the previous karma left off.

Maybe that might explain why some people seem to advance rapidly at an early
age thru the paths? So, the idea was that getting SE and beyond assured that
the path would continue thru future karma without the danger of falling under
bad influences and getting diverted down dark paths. Apparently the Buddha
said that was a possibility worth trying hard to head off.

I wonder if these concerns seem out of place in a pragmatic Dharma context?

Seriously, I'm sorry about the content-heavy posts, even if others don't
see them that way. I resolve to Wait and Note for awhile before hitting
Post reply. Embarrasment, shame, regret, resolve, amused, perplexed,
buzzing, rocking, holding, releasing, tingling ... OK, I'm going with
this one.

They seemed like good, relevant posts to me.

Metta!

Don't see any problem here. They were "content-heavy" in the good sense of the word

Jim Bedard is a great teacher. I did a retreat with him 2 years ago, and, I dunno, he had a way of living / showing the dharma, not just talking about it. Getting his teaching was the first big turn in my practice (the second being when I found Kenneth's site).

One of the things I find about SE is that it opens a whole new storage-closet in your mind called "this is where the paradoxes go". Some all-consuming questions (such as death and re-birth) find a comfortable home in that closet.

Which isn't to say that I've stopped being interested in them- just that they start to have a quantum-physics quality to them. Just as light sometimes acts like a particle and sometimes acts like a wave, the span of a "life" and everything that happens in it is both wholly finite, moving swiftly to an end, and also wholly without boundaries.

We talk at KFD about this phenomenon of "cycling" through the nanas. Once you get accustomed to that cycling, it becomes hard to tell if you "feel" a certain way because of your stage in the cycle, or if you feel this way because of an outside stimulus. The outside stimuli start to look a lot like they've arranged themselves in the same order as your own personal cycle.

And yet, it would be crazy and solipsistic to believe that the whole world is re-arranging itself to my mood. So does this happen because "I" wholly construct the perceptual world around me from within my mind, or am "I" so thoroughly buffeted by outside forces that "I" have no say in the matter at all? As with re-birth: did karma make me this way, or did I learn to be this way?

Infinitely interesting and infinitely unknown !

Thanks for the Metta, mu!
Rob_Mtl, your discussion expands this topic, for me, from sincerely hypothetical to wonder!