15. DEATH AND IMPERMANENCE

THE ESSENCE OF the reflection on death and impermanence can be condensed into a verse from the Chatu-shataka Shastra:

Unwholesome deeds should be reversed first,

And then in the middle, the “self.”

Later eliminate all erroneous views.

He who knows such a sequence is wise.

You should develop the conviction that awareness of death and impermanence is an important element of the Buddha’s teaching, and that this is why the Buddha taught impermanence at the beginning of all his teachings when he first taught the Four Noble Truths.

The first phase of the practice is to restrain the negative actions that could propel you to lower realms of existence. The cause of your body is contaminated actions and delusions, and as long as you are under their influence there is no place for happiness. In a similar way there is no possibility of happiness and peace while someone is under the leadership of a very negative person. Therefore, reflect upon the fact that you are under the rule of ignorance; ignorance is like the despotic king, and anger and attachment are like his ministers. We live under the tyranny and influence of ignorance, the self-grasping attitude, and also the self-cherishing attitude—factors that all the buddhas and bodhisattvas treat as real enemies. The worst thing is to be under the influence and grip of these negative factors; therefore in the second chapter of Pramanavartika (A Thorough Explanation of Valid Cognitions), Dharmakirti says that from the reflection on impermanence one will be able to lead oneself on to the realization of the suffering nature.

The second phase is to engage in the method of rooting out the delusions that are the root of these negative actions. This is done by applying their opponent force, the wisdom realizing emptiness, which eliminates the grasping at self-existence. Eliminating these delusions, together with their root, marks the achievement of liberation.

The third phase is to eliminate the dispositions or imprints left by the delusions that obstruct you from achieving omniscience, the direct knowledge of all phenomena. This should be done by complementing the wisdom realizing emptiness with the factors of method—compassion, bodhicitta, patience, generosity, and so forth. If you are able to cultivate a powerful mind that focuses on the welfare of infinite numbers of sentient beings, you will develop a courage that is able to endure infinite hardships for their benefit. Because of the great power of this practice, you will be able to accumulate great stores of merit. When you accumulate these stores of merit by complementing the wisdom of emptiness with the powerful factor of method, you will be able to free yourself totally from all wrong views and misconceptions.

Even in ordinary terms, you would need to have a certain fear of impending danger in order to seek a refuge. Similarly, in order to have a firm practice of refuge, it is first very important to recognize the danger that you are facing. Doing this depends upon a recognition of the unsatisfactory and pain-producing nature of life in this cyclic existence. When you have clearly recognized the frustrating nature of life in this cycle of existence in general, and the sufferings in the lower realms in particular, a genuine desire to seek refuge will follow. To achieve such a recognition, some reflection on impermanence and death is essential. Therefore, when the Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths, he first spoke of impermanence. This is what is explained in the first chapter of The Four Hundred Verses; although the actual words are difficult to understand, the text deals extensively with the general and specific sufferings of cyclic existence.

The practical commentaries list the practices that help us overcome attraction to the affairs of this lifetime as follows: understanding the advantages of reflecting on death and impermanence; contemplating the disadvantages of not doing so; and the actual meditation on death, performed by mimicking the death experience.

Gungthang Tenpai Dronme said in his Mitag Gomtsul Gyi Labjha (Advice on How to Meditate on Impermanence):

The thoughts that in this year and month

I will put right all my tasks and plans

And then start a perfect dharma practice

Is in fact the devil which brings all downfalls.

The lack of death awareness prevents one from undertaking the practice of dharma. This is very true: If one is not aware of the eventuality of death, one will be totally concerned and preoccupied with the affairs of this lifetime alone, and with actions that are just for the benefit of this lifetime. Such ventures may take all one’s time and energy, but no matter how important they appear to be, since they are directly related to this lifetime alone, their benefits are limited—once one leaves the present body, their benefit ends. Even though one might have a best friend, when one has to leave the body, one cannot take the friend along.

So many people have been born in this world in the past, but all of them are now just memories. Just as the texts say, great buddhas and bodhisattvas of the past, although great beings, also are only memories. The same is true of great kings and so forth. Reflect upon the fact that even the Buddha himself has passed into nirvana. The same will happen to us. Think of how things will look after one hundred years: none of the people assembled now inside this temple will be alive. Even this building may not remain. To prove this, it is not necessary to quote from scriptures nor to give any logical reasons. Even since last year’s teachings, I can see that some of my friends have passed away. The same will happen to those who have gathered here this year—next year when we gather for the teachings it is definite that some of us will be no more—but none of us will even have the thought, “It will be me,” because of our strong habituation to the apprehension of permanence.

Think that after twenty or thirty years even the Dalai Lama, who has been talking so much, will also be no more. While I am alive, there will be people who are, from the depths of their hearts, prepared to give their lives for my sake, but on the day when I have to leave, I cannot take even one among them with me. Neither will I be able to take any of my possessions, even the body which has been with me since the time of my birth and which I have always preserved and protected. This also will be left behind. At that time of my death, what will benefit is only the positive seeds that are imprinted upon my consciousness. No other factors will help at that time. This is very true, a fact that can be proved and observed.

Therefore, if you are totally concerned and preoccupied with the affairs of this lifetime, there is a great danger of causing your own downfall. If by such concern you were able to achieve the desired happiness, that is okay, but this is not the case. We all let ourselves be caught in this web of preoccupation with the activities and confusion of this lifetime. Having too much worldly involvement ends in confusion. We spend our whole lives thinking that this might be better than that, I should do this, or perhaps something else is better and I should do that. If you reflect upon the underlying dissatisfaction, then you will be able to find that, well, after all, whatever they might be, the affairs of this lifetime are not that important, because they yield a limited benefit. This does not mean that you should not work for your own livelihood, but it does indicate that you should not be preoccupied with that alone.

Your meditation on death and impermanence should be inspired by great delight. You should see this meditation as a factor that will really encourage you to engage in dharma practice.

If you have the awareness of death you stand to gain a lot. It is important not only at the initial stage, but also during the actual path. When you possess such awareness and mindfulness, although you may work for your own livelihood, you will not take that as the most important thing. If a person has prepared for death from a long time back, when death comes it will not come as a shock because he will be well prepared; he will feel that death is merely like changing his clothes. Whereas if a person just avoids the question of death, trying to forget about it, then when death comes, he might be caught totally unprepared and be bewildered by it. When some of my friends who have little interest in the dharma and who have become very old are told that they might die soon—as is obvious—they are not able to actually endure such statements, and so people deceive them by giving them a false feeling that they are going to live long.

We find that the lives of some people who were connected to the fate of the Tibetans—such as Mao Tse Tung and Stalin—have not in the end been quite admirable. Such people have meted out a lot of destruction and have not been able to accomplish even the negative actions that they set out to do. They have had to live their whole lives under great anxiety and pressure. This is an obvious fact.

But if you are mindful of death and have this death awareness, you will always think of the future and make preparations for it, and when death strikes it will not come as a surprise, so you will not be so anxious. Consequently, at that point you will be able to maintain your calmness of mind.

Just requesting prayers from others at the time of death and not doing anything yourself is very improper and contradicts any claim that you are a follower of dharma. Sometimes I actually say this when people come to seek my prayers for them. I know an old Tibetan lady who always used to ask me, “Oh, Your Holiness, do not let me fall in the hell realms”—as though I have that in my hand! There is nothing I can do if she has done nothing on her part. Not only I, but even the Buddha does not have the power to save such a being. Therefore, the Buddha taught the infallibility of karmic law. If the great beings like the Buddha have the power to determine the fate of the living beings, then there is no need for him to talk about the infallibility of karmic law. If you are equipped with this death awareness, you will always work to accumulate virtuous actions to prepare for your future.

To do the actual meditation on death, you should reflect on the certainty of death and the unpredictability of its time, and that at the time of death it is only dharma that can benefit you. Meditation on the certainty of death is undertaken through reasoning on three facts: that death definitely comes and no circumstances can prevent it; that life ebbs away uninterruptedly and cannot be extended; and that time is scarce for dharma practice even while one is alive. With these contemplations, you must decide to practice dharma. After meditating on the certainty of death, consider the fact that the lifetime of living beings on this planet is very unpredictable, and therefore death might strike any time. Reflecting on its unpredictability will persuade you to undertake the practice of dharma with a note of urgency. So, with that, you should make a decision to practice right now. Then reflect that at the time of death, wealth, possessions, friends, relatives, and even your own body will not be beneficial. With this, you should decide to only practice dharma.

The oral instruction says that after meditating on the certainty of death, it is effective to contemplate the death process, mimicking the actual situation. How do you do that? Just imagine how a dying person feels at the time of death. The doctors abandon you and you find yourself lost. If you are suffering from chronic illness, the doctors will have lost hope and the relatives or friends will seek the prayers of spiritual beings. On your own part, you will have to face the situation. You will be unable to move your body from the mattress and you will wear the last clothes; and even though you might want to leave some message, it is very difficult even to speak the words that you want to say. It is even doubtful whether or not you will have the time to give this message. And then the last food that you take will be, for a religious practitioner, blessed pills and so forth, though you may not be able to swallow them. It is difficult to know if you can gain much from pinning all your hopes on taking some blessed pills. But still, it is human nature to keep hoping.

As you are dying, you will have all sorts of illusions when the physical elements within your body begin to dissolve and lose their force. Often these dissolution processes are associated with frightening experiences and hallucinations. At that time, you will become more and more distant from what is called the present life, for the sake of which you have indulged in all kinds of negative actions. You might also have indications of your future fate, having all sorts of illusions or hallucinations of fires or water, of being submerged underground or feeling heaviness of the body, and so forth. Gradually, even the breath will lose its force; eventually the breathing will grow faint. Finally, you will just exhale and not be able to inhale, and at that point, just like a fiddle string breaking, your link to the present body comes to an end.

At that time, you will be known as the late so and so. The very name—Tenzin and so forth—that might have inspired pleasure and happiness in relatives before, will now need a prefix, “late.”

That marks the end of a life. It is effective to reflect upon this process. It is very descriptively explained in the writings of Gungthang Jamphelyang and Phabongkha Dechen Nyingpo, whose texts are very helpful. To quote a few verses from Phabongkha’s Mitag Drenkul Nyingi Thurma (Reminder of Impermanence):

Though you eagerly prepare yourself,

With constant thoughts of many morrows,

The time will come when you will be forced

To leave right now and here.

The time will come when you will leave

Without any control, with things unfinished:

Tasks, meals, and even half-finished drinks.

The time will come when you will pull

From the clothes and hands of your friends,

With hands very weak and feeble,

While lying down and unable to move,

On your last mattress, which you can use only today,

As though an old tree has fallen.

The time will come when you will see

Your own corpse for the first time,

When your body becomes hard as a rock,

Though wrapped in and out with your last bedding,

Clothing which you can use only today.

The time will come when you will be overwhelmed

By depressions and frustrations

From being unable to communicate with others

Through your last words of death-will and complaints,

Spoken with a dry mouth though with all the effort.

With this, the contemplation on death and impermanence is over.