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                      BUDDHIST REFLECTIONS ON DEATH

                                  by

                             V.F. Gunaratna

                    The Wheel Publication No. 102/103


                      BUDDHIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY
                      KANDY              SRI LANKA


              Copyright 1982 Buddhist Publication Society

                                * * *

                         DharmaNet Edition 1994

       Transcribed for DharmaNet by David Savage & Malcolm Rothman

        This electronic edition is offered for free distribution
            via DharmaNet by arrangement with the publisher.

                        DharmaNet International
                 P.O. Box 4951, Berkeley CA 94704-4951

                            * * * * * * * *



                     BUDDHIST REFLECTIONS ON DEATH


    To the average man death is by no means a pleasant subject or talk
  for discussion. It is something dismal and oppressive -- a veritable
  kill-joy, a fit topic for a funeral house only. The average man
  immersed as he is in the self, ever seeking after the pleasurable,
  ever pursuing that which excites and gratifies the senses, refuses to
  pause and ponder seriously that these very objects of pleasure and
  gratification will some day reach their end. If wise counsel does not
  prevail and urge the unthinking pleasure-seeking man to consider
  seriously that death can knock at his door also, it is only the shock
  of a bereavement under his own roof, the sudden and untimely death of
  a parent, wife or child that will rouse him up from his delirious
  round of sense- gratification and rudely awaken him to the hard facts
  of life. Then only will his eyes open, then only will he begin to ask
  himself why there is such a phenomenon as death. Why is it inevitable?
  Why are there these painful partings which rob life of its joys?

    To most of us, at some moment or another, the spectacle of death
  must have given rise to the deepest of thoughts and profoundest of
  questions. What is life worth, if able bodies that once performed
  great deeds now lie flat and cold, senseless and lifeless? What is
  life worth, if eyes that once sparkled with joy, eyes that once beamed
  with love are now closed forever, bereft of movement, bereft of life?
  Thoughts such as these are not to be repressed. It is just these
  inquiring thoughts, if wisely pursued, that will ultimately unfold the
  potentialities inherent in the human mind to receive the highest
  truths.

    According to the Buddhist way of thinking, death, far from being a
  subject to be shunned and avoided, is the key that unlocks the seeming
  mystery of life. It is by understanding death that we understand life;
  for death is part of the process of life in the larger sense. In
  another sense, life and death are two ends of the same process and if
  you understand one end of the process, you also understand the other
  end. Hence, by understanding the purpose of death we also understand
  the purpose of life. It is the contemplation of death, the intensive
  thought that it will some day come upon us, that softens the hardest
  of hearts, binds one to another with cords of love and compassion, and
  destroys the barriers of caste, creed and race among the peoples of
  this earth all of whom are subject to the common destiny of death.
  Death is a great leveler. Pride of birth, pride of position, pride of
  wealth, pride of power must give way to the all- consuming thought of
  inevitable death. It is this leveling aspect of death that made the
  poet say:

          "Scepter and crown
           Must tumble down
           And in the dust be equal made
           With the poor crooked scythe and spade."

    It is the contemplation of death that helps to destroy the
  infatuation of sense-pleasure. It is the contemplation of death that
  destroys vanity. It is the contemplation of death that gives balance
  and a healthy sense of proportion to our highly over- wrought minds
  with their misguided sense of values. It is the contemplation of death
  that gives strength and steadiness and direction to the erratic human
  mind, now wandering in one direction, now in another, without an aim,
  without a purpose. It is not for nothing that the Buddha has, in the
  very highest terms, commended to his disciples the practice of
  mindfulness regarding death. This is known as "//marananussati
  bhavana//". One who wants to practice it must at stated times, and
  also every now and then, revert to the thought //maranam bhavissati//
  -- "death will take place." This contemplation of death is one of the
  classical meditation-subjects treated in the //Visuddhi Magga// which
  states that in order to obtain the fullest results, one should
  practice this meditation in the correct way, that is, with mindfulness
  (//sati//), with a sense of urgency (//samvega//) and with
  understanding (//nana//). For example, suppose a young disciple fails
  to realize keenly that death can come upon him at any moment, and
  regards it as something that will occur in old age in the distant
  future; his contemplation of death will be lacking strength and
  clarity, so much so that it will run on lines which are not conducive
  to success.

     How great and useful is the contemplation of death can be seen from
  the following beneficial effects enumerated in the //Visuddhi Magga//:
  -- "The disciple who devotes himself to this contemplation of death is
  always vigilant, takes no delight in any form of existence, gives up
  hankering after life, censures evil doing, is free from craving as
  regards the requisites of life, his perception of impermanence becomes
  established, he realizes the painful and soulless nature of existence
  and at the moment of death he is devoid of fear, and remains mindful
  and self-possessed. Finally, if in this present life he fails to
  attain to Nibbana, upon the dissolution of the body he is bound for a
  happy destiny." Thus it will be seen that mindfulness of death not
  only purifies and refines the mind but also has the effect of robbing
  death of its fears and terrors, and helps one at that solemn moment
  when he is gasping for his last breath, to face that situation with
  fortitude and calm. He is never unnerved at the thought of death but
  is always prepared for it. It is such a man that can truly exclaim, "O
  death, where is thy sting?"

                           * * * * * * * *


                                 II

    IN THE //Anguttara Nikaya// the Buddha has said, "Oh Monks, there
  are ten ideas, which if made to grow, made much of, are of great
  fruit, of great profit for plunging into Nibbana, for ending up in
  Nibbana." Of these ten, one is death. Contemplation on death and on
  other forms of sorrow such as old age, and disease, constitutes a
  convenient starting point for the long line of investigation and
  meditation that will ultimately lead to Reality. This is exactly what
  happened in the case of the Buddha. Was it not the sight of an old man
  followed by the sight of a sick man and thereafter the sight of a dead
  man that made Prince Siddhattha, living in the lap of luxury, to give
  up wife and child, home and the prospect of a kingdom, and to embark
  on a voyage of discovery of truth, a voyage that ended in the glory of
  Buddhahood and the bliss of Nibbana?

    The marked disinclination of the average man to advert to the
  problem of death, the distaste that arouses in him the desire to turn
  away from it whenever the subject is broached, are all due to the
  weakness of the human mind, sometimes occasioned by fear, sometimes by
  //tanha// or selfishness, but at all times supported by ignorance
  (//avijja//). The disinclination  to understand death, is no different
  from the disinclination of a man to subject himself to a medical
  check-up although he feels that something is wrong with him. We must
  learn to value the necessity to face facts. Safety always lies in
  truth. The sooner we know our condition the safer are we, for we can
  then take the steps necessary for our betterment. The saying, "where
  ignorance is bliss it is folly to be wise" has no application here. To
  live with no thought of death is to live in a fool's paradise.
  //Visuddhi Magga// says,

          "Now when a man is truly wise,
           His constant task will surely be,
           This recollection about death,
           Blessed with such mighty potency."

    Now that we have understood why such potency attaches itself to
  reflections on death, let us proceed to engage ourselves in such
  reflections. The first question that the reflecting mind would ask
  itself will be, "What is the cause of death?" Ask the physiologist
  what is death, he will tell you that it is a cessation of the
  functioning of the human body. Ask him what causes the cessation of
  the functioning of the human body, he will tell you that the immediate
  cause is that the heart ceases to beat. Ask him why the heart ceases
  to beat, he will tell you that disease in any part of the human
  system, if not arrested, will worsen and cause a gradual degeneration
  and ultimate breakdown of some organ or other of the human system,
  thus throwing an undue burden on the work of the heart -- the only
  organ that pumps blood. Hence, it is disease that ultimately cause the
  cessation of the heart beat. Ask the physiologist what causes the
  disease, he well tell you that disease is the irregular functioning
  (dis-ease) of the human body, or by the violation of rules of healthy
  living or by an accident -- each of which can impair some part or
  other of the human system, thus causing disease. Ask the physiologist
  what causes the entry of a germ or the violation of health rules or
  the occurrence of an accident. He will have to answer. "I do not know,
  I cannot say." Certainly the physiologist cannot help us this stage of
  our reflections of death, since the question is beyond the realm of
  physiology and enters the realm of human conduct. When two persons are
  exposed to germ infection, why should it sometimes be the man of lower
  resistance power who escapes the infection while the man of greater
  resistance succumbs to it? When three persons tread the same slippery
  floor, why should one slip and fall and crack his head and die, while
  the second slips and sustains only minor injuries, while the third
  does not slip at all? These are questions which clearly show that the
  answer is not to be expected from the physiologist whose study is the
  work of the human body.

    Nor is the answer to be expected from a psychologist whose study is
  the work of the human mind only. Far, far beyond the confines of
  physiology and psychology is the answer to be sought. It is here that
  Buddhist philosophy becomes inviting. It is just here that the law of
  Kamma, also called the law of Cause and Effect or the law of Action
  and Reaction makes a special appeal to the inquiring mind. It is Kamma
  that steps in to answer further questions. It is Kamma that determines
  why one man should succumb to germ-infection while the other should
  not. It is Kamma that decides why the three men treading the same
  slippery floor should experience three different results. Kamma sees
  to it that each man gets in life just what he deserves, not more, nor
  less. Each man's condition in life with its particular share of joys
  and sorrows is nothing more nor less than the result of his own past
  actions, good and bad. Thus we see that Kamma is a strict accountant.
  Each man weaves his own web of fate. Each man is the architect of his
  own fortune. As the Buddha said in the //Anguttara Nikaya//, "Beings
  are the owners of their deeds. Their deeds are the womb from which
  they spring. With their deeds they are bound up. Their deeds are their
  refuge. Whatever deeds they do, good or evil, of such they will be
  heirs."  As actions are various, reactions also are various. Hence the
  varying causes of death to various persons under various situations.
  Every cause has its particular effect. Every action has its particular
  reaction. This is the unfailing law.

    When Kamma is referred to as a law, it must not be taken to mean
  something promulgated by the state or some governing body. That would
  imply the existence of a lawgiver. It is a law in the sense that it is
  a constant way of action. It is in the nature of certain actions that
  they should produce certain results. That nature is also called law.
  It is in this sense that we speak of the law of gravitation which
  causes a mango on the tree to fall to the ground, not that there is a
  supreme external power or being which commands the mango to fall. It
  is in the nature of things, the weight of the mango, the attraction of
  the earth, that the mango should fall. It is again a constant way of
  action. Similarly, in the realm of human conduct and human affairs,
  the law of cause and effect, of action and reaction, operates. (It is
  then called Kamma or more properly Kamma Vipaka). It is not dependent
  on any extraneous arbitrary power, but it is in the very nature of
  things that certain actions should produce certain results. Hence the
  birth and the death of a man is no more the result of an arbitrary
  power than the rise and fall of a tree. Nor is it mere chance. There
  is no such thing as chance. It is unthinkable that chaos rules the
  world. Every situation, every condition is a sequel to a previous
  situation and a previous condition. We resort to the word 'chance'
  when we do not know the cause.

    Sufficient has been said for us to know that in Kamma we find the
  root cause of death. We also know that no arbitrary power fashions
  this Kamma according to its will or caprice. It is in the result of
  our own actions. "//Yadisam vapate bijam tadisam harate phalam//" --
  as we sow, so shall we reap. Kamma is not something generated in the
  closed box of the past. It is always in the making. We are by our
  actions, every moment contributing to it. Hence, the future is not all
  conditioned by the past. The present is also conditioning it.

    If you fear death, why not make the wisest use of the present so as
  to ensure a happy future? To fear death on the one hand and on the
  other, not to act in a way that would ensure a happy future, is either
  madness or mental lethargy. He who leads a virtuous life, harming none
  and helping whom he can, in conformity with the Dhamma, always
  remembering the Dhamma, is without doubt laying the foundation of a
  happy future life. "//Dhammo have rakkhati dhamma carim//" -- The
  Dhamma most assuredly protects him who lives in conformity with it.
  Such conformity is facilitated by the contemplation of death. Death
  has no fears for one who is thus protected by Dhamma. Then shall he,
  cheerful and unafraid, be able to face the phenomenon of death with
  fortitude and calm.

                            * * * * * * * *


                                  III

    ANOTHER approach to the understanding of death is through an
  understanding of the law of aggregates or Sankharas which states that
  everything is a combination of things and does not exist by itself as
  an independent entity. "Sankhara" is a Pali term used for an
  aggregation, a combination, or an assemblage. The word, is derived
  from the prefix //San// meaning "together" and the root //kar//
  meaning "to make." The two together mean "made together" or
  "constructed together" or "combined together". "All things in this
  world," says the Buddha, "are aggregates or combinations." That is to
  say, they do not exist by themselves, but are composed of several
  things. Any one thing, be it a mighty mountain or a minute mustard
  seed, is a combination of several things. These things are themselves
  combinations of several other things. Nothing is a unity, nothing is
  an entity, large or small. Neither is the sun nor moon an entity, nor
  is the smallest grain of sand an entity. Each of them is a Sankhara, a
  combination of several things.

    Things seem to be entities owing to the fallibility of our senses --
  our faculties of sight, hearing, touching, smelling and tasting, and
  even thinking. Science has accepted the position that our senses are
  not infallible guides to us. A permanent entity is only a concept,
  only a name. It does not exist in reality. In the famous dialogues
  between King Milinda and Thera Nagasena, the latter wishing to explain
  to the King this law of aggregates, enquired from the King how he came
  there, whether on foot or riding. The King replied that he came in a
  chariot.

       "Your Majesty," said Nagasena, "if you came in a chariot, declare
       to me the chariot. Is the pole the chariot?" "Truly not," said
       the King. "Is the axle the chariot," asked Nagasena. "Truly not,"
       said the King. "Is the chariot-body the chariot?" -- "Truly not,"
       said the King. "Is the yoke the chariot?" -- "Truly not," said
       the King. "Are the reins the chariot?" -- "Truly not," said the
       King. "Is the goading stick the chariot?" -- "Truly not," said
       the King.

       "Where then, Oh King," asked nagasena, "is this chariot in which
       you say you came? You are a mighty king of all the continent of
       India and yet speak a lie when you say there is no chariot."

  In this way by sheer analysis, by breaking up what is signified by
  chariot into its various component parts, Nagasena was able to
  convince the King that a chariot as such does not exist, but only
  component parts exist. So much so that the King was able to answer
  thus, --

       "Venerable Nagasena, I speak no lie. The word 'chariot' is but a
       figure of speech, a term, an appellation, a convenient
       designation for pole, axle, wheels, chariot-body and banner staff."

    Similarly, "human being", "man", "I" are mere names and terms, not
  corresponding to anything that is really and actually existing. In the
  ultimate sense there exist only changing energies. The term "Sankhara"
  however refers not only to matter and properties of matter known as
  "corporeality" (//rupa//), but also to mind and properties of mind
  known as "mentality" (//nama//). Hence, the mind is as much a
  combination or aggregate as the body.

    When it is said the mind is a combination of several thoughts, it is
  not meant that these several thoughts exist together simultaneously as
  do the different parts of the chariot. What is meant is a succession
  of thoughts, an unending sequence of thoughts, now a thought of
  hatred, thereafter a thought of sorrow, thereafter a thought of duty
  near at hand and thereafter again the original thought of hatred etc.,
  etc., in endless succession. Each thought arises, stays a while and
  passes on. The three stages of being are found here also -- //uppada,
  thiti, bhanga// -- arising, remaining and passing away. Thoughts
  arise, one following the other with such a rapidity of succession that
  the illusion of a permanent thing called "the mind" is created; but
  really there is no permanent thing but only a flow of thoughts. The
  rapid succession of thoughts is compared to the flow of water in a
  river (//nadi soto viya//), one drop following another in rapid
  succession that we seem to see a permanent entity in this flow. But
  this is an illusion. Similarly, there is no such permanent entity as
  the mind. It is only a succession of thoughts, a stream of thoughts
  that arise and pass away. If I say that I crossed a river this morning
  and recrossed it in the evening, is my statement true as regards what
  I crossed and what I recrossed? Was it what I crossed in the morning
  that I crossed in the evening? Is it not one set of waters that I
  crossed in the morning, and a different set of waters that I crossed
  in the evening? Which of the two is the river, or are there two
  rivers, a morning river and an evening river? Had I recrossed at
  mid-day, then there would also be a mid-day river. Asking oneself such
  questions one would see that every hour, every minute it is a
  different river. Where then is a permanent thing called 'river'? Is it
  the river bed or the banks? You will now realize that there is nothing
  to which you can point out and say, "This is the river." "River"
  exists only as a name. It is a convenient and conventional mode of
  expression (//vohara vacana//) for a continuous unending flow of drops
  of water. Just such is the mind. It is a continuous stream of
  thoughts. Can you point to any one thought that is passing through the
  mind and say, "This truly is my mind, my permanent mind?" A thought of
  anger towards a person may arise in me. If that thought is my
  permanent mind how comes it that on a later occasion a thought of love
  towards the same person can arise in me? If that too is my permanent
  mind, then there are two opposing permanent minds. Questioning on
  these lines one comes to the inevitable conclusion that there is no
  such thing as a permanent mind; it is only a convenient expression
  (//vohara vacana//) for an incessant and variegated stream of thoughts
  that arise and pass away. "Mind" does not exist in reality. It exists
  only in name as an expression for a succession of thoughts. Chariot --
  river -- body and mind -- these are all combinations. By themselves
  and apart from these combinations they do not exist. There is nothing
  intrinsically stable in them, nothing corresponding to reality,
  nothing permanent, no eternally abiding substratum or soul.

    Thus if body is only a name for a combination of changing factors
  and the mind is likewise only a name for a succession of thoughts, the
  psycho-physical combination called "man" is not an entity except by
  way of conventional speech. So when we say a chariot moves or a man
  walks it is correct only figuratively or conventionally. Actually and
  really, in the ultimate sense there is only a movement, there is only
  a walking. Hence has it been said in the //Visuddhi Magga//:

          "There is no doer but the deed
           There is no experiencer but the
               experience.
           Constituent parts alone roll on.
           This is the true and correct view."

    Now, how does this cold and relentless analysis of mind and body
  become relevant to the question of death? The relevancy is just this.
  When analysis reveals that there is no person but only a process, that
  there is no doer but only a deed, we arrive at the conclusion that
  there is no person who dies, but that there is only a process of
  dying. Moving is a process, walking is a process, so dying is also a
  process. Just as there is no hidden agent back and behind the process
  of moving or walking, so, there is no hidden agent back and behind the
  process of dying. If only we are capable of keeping more and more to
  this abhidhammic view of things, we will be less and less attached to
  things, we will be less and less committing the folly of identifying
  ourselves with our actions. Thus shall we gradually arrive at a stage
  when we grasp the view, so difficult to comprehend, that all life is
  just a process. It is one of the grandest realizations that can
  descend on deluded man. It is so illuminating, so enlightening. It is
  indeed a revelation. With the appearance of that realization there is
  a disappearance of all worries and fears regarding death. That is a
  logical sequence. Just as with the appearance of light darkness must
  disappear, even so the light of knowledge dispels the darkness of
  ignorance, fear and worry. With realization, with knowledge, these
  fears and worries will be shown as being empty and unfounded. It is so
  very easy to keep on declaring this. What is difficult is to
  comprehend this. Why is it so difficult? Because we are so accustomed
  to thinking in a groove, because we are so accustomed to overlook the
  fallacies in our thinking, because we are so accustomed to wrong
  landmarks and wrong routes in our mental journeying, we are reluctant
  to cut out a new path. It is we who deny ourselves the benefits of
  //Samma Ditthi// (Right views) The inveterate habit of identifying
  ourselves with our actions is the breeding ground of that inviting
  belief that there is some subtle "ego" back and behind all our actions
  and thoughts. This is the arch mischief maker that misleads us. We
  fail to realize that the ego-feeling within us is nothing more than
  the plain and simple stream of consciousness that is changing always
  and is never the same for two consecutive moments. As Professor James
  said, "The thoughts themselves are the thinkers." In our ignorance we
  hug the belief that this ego-consciousness is the indication of the
  presence of some subtle elusive soul. It is just the mind's reaction
  to objects. When we walk we fail to realize that it is just the
  process of walking and nothing else. We hug the fallacy that there is
  something within us that directs the walking. When we think, we hug
  the fallacy that there is something within us that thinks. We fail to
  realize that it is just the process of thinking and nothing else.
  Nothing short of profound meditation on the lines indicated in the
  //Satipatthana Sutta// can cure us of our "//miccha ditthi//" (false
  belief). The day we are able by such meditation to rid ourselves of
  these cherished false beliefs against which the Buddha has warned us
  times without number, beliefs which warp our judgment and cloud our
  vision of things, shall we be able to develop that clarity of vision
  which alone can show us things as they actually are. Then only will
  the realization dawn on us that there is no one who suffers dying, but
  there is only a dying process just as much as living is also a
  process. If one can train himself to reflect on these lines, it must
  necessarily mean that he is gradually giving up the undesirable and
  inveterate habit of identifying himself with his bodily and mental
  processes and that he is gradually replacing that habit by a frequent
  contemplation on //Anatta// (//N'etan mama//, this does not belong to
  me). Such contemplation will result in a gradual relaxation of our
  tight grip on our "fond ego". When one thus ceases to hug the
  ego-delusion, the stage is reached when there is complete detachment
  of the mind from such allurements. Then shall one be able, cheerful
  and unafraid, to face the phenomenon of death with fortitude and calm.

                            * * * * * * * *



                                  IV

    WE have seen how reflections on the great law of Kamma and the great
  law of Aggregates or Sankharas can assist us to form a correct view of
  death and help us to face death in the correct attitude. Now there is
  a third great law, a knowledge of which can assist us in the same way,
  namely, the law of change or //Anicca//. It is the principle behind
  the first noble truth, the truth of //Dukkha// or Disharmony. It is
  precisely because there is change or lack of permanency in anything
  and everything in this world, that there is suffering or disharmony in
  this world. This principle of change is expressed by the well known
  formula //Anicca vata sankhara// -- "all sankharas are impermanent."
  Nothing in this world is stable or static. Time moves everything
  whether we like it or not. Time moves us also whether we like it or
  not. Nothing in this world can arrest the ceaseless passage of time
  and nothing survives time. There is no stability anywhere. Change
  rules the world. Everything mental and physical is therefore
  transitory and changing. The change may be quick or the change may be
  perceptible or it may be imperceptible. We live in an ever changing
  world, while we ourselves are also all the while changing.

    A //sankhara//, we have learnt, is a combination of several factors.
  These factors are also subject to the law of change. They are changing
  factors. Hence a Sankhara is not merely a combination of several
  factors. It is a changing combination of changing factors, since the
  combination itself is changing. It is because there is change that
  there is growth. It is because there is change that there is decay.
  Growth also leads to decay because there is change. Why do flowers
  bloom only to fade? It is because of the operation of the law of
  change. It is this law that makes the strength of youth give way to
  the weakness of old age. It is on account of the operation of the law
  that though great buildings are erected, towering towards the sky, some
  distant day will see them totter and tumble. It is this aspect of the
  law of change, the process of disintegration, that causes colour to
  fade, iron to rust, and timber to rot. It is such reflections that
  must have led the poet Gray, contemplating a burial ground in a country
  church yard, to say,

          "The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
           All that beauty, all that wealth ever gave,
           Await alike the inevitable hour.
           The path of glory leads to the grave."

    Sometimes the working of this law is not apparent. Even that which
  looks so solid and substantial as a rocky mountain will not always
  remain as such. Science tells us, that maybe after thousands of years,
  it will wear down by the process of disintegration, and that where a
  lake now is, a mountain once was. If things arise they must fall,
  //Uppajjitva nirujjhanti//, says the Buddha -- "having arisen, they
  fall." Aeons and aeons ago the earth and the moon were one. Today,
  while the earth is still warm and alive, the moon is cold and dead.
  The earth too, science tells us, is very slowly, but surely losing its
  heat and water. Gradually and slowly it is cooling down. Aeons and
  aeons hence it will cease to support life. It will be a cold and
  lifeless planet. It will be a second moon. This is just one of several
  instances where the mighty law of change works imperceptibly. The
  Buddha also has foretold the end of the earth.

    Just as the law of change can cause decline and decay it can also
  cause growth and progress. Hence it is that a seed becomes a plant and
  a plant becomes a tree, and a bud becomes a flower. But again there is
  no permanency in growth. Growth again gives way to decay. The plant
  must die. The flower must wither. It is an unending cycle of birth and
  death, integration and disintegration, of rise and fall. Hence it is
  that Shelley has aptly said,

          "Worlds on worlds are rolling over from creation to
            decay,
           Like bubbles on a river, sparkling, bursting, borne
            away."

    It is no arbitrary power that brings about these changes,
  progressive and retrogressive. The tendency to change is inherent in
  all things. The law of change does not merely declare that things
  change but also declares that change is of the very essence of the
  things. Think of anything, and you will find it to be a mode of change
  and a condition of change. Change (//aniccata//) is the working
  hypothesis of the scientist. One of the mightiest tasks of the
  scientist, also his proudest boast, was to destroy the idea of
  stability and fixity in the organic world. We have heard of the
  supposed entity of the atom being shown up as a combination of
  energies. While science has applied the law of change to the physical
  domain to split up unity into diversity, the Buddha has applied the
  self-same law to the entire mind-body complex and split up the seeming
  unity of being into the five aggregates known as "//Pancakkhandha"//.
  The Buddha has gone further and explained why this aggregate is
  temporary, why it should some day disintegrate and why a fresh
  integration should arise upon the disintegration. Everything works
  upon a triple principle of //Uppada, Thiti and Bhanga// -- arising,
  remaining and passing away. Even in the case of a thought these three
  stages are present.

    When the Buddha dealt with the four chief elements of the world of
  matter and showed that they too are subject to the great law of
  change, he proceeded to show that the human body which is also formed
  of the same elements must necessarily be subject to the same great law
  of change. "What then of this fathom-long body" asked the Buddha. "Is
  there anything here of which it may rightly be said, 'I' or 'mine' or
  'am'? Nay verily nothing whatsoever."

    The sooner one appreciates the working of this law of change, the
  more will he be able to profit by it, attuning himself to that way of
  living, that way of thinking and speaking and acting, where this law
  will work to his best advantage. The man who knows the subtle working
  of this law of change, will also know how "//nama//" (mentality) can
  change by purposeful action. However deeply he gets involved in evil,
  he will not regard evil as a permanent obstruction because he knows
  that the evil mind can also change, He knows that by constant
  contemplation on what is good, good thoughts tend to arise in the
  mind. The constant contemplation of good will cause //Kusala
  Sankharas// (good tendencies) to arise in the mind and these //kusala
  Sankharas// will dislodge the //Akusala Sankharas// (evil tendencies)
  -- a process which hitherto appeared to him to be impossible. When his
  thoughts and tendencies change for the better, when his mind is
  permeated thus with good tendencies, his speech and deeds
  automatically change for the better -- a pleasant surprise for him.
  With purer and purer conduct (//sila//) thus acquired, deeper and
  deeper concentration (//samadhi//) is possible. Increased power to
  concentrate accelerates the pace towards the achievement of that
  Highest Wisdom known as //Panna//. Thus the bad in him changes into
  good. A bad man changes into a good man. By purposeful action the law
  of change is made to operate to his highest benefit. He now becomes a
  good man in the truest sense of the word. The good man is always a
  happy man. He has no fear of death because he has no fear of the life
  beyond. Of such a man has it been said in the Dhammapada:

          "The doer of good rejoices in this world.
           He rejoices in the next world.
           He rejoices in both worlds."

    The powerful change brought about in his life will ensure upon its
  dissolution, the birth of a more fortunate being -- a result which he
  can confidently expect at his dying moment. Not for him then are the
  fears and terrors of death. Furthermore when one follows minutely the
  working of the Law of Change in respect of one's own body and mind and
  also in respect of another's body and mind, one begins to acquire so
  close a familiarity with change that death will not appear as just one
  more example of the process of change to which one has been subject
  all along since birth. It will appear as something to be expected,
  something that must occur to fit in with what had occurred earlier. To
  one who can thus reflect on death, there is nothing to fear. Cheerful
  and unafraid, he can face the phenomenon of death with fortitude and
  calm.

                            * * * * * * * *


                                   V

    THERE is another angle from which we can study death and that is
  from the angle of law of conditionality which is closely akin to the
  law of //Anicca// or Change. Not only are //Sankharas// made up of
  several things but they are also conditioned by several factors, and
  when these conditioning factors cease to exist, the conditioned thing
  also ceases to exist. This is the law of conditionality and has been
  thus expressed in very general terms: //Imasmim sati, idam hoti// --
  when this exists, that exists, //Imassa uppada ,idam uppajjati// --
  when this arises, that arises. //Imasmim asati, idam na hoti// -- when
  this is not, that is not. //Imassa nirodha, idam nirujjhanti// -- when
  this ceases that ceases. As this principle is of universal
  applicability, the working of the process of life and death also comes
  within its operation. The chain of life-conditioning factors consists
  of twelve links or //Nidanas// which together are known as the
  //Paticca Samuppada// or Law of Dependent Origination. A knowledge of
  this law is most necessary. In the //Maha Nidana Sutta// of the
  //Digha Nikaya//, Buddha addressing Ananda said, "It is through not
  understanding, through not penetrating this doctrine, that these
  beings have become entangled like a ball of thread."

    The formula of Dependent Origination runs as follows:

     Conditioned by ignorance, activities arise.
     Conditioned by activities, consciousness arises.
     Conditioned by consciousness, mentality and corporeality arise.
     Conditioned by mentality and corporeality, the six
                    faculties arise.
     Conditioned by the six faculties, contact arises.
     Conditioned by contact, sensation arises.
     Conditioned by sensation, craving arises.
     Conditioned by craving, grasping arises.
     Conditioned by grasping, becoming arises.
     Conditioned by becoming, rebirth arises.
     Conditioned by re-birth, old age and death arise.

  This is the process that goes on and on //ad infinitum//. Hence has it
  been said:

     "Again and again the slow wits seek re-birth,
      Again and again comes birth and dying comes,
      Again and again men bear us to the grave."

    This important law is easier told than understood. This is one of
  the profoundest doctrines preached by the Buddha. It is only frequent
  and hard thinking on it that will bring out its deepest meanings. This
  is not the place to explain these twelve links in full, but in order
  to dispel some of the misconception surrounding the notion of death,
  it is necessary to make some observations on the first link --
  //Avijja//, or Ignorance, and thereafter on the second and third
  links, //viz.// activities and consciousness, because it is these two
  links that involve death and re-birth.

    These twelve links, it must be understood, do not represent a pure
  succession of cause and effect, a straight line of action and
  reaction. It is wrong to call this a causal series, as it is not a
  chain of causes in strict sequence of time. Some of the links (though
  not all) arise simultaneously, and the next is of condition rather
  than cause. There are 24 modes of conditioning (//paccaya//) which may
  operate in the relation of one factor to another. Each factor is both
  conditioning (//paccaya dhamma//) and conditioned (//paccayuppanna
  dhamma//). Many of these factors are both simultaneously and
  interdependently working.

    A few observations now, on the first link of //Avijja// or
  ignorance. When it is said the Ignorance is the first link, it does
  not mean that Ignorance is the first cause of existence. The Buddha
  has definitely said that the first cause, the ultimate origin of
  things is unthinkable, //Anamataggayam sansaro, pubba-koit na
  pannayati//, "Beginningless, O monks, is this course of existence. A
  starting point is not to be found." Bertrand Russell has stated,
  "There is no reason to suppose that this world had a beginning at all.
  The idea that things must have a beginning is really due to the
  poverty of our imagination." Ignorance, then, is not the primary origin
  of things but is the originating factor of suffering in the process of
  life and death, so far as man is concerned. All the twelve factors are
  continuing factors. It is only if we ponder deeply that we will be
  convinced of this truth, namely, that there can be no beginning to a
  process that has no end.

    What is meant by Ignorance as being the first link in the series? By
  Ignorance is here meant the Ignorance of the essentially fundamental
  facts of existence, namely, the fact of suffering or disharmony, the
  fact of the cessation of suffering or disharmony, and the fact of the
  way leading to the cessation of suffering or disharmony. In other
  words, it is the ignorance of that which the Buddha has called the
  Four Noble Truths. Ignorance is always a dangerous condition. In such
  a condition you are at the mercy of everyone and everything.

     "'Tis Ignorance that entails the dreary round
      Now here now there -- of countless births and deaths.
      But no hereafter waits for him who knows."

    The second link is Activities. By Activities is here meant
  volitional activities, called in Pali //Sankhara//. The formula states
  -- "Dependent upon Ignorance arise activities." This means that
  ignorance of the essentially fundamental facts of life becomes a
  conditioning factor for the volitional activities of man. It is only a
  knowledge and a realization of the Four Noble Truths that, according
  to the Buddha, enables a man to see things as they actually are. In
  the state of ignorance of these Truths man, prevented as he is from
  seeing things as they actually are, adopts various courses of action.
  These activities are not merely the outcome of ignorance once and for
  all, but ignorance continues to condition these volitional activities
  so long as existence continues. These volitional activities or mental
  energies are multifarious. In the context of the //Paticca
  Samuppada//, "//Sankhara//" can therefore be said to signify
  "//Kamma//" or "Kammic Volition". The first link of Ignorance and the
  second link of Activities refer to the past birth. The next eight
  links refer to the present existence and the last two refer to the
  future existence.

    The third link is //Vinnana// or Consciousness. The formula states
  -- "Dependent upon Activities arises Consciousness." By consciousness
  is here meant re-linking consciousness or re-birth consciousness. By
  this formula is therefore meant that the conscious life of man in his
  present birth is conditioned by his volitional activities, his good
  and bad actions, his Kamma of the past life. To put it in another way,
  the consciousness of his present life is dependent on his past Kamma.
  This formula is highly important since it involves a linking of the
  past life with the present and thereby implies re-birth. Hence, this
  third link is called //patisandhi vinnana// or re-linking
  consciousness or re-birth consciousness.

    It may be wondered how activities of the past life can condition a
  present birth. Material sciences seek to explain birth on the premises
  of the present existence only. The biologist says that it is the union
  of father with mother that conditions birth. According to the Buddha,
  these two conditioning factors by themselves are insufficient to
  result in birth, otherwise every complete union of father with mother
  should result in birth. These two are purely physical factors and it
  is illogical to expect that a psycho-physical organism, a mind-body
  combination known as man could arise from two purely physical factors
  without the intervention of a psychical or mental factor. Therefore,
  says the Buddha, a third factor is also necessary in addition to the
  two purely physical factors of the sperm and the ovum.

    This third factor is //patisandhi-vinnana// or re-linking
  consciousness. The wick and the oil will not alone produce a flame.
  You may drown a wick in gallons of oil but there will never be a
  flame. You may use a wick of the most inflammable type but there will
  never be a flame. Not until a bright spark of light comes from
  elsewhere will the action of the oil and the wick produce a flame. We
  have considered that the activities of the past are certain energies
  -- mental energies. The Kamma of the past releases these energies
  which are potent enough to create the condition for the being to be
  reborn in an appropriate place according to the nature of activities
  performed. These energies it is that produce the //patisandhi
  vinnana//, the third factor. It will thus be seen that these potential
  energies work in co- operation with the physical laws to condition the
  natural formation of the embryo in the mother's womb. Just as sleep is
  no bar to the continuance of bodily operations in consequence of the
  principle of life continuing within it, even so death is no bar to the
  continuance of the operation of being which is only transformed to
  another suitable realm or plane there to be reborn and  to re-live, in
  consequence of the will-to-live remaining alive and unabated at the
  moment of dissolution. The life-stream, the process of being thus
  continues, while the Kammic forces it generates give it shape and form
  in the appropriate sphere of existence, investing it with its new
  characteristics and securing for it "a local habitation and a name". A
  seed coming in contact with the soil produces a plant, but the plant
  is not born of the seed and the soil only. There are other factors
  drawn from unseen extraneous sources that come into play, such as
  light and air and moisture. It is the combined presence of all these
  factors that provide the opportunity for the birth of the plant. The
  unseen extraneous factor where the birth of a being is concerned is
  the terminating kammic energy of the dying man, or to express it in
  another way, the reproductive power of the will-to-live.

    Is there any need to doubt the potency of the past Kamma to create a
  present existence? Do you doubt that the activities of one existence
  can condition consciousness in another existence? If so, calmly
  reflect on the incessant and multifarious nature of human activities,
  the one feature of human life, the unfailing characteristic of every
  moment of individual existence. When you have sufficiently grasped the
  fact of the incessant and multifarious nature of human activities, ask
  yourself the question who or what propels these activities? A little
  reflection will reveal that the activities of man are propelled by a
  myriad of desires and cravings which ultimately spring from the desire
  to live. This will-to-live by whatever name you may call it, motivates
  all activities. We eat, we earn, we acquire, we struggle, we advance,
  we hate, we love, we plot, we plan, we deceive -- all in order that
  we may continue living. Even the desire to commit suicide, paradoxical
  as it may seem, arises from the desire to live -- to live free from
  entanglements and disappointments. Just consider the cumulative effect
  of hundreds of desire-propelled activities performed by us, day by
  day, hour by hour, minute by minute for a long period of years. These
  are all Kammas, these are all energies released. These are all strong
  creative forces that are generated.

    It is difficult to imagine that with the present life will end all
  the desire-forces it has brought into existence. There will always be
  at any given moment an outstanding balance of unexpected Kammic
  energies. These powers, energies or forces contain within themselves
  the potentialities of attracting for themselves the conditions for
  further existence. These energies or forces are potent enough to
  create the conditions for re-living when the body which sustained
  these forces ceases to live. These then will constitute the
  terminating Kammic energy of the dying man, or to express the same
  idea in another way, this is the reproductive power of the
  will-to-live. In short, the will-to-live makes it possible to re-
  live.

    Now we see how the terminating Kammic energy of the dying man
  becomes the third factor, the psychical factor which along with the
  two physical factors of the sperm and the ovum, conditions future
  birth. It is this relinking consciousness that becomes the nucleus of
  a new //nama-rupa// or mind-body combination. This is the resultant
  terminal energy generated by the volitional activities of the past.
  Science teaches us that energy is indestructible but that it can be
  transmuted into other forms of energy. Why then cannot these powerful
  energies of the past Kamma, impelled as they are by the pulsation of
  craving and motivated as they are by the will-to-live, continue to
  exert their potent influences albeit in some other manner and in some
  other sphere? What is it that travels from one existence to another,
  you may ask. Do activities (Kammic energies) travel or do their
  resultant forces travel? Or does consciousness itself travel? The
  answer is an emphatic, "No". None of these travel, but the Kammic
  energy of actions performed is a tremendous force or power which can
  make its influence felt and to effect this influence, distance is no
  bar. Distance is never a bar to Kammic energies making themselves
  felt. In the //Maha-Tanha-Sankhaya Sutta of Majjhima Nikaya//, the
  Buddha's teachings that //Vinnana// or consciousness travels from
  existence to existence. "Foolish man," said the Buddha, "has not
  consciousness generated by conditions been spoken of in many a figure
  of speech by me saying, 'apart from conditions there is no origination
  of consciousness'?" No physical contact is necessary for mind to
  influence matter. Sir William Crooke, in his Edinburgh lectures on
  mental science has said, "It has also been proved by experiment that
  by an act of will the mind can cause objects such as metal levers to
  move." When the matter on which mental energies act is situated far
  away, in other planes and spheres of existence, we are only employing
  a figure of speech when we say that Kamma has traveled or that energy
  has traveled. Many a simile has been employed by the Buddha to show
  that nothing travels or transmigrates from one life to another. It is
  just a process of one condition influencing another. The resultant
  Kammic energies of human activity, not yet expanded, are so powerful
  that they can condition the formation of an embryo in another world
  and give it consciousness.

    One important point must not be overlooked. The //Patisandhi-
  vinnana// or re-linking consciousness arises only in the unborn child.
  In the pre-natal stage the re-linking consciousness may be said to
  exist only passively (in the //bhavanga// state) and not actively,
  since the child is still part of the body of the mother and has no
  separate, independent existence nor does it contact the external
  world. When however, the child is born and assumes a separate
  existence and begins to contact the external world, then it may be
  said that the //bhavanga// nature of the pre-natal state of mind gives
  way for the first time to a fully conscious mind process, the //Vithi-
  citta//.

    Distance is no bar to the sequence of cause and effect. Reference
  had already been made to the Buddha's reprimand of a bhikkhu called
  Sati for declaring as having been taught by the Buddha that
  consciousness passes from existence to existence. In the re-linking
  consciousness arises the whole energy of the previous consciousness,
  and thus the embryo while inheriting the characteristics of the new
  parents inherits also the impressions of the past experiences of the
  dying man. How else can one explain characteristics not accounted for
  by heredity? How else can one account for different characteristics in
  twins born of the same parents and growing under the same environment?

    We have now studied death from several angles. From whatever angle
  we look at death it is an integral part of the great process of life.
  Death is like the break up of an electric bulb. The light is
  extinguished but not the current, and when a fresh bulb is fixed the
  light re-appears. Similarly there is a continuity of life current, the
  break up of the present body does not extinguish the current of Kammic
  energy which will manifest itself in an appropriate fresh body. The
  simile is not on all fours with life. Whereas there is nothing to
  bring the electric current and the fresh bulb together (a conjunction
  left to chance), the type of life led, the nature of thought
  entertained, the quality of deeds performed will be strong enough to
  cause an immediate relinking consciousness of like nature to arise, on
  the principle that like attracts like. Thus the dying man is drawn to
  an environment, good or bad, which he has created for himself by his
  thought, word and deed, for on these depend the nature of our future
  life. Every moment we are creating our future. Every moment then we
  must be careful.

    If we can visualize the immensity of the past and the immensity of
  the future, the present loses its seemingly compelling importance. If
  we could but visualize the vistas of innumerable births and deaths
  through which we will pass in the future, we should not, we could not
  fear just this one death out of the endless series of birth and
  deaths, rises and falls, appearances and disappearances which
  constitute the ceaseless process of samsaric life.

                            * * * * * * * *



                                  VI

    THERE is yet another law the understanding of which helps in the
  understanding of death. It is the Law of Becoming or //Bhava//, which
  is a corollary to the Law of Change or //Anicca//. Becoming, or
  //Bhava//, is also one of the factors in the scheme of Dependent
  Origination. According to Buddhism the Law of Becoming, like the Law
  of Change, is constantly at work and applies to everything. While the
  Law of Change states that nothing is permanent but is ever-changing,
  the Law of Becoming states that everything is always in the process of
  changing into something else. Not only is everything changing, but the
  nature of that change is a process of becoming something else. Not
  only is everything changing, but the nature of that change is a
  process of becoming something else, however short or long the process
  may be. Briefly put, the Law of Becoming is this: "Nothing is, but is
  becoming." A ceaseless becoming is the feature of all things. A small
  plant is always in the process of becoming an old tree. There is no
  point of time at which anything is not becoming something else. Rhys
  Davids in his American lectures has said, "In every case as soon as
  there is a beginning, there begins also at that moment to be an
  ending."

    If you stand by the sea and watch how wave upon wave rises and
  falls, one wave merging into the next, one wave becoming another, you
  will appreciate that this entire world is also just that -- becoming
  and becoming. If you can stand by a bud continuously until it becomes
  a flower, you will be amazed to see that the condition of the bud at
  one moment appears to be no different from its condition at the next
  moment and so on, until before your very eyes, the change has taken
  place through you could not discern it at all. The process is so
  gradual, one stage merging into the next so imperceptibly. It is a
  becoming. If you close your eyes to this process, if you see the bud
  one day and then see it a day later, then only will you see a change.
  Then only will you speak in the terms of "buds" and "flowers" and not
  in terms of a process of a becoming.

    If you can keep on looking at a new-born babe without a break for
  ten years you will not perceive any change. The baby born at 10 a.m.
  appears just the same at 11 a.m. or at 12 noon. Each moment shows no
  difference from the next. One condition merges into the next so
  imperceptibly. It is a becoming, a continuous process of becoming.
  Close your eyes to this process and see the baby once a month. then
  only will you perceive a change. Then only can you speak in terms of
  "baby" and "boy" and not in terms of a process or a becoming.

    If you think you can watch minutely the progress of time, see
  whether you can divide it into present, past, and future as do
  grammarians speaking of present tense, past tense and future tense. In
  the view of Buddhist philosophy, time is one continuous process, each
  fragmentary portion of time merging into the other and forming such an
  unbroken continuity that no dividing line can precisely be drawn
  separating past time from present, or present time from future. The
  moment you think of the present and say to yourself "this moment is
  present time" it is gone -- vanished into the past before you can even
  complete your sentence. The present is always slipping into the past,
  becoming the past, and the future is always becoming the present.
  Everything is becoming. This is a universal process, a constant flux.
  It is when we miss the continuity of action that we speak in terms of
  things rather than processes or becomings.

    Biology says that the human body undergoes a continual change, all
  the cells composing the body being replaced every seven years.
  According to Buddhism, changes in the body are taking place every
  moment. At no two consecutive moments is the body the same. In the
  last analysis, it is a stream of atoms or units of matter of different
  types which are every moment arising and passing away. The body is
  thus constantly dying and re-living within this existence itself. This
  momentary death (//Khanika marana//) takes place every moment of our
  existence.

    In the //Visuddhi Magga// it is said that in the ultimate sense, the
  life span of living beings is extremely short, being only as much as
  the duration of a single conscious moment. "Just as a chariot wheel"
  continues the //Visuddhi Magga// "when it is rolling, touches the
  ground at one point only of the circumference of its tire, so too the
  life of living beings lasts only for a single conscious moment. When
  that consciousness has ceased, the being is said to have ceased." Thus
  we see that every moment of our lives we are dying and being reborn.
  This being so why should we dread just one particular moment of death,
  the moment that marks the end of this existence? When there are
  innumerable moments of death, why fear the occurrence of one
  particular moment? Ignorance of the momentary nature of death makes us
  fearful of the particular death that takes place at the last moment of
  existence here, especially as the next moment of living is not seen
  nor understood. The last moment in this existence is just one of the
  innumerable moments of death that will follow it.

    It is not life in this existence only that is a process of becoming.
  The process of becoming continues into the next existence also,
  because there is a continuity of consciousness. The last consciousness
  (//cuti-citta//) in one life is followed by what is known as a
  re-linking consciousness (//patisandhi- vinnana//) in the next life.
  The process of one consciousness giving rise to another continues
  unbroken, the only difference being a change in the place where such
  consciousness manifests itself. Distance is no bar to the sequence of
  cause and effect. Life is a process of grasping and becoming, and
  death is a change of the thing grasped leading to a new becoming.
  Grasping is a continuous feature where human living is concerned. It
  is this grasping that leads to becoming. What causes grasping? Where
  there is thirst, there is grasping. It is this thirst, this desire,
  this craving, this will-to-live, this urge which is known as //Tanha//
  that causes grasping. The Kammic energy resulting from this //Tanha//
  is like fire. It always keeps on burning and is always in search of
  fresh material upon which it can sustain itself. It is ever in search
  of fresh conditions for its continued existence. At the moment of the
  dissolution of the body, that unexpected desire-energy, that residuum
  of Kamma, grasps fresh fuel and seeks a fresh habitation where it can
  sustain itself. Thus proceeds the continuous flux of grasping and
  becoming which is life.

    Let us now examine the unduly dreaded dying moment which marks the
  end of man's present existence, only to commence another. The physical
  condition of any dying man is so weak that the volitional control by
  the mind at the dying moment lacks the power to choose its own
  thoughts. This being so, the memory of some powerfully impressive and
  important event of the dying man's present existence (or his past
  existence) will force itself upon the threshold of his mind, the
  forcible entry of which thought he is powerless to resist. This
  thought which is known as the //maranasanna-javana// thought and
  precedes the //cuti-citta// or terminal thought, can be one of three
  types. Firstly, it can be the thought of some powerfully impressive
  act done (//kamma//) which the dying man now recalls to mind.
  Secondly, the powerfully impressive act of the past can be recalled by
  way of a symbol of that act (//Kamma nimitta//) as, for instance, if
  he had stolen money from a safe, he may see the safe. Thirdly, the
  powerfully impressive act of the past may be recalled by way of a sign
  or indication of the place where he is destined to be re-born by
  reason of such act, as for instance when a man who has done great
  charitable acts hears beautiful divine music. This is called //Gati
  nimitta// or the sign of destination. It is symbolic of his place of
  re-birth. These three types of thought-objects which he cannot
  consciously choose for himself, are known as death signs and any one
  of them as the case may be, will very strongly and vividly appear to
  the consciousness of the dying man. Then follows the //cuti citta// or
  terminal thought or death consciousness. This last thought series is
  most important since it fashions the nature of his next existence,
  just as the last thought before going to sleep can become the first
  thought on awakening. No extraneous or arbitrary power does this for
  him. He does this for himself unconsciously as it were. The most
  important act of his life it is, good or bad, that conditions the last
  thought moment of a life. The kamma of this action is called //Garuka
  kamma// or weighty Kamma. In the majority of cases the type of act
  which men habitually perform and for which they have the strongest
  liking becomes the last active thought. The ruling thought in life
  becomes strong at death. This habitual kamma is called //Acinna
  Kamma//.

    The idea of getting a dying man to offer cloth (//Pamsukula//) to
  the Sangha or the idea of chanting sacred texts to him is in order to
  help him to obtain a good terminal thought for himself by way of
  //Asanna Kamma// or death-proximate Kamma, but the powerful force of
  inveterate habit can supervene and in spite of the chantings by the
  most pious monks available, the memory of bad deeds repeatedly
  performed may surge up to his consciousness and become the terminal
  thought.

    The reverse can also occur. If the last few acts and thoughts of a
  person about to die are powerfully bad, however good he had been
  earlier, then his terminal thought may be so powerfully bad that it
  may prevent the habitually good thought from surging up to his
  consciousness, as is said to have happened in the case of Queen
  Mallika, the wife of King Pasenadi of Kosala. She lived a life full of
  good deeds but at the dying moment what came to her mind was the
  thought of a solitary bad deed done. As a result she was born in a
  state of misery where she suffered, but it was only for seven days.
  The effects of the good Kamma were suspended only temporarily.

    There is a fourth type of Kamma that can cause the terminal thought
  to arise. This last type prevails when any of the foregoing three
  types of Kamma is not present. In that event one of the accumulated
  reserves of the endless past is drawn out. This is called //Katatta
  Kamma// or stored-up Kamma. Once the terminal thought arises, then
  follows the process of thought moments lawfully linked with it. This
  terminal thought process is called //maranasanna javana vithi//. The
  terminal thought goes through the same stages of progress as any other
  thought, with this differences that whereas the apperceptive stage of
  complete cognition known as //Javana// or impulsion, which in the case
  of any other thought occupies seven thought-moments. At this
  apperceptive stage the dying person fully comprehends the death- sign.
  Then follows the stage of registering consciousness (//tadalambana//)
  when the death-sign is identified. This consciousness arises for two
  thought-moments and passes away. After this comes the stage of death
  consciousness (//cuti citta//). Then occurs death. This is what
  happens in this existence.

    Now let us consider what happens in the next existence. Already the
  preliminaries for the arrival of a new being are in preparation. There
  is the male parent and there is the female parent. As explained
  previously a third factor, a psychic factor, is necessary to complete
  the preliminaries for the arising of a live embryo, and that is the
  relinking consciousness (//Patisandi-Vinnana//) which arises in the
  next existence in the appropriate setting -- the mother's womb. On the
  conjunction of these three factors, life starts in the mother's womb.
  There is no lapse of time, no stoppage of the unending stream of
  consciousness. No sooner has the death-consciousness in the dying man
  passed away than rebirth consciousness arises in some other state of
  existence. There is nothing that has travelled from this life to the
  next. Even the terminal thought did not travel. It had the power to
  give rise to the passive or //bhavanga// state. At the moment of birth
  which marks a separate existence, through contact with the outer
  world, the unconscious or sub-conscious //bhavanga// state gives way
  to the //vithi-citta// or conscious mind. From birth onwards activity
  again comes into play, propelled by desire in some form or another. So
  proceeds the onward course of the life-flux, desire-propelled and
  desire-motivated.

    Now what is the relevancy of a knowledge of the law of
  conditionality to the question of our attitude towards death? Once we
  thoroughly comprehend the fact that the will to live proceeds from
  life to life, we come to appreciate the view that this life and the
  next is but one continuous process. So also the life following and the
  next thereafter. To one who understands life thus as nothing more nor
  less than a long continuous process, there is no more reason to grieve
  at death than at life. They are part of the same process -- the
  process of grasping, the process of giving effect to the will-to-live.
  Death is only a change in the thing grasped. The man enriched with the
  knowledge of the law of conditionality comprehends that birth induces
  death and death induces birth in the round of sansaric life. He
  therefore cannot possibly be perturbed at death. To him birth is death
  and death is birth. An appreciation of the law of conditionality will
  reveal to him the importance of living his life well and when he has
  lived his life well, death is the birth of greater opportunities to
  live a still better life. That is how he regards death.

    It all depends on the way one looks at death. Suppose there is only
  one gate to a house, is that an exit gate or an entrance gate? To one
  who is on the road side of the gate it is an entrance gate. To the
  inmate of the house it is an exit gate, but for both of them it is the
  self-same gate which is thus differently viewed. As Dahlke says,
  "Dying is nothing but a backward view of life, and birth is nothing
  but a forward view of death."

    In truth, birth and death are phases of an unbroken process of
  grasping. Death is a departure to those whom the dying man leaves
  behind. It is also an arrival to the members of the new family into
  which he is re-born. It is death or birth according to the way we look
  at it, but we can only be one-way observers. If we observe the
  death-process, we are not in a position to observe the birth process,
  and if we observe the birth process, we are not in a position to
  observe the death process. So, birth and death do not get co-ordinated
  in our minds as one connected process. By our failure to see the close
  sequence of the two processes, the co-ordination of birth with death
  or death with birth, we are led to the illusion, or at least the wish,
  that we can have the one (birth) without the other (death). We want
  life but we do not want death. This is an impossibility. Clinging to
  life is clinging to death. The salient feature of life is
  clinging-grasping -- and the logical result of clinging according to
  the law of conditionality is death. If you want to avert death, you
  have to avert life, you have to reverse the process of conditionality.
  This can only be done by abandoning the desire to cling, the desire to
  grasp. Let there be no attachment to life. If you attach yourself
  unduly to the things of life, happiness you may have for a brief time,
  but some day when the things to which you have attached yourself
  disintegrate and disappear as they must, by virtue of that mighty law
  of change working in conjunction with the equally mighty law of
  conditionality, then the very objects of joy become objects of sorrow.
  You will then agree with the poet who said, "Earth's sweetest joy is
  but pain disguised." As great was the joy of attachment so great will
  be the sorrow of detachment. Is not this suffering? Is not this
  wearisome -- one day to pursue a phantom with excitement, next day to
  abandon it with disgust, one day to be exalted and the next day to be
  depressed? How long will your sense of self-respect allow you to be
  thrown up and down this way and that, like a foot-ball? Is it not far
  more satisfactory, far more dignified, far safer and far wiser to go
  through life unattached? If misfortune has to come, it will; if
  sickness has to come, it will. We cannot change the events of life but
  we can certainly change our attitude towards them. The laws of change
  and conditionality will help us here. Fears and sorrows will change
  into hopes and joys. To such a one living a life of calm and peace,
  viewing life with equanimity, death holds no fears and terrors.
  Cheerful and unafraid, he can face the phenomenon of death with
  fortitude and calm.

                            * * * * * * * *



                                  VII

    LET us now consider the cases of two persons who were overpowered
  with grief at the bereavement they had to suffer. First let us
  consider the case of //Patacara//. She lost her husband who was bitten
  by a snake. She was too weak to cross a river with both her children
  -- a new born babe and a child about one year old.  So she left the
  elder child on the bank and waded through the water with her new-born
  babe with the greatest difficulty. Having reached the thither shore
  and having left the new-born babe there, she was returning through the
  water to reach the elder child. She had hardly reached mid-stream when
  a hawk swooped down on the new-born babe and carried it away thinking
  it to be a piece of flesh. When Patacara seeing this cried out in
  frantic grief raising both her hands, the elder child on the other
  bank thinking that his mother was calling him, ran into the river and
  was drowned. Alone, weeping and lamenting, she was proceeding now to
  her parental home whither she had intended going with her husband and
  her two children, when one by one these calamities occurred. As she
  was proceeding she met a man returning from her home town and inquired
  from him about her parents and her brother. This man gave the dismal
  news that owing to a severe storm the previous day, her parental house
  had come down, destroying both her father and her mother and also her
  brother. As he spoke he pointed to some smoke rising into the air far
  away and said, "That is the smoke rising from the one funeral pyre in
  which are burning the bodies of your father, mother and brother."
  Completely distracted with grief, she ran about like a mad woman
  regardless of her falling garments. Agony was gnawing at her heart,
  agony of the most excruciating type. Advised to go to the Buddha, she
  went and explained her plight. What did the Buddha tell her?
  "Patacara, be no more troubled. This is not the first time thou hast
  wept over the loss of a husband. This is not the first time thou hast
  wept over the loss of parents and of brothers. Just as today, so also
  through this round of existence thou hast wept over the loss of so
  many countless husbands, countless sons, countless parents and
  countless brothers, that the tears thou has shed are more abundant
  than the waters of the four oceans." As the Buddha spoke these words
  of wisdom and consolation, Patacara's grief grew less and less intense
  and finally, not only did her grief leave her altogether, but when the
  Buddha preached to her and concluded his discourse, Patacara reached
  the stage of Stream-entry (//Sotapatti//), the first stage of
  sainthood.

    Now what is that contributed to the removal of grief from the mind
  of Patacara? It is the keen realization of the universality of death.
  Patacara realized that she had lived innumerable lives, that she had
  suffered bereavement innumerable times, and that death is something
  which is always occurring.

    While Patacara realized the universality of death by reference to
  her own numerous bereavements in the past, Kisagotami realized it by
  reference to the numerous bereavements occurring to others around her
  in this life itself. When her only child died, her grief was so great
  that she clung to the dead body, not allowing any one to cremate it.
  This was the first bereavement she had ever experienced. With the dead
  child firmly held to her body she went from house to house inquiring
  for some medicine that would bring back life to her child. She was
  directed to the Buddha who asked her to procure a pinch of white
  mustard seed, but it should be from a house where no death had taken
  place. She then went in search of this supposed cure for her child
  which she thought was easy to obtain. At the very first house she
  asked for it but when she inquired whether any death had taken place
  under that roof she received the reply, "What sayest thou, woman? As
  for the living, they be few, as for the dead they be many." She then
  went to the next house. There also she came to know that death had
  made its visit to that house as well. She went to many houses and in
  all of them she was told of some father who had died or of some son
  who had died or of some other relative or friend who had died. When
  evening came she was tired of her hopeless task. She heard the word
  "death" echoing from every house. She realized the universality of
  death. She buried the dead child in the forest, then went back to the
  Buddha and said, "I thought it was I only who suffered bereavement. I
  find it in every house. I find that in every village the dead are more
  in number than the living." Not only was Kisagotami cured of her
  grief, but at the end of the discourse which the Buddha delivered to
  her, she too attained the stage of Stream- entry (//Sotapatti//).

    Let us now contrast the cases of Patacara and Kisagotami with that
  of the ignorant rustic farmer the Bodhisatta was in a former life as
  mentioned in the //Uraga Jataka//. Rustic though he was, he practiced
  mindfulness on death to perfection. He had trained himself to think
  every now and then "Death can at any moment come to us." This is
  something on which the majority of us refuse to do any thinking at
  all. Not only did he make it a habit to think so, but he even saw to
  it that all members of his household did the same. One day while he
  was working with his son in the field, the latter was stung by a snake
  and died on the spot. The father was not one bit perturbed. He just
  carried the body to the foot of a tree, covered it with a cloak,
  neither weeping nor lamenting, and resumed his plowing unconcerned.
  Later he sent word home, through a passer-by, to send up one parcel of
  food instead of two for the mid-day meal and to come with perfumes and
  flowers. When the message was received, his wife knew what it meant
  but she too did not give way to expressions of grief; neither did her
  daughter nor her daughter- in-law nor the maid-servant. As requested
  they all went with perfumes and flowers to the field, and a most
  simple cremation took place, with no one weeping. Sakka the chief of
  gods came down to earth and proceeding to the place where a body was
  burning upon a pile of firewood, inquired from those standing around
  whether they were roasting the flesh of some animal. When they
  replied, "It is no enemy but our own son." "Then he could not have
  been a son dear to you," said Sakka. "He was a very dear son," replied
  the father. "Then," asked Sakka, "why do you not weep?" The father in
  reply uttered this stanza:

     "Man quits his mortal frame, when joy in life is past.
      Even as a snake is wont its worn out slough to cast.
      No friends' lament can touch the ashes of the dead.
      Why should I grieve? He fares the way he had to tread."

  Similar questions were asked from the dead son's mother who
  replied thus:

     "Uncalled he hither came, unbidden soon to go.
      Even as he came he went, what cause is here for woe?
      No friends' lament can touch the ashes of the dead.
      Why should I grieve? He fares the way he had to tread."

  "Sisters surely are loving to their brothers. Why do you not
  weep?" asked Sakka of the dead man's sister. She replied:

     "Though I should fast and weep, how would it profit me?
      My kith and kin alas would more unhappy be.
      No friends' lament can touch the ashes of the dead.
      Why should I grieve? He fares the way he had to tread."

  Sakka then asked the dead man's wife why she did not weep. She replied
  thus:

     "As children cry in vain to grasp the moon above,
      So mortals idly mourn the loss of those they love.
      No friends' lament can touch the ashes of the dead.
      Why should I grieve? He fares the way he had to tread."

  Lastly Sakka asked the maid-servant why she did not weep, especially
  as she had stated that the master was never cruel to her but was most
  considerate and kind and treated her like a foster child. This was her
  reply:

     "A broken pot of earth, ah, who can piece again?
      So too, to mourn the dead is nought but labor vain.
      No friends' lament can touch the ashes of the dead.
      Why should I grieve? He fares the way he had to tread."


                            * * * * * * * *


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                         DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT
                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 TITLE OF WORK: Buddhist Reflections on Death
                (The Wheel Publication No. 102/103)
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