Death
is an uncomfortable taboo in this culture. The predominant Christian
culture tends to take an all or nothing view of enlightenment —
either you are saved, or you are not. Hence this culture tends to
prolong life beyond the point of it being useful to do so on the
ground that if a few more souls can be saved on their deathbeds,
so much the better. A few weeks of additional suffering, from this
point of view, is a small price to pay for eternal salvation.
The
Buddhist take on this subject is a bit more complicated. It is both
more optimistic and more pessimistic. No one is guaranteed enlightenment
just by asking for "salvation", and no one is ever permanently barred
from enlightenment. As such, our take on death is that it is good
to be in as high a state of mind as possible as we approach death.
This may mean reading spiritual books like The Tibetan Book of Living
and Dying to prepare our state of mind. It also means that the better
we've done financially in our life, the higher the power spot we
can be on when we die.
The
Bardo states are something that will take care of themselves when
the time is right. We have our teacher Rama to guide us. If we are
focused on the Light at the time of death we should be able to connect
with our teacher. Ghosts are beings which, for whatever reason,
have some kind of karmic connection with beings still on earth.
If you are contacted by a ghost then be open to what he/she has
to teach you without being either frightened or attracted.
But
the most important thing is to be in the right state of mind at
the time of death. This is probably going to be very controversial,
but I personally don't have a problem with the terminally ill making
a choice to end their lives on their own terms, and in as good a
state of mind as possible, rather than allowing themselves to be
prisoners of the medical system. I support the work of Dr. Kevorkian.
I would prefer if we lived in a society where a Buddhist approach
to death was supported, but until we do, I definitely encourage
any controversial work which will move us closer to that goal.
Finally,
and absolutely most importantly, unless you or someone you know
is terminally ill, it is much better and happier to focus on life,
not death. Death will come when it comes but you cannot predict
when, so don't focus on it.
David
