Yathā
naro āpagamotaritvā,
mahodakaṃ salilaṃ sīghasotaṃ; so vuyhamāno anusotagāmī, kiṃ so pare sakkhati tārayetuṃ? |
If one
going down into a river—
swollen and swiftly flowing— is carried away by the current, how can one help others across? |
— Sutta Nipāta 2.321
"The entire mind should be filled with only one volition: the liberation of all beings."
- Sayagyi U Goenka
(The following was originally published in the Sayagyi U Ba Khin Journal)
To understand what happens at death, let us first understand what death is. Death
is like a bend in a continuous river of becoming. It appears that death is the
end of a process of becoming, and certainly it may be so in the case of an
arahant (a fully liberated being) or a Buddha; but with an ordinary person this
flow of becoming continues even after death.
Death puts an end to the
activities of one life, and the very next moment starts the play of a new life.
On the one side is the last moment of this life and on the other side is the
first moment of the next life. It is as though the sun rises as soon as it sets
with no interval of darkness in between, or as if the moment of death is the
end of one chapter in the book of becoming, and another chapter of life begins
the very next moment.
Although no simile can convey the
exact process, still one might say that this flow of becoming is like a train
running on a track. It reaches the station of death and there, slightly
decreasing speed for a moment, carries on again with the same speed. It does
not stop at the station even for a moment.
For one who is not an arahant (one who has meditated to remove all impurities in the mind), the
station of death is not a terminus but a junction from where thirty-one
different tracks diverge. The train, as soon as it arrives at the station,
moves onto one or another of these tracks and continues. This speeding
"train of becoming," fueled by the electricity of the kammic
reactions of the past, keeps on running from one station to the next, on one
track or the other, a continuous journey that goes on without ceasing.
This changing of "tracks"
happens automatically. As the melting of ice into water and the cooling of
water to form ice happens according to laws of nature, so the transition from
life to life is controlled by set laws of nature. According to these laws, the
train not only changes tracks by itself, it also lays the next tracks itself.
For this train of becoming the
junction of death, where the change of tracks takes place, is of great
importance. Here the present life is abandoned (this is called cuti-disappearance,
death). The demise of the body takes place, and immediately the next life
starts (a process which is called patisandhi - conception or taking up of the
next birth).
The moment of patisandhi is the
result of the moment of death; the moment of death creates the moment of
conception. Since every death moment creates the next birth moment, death is
not only death, but birth as well. At this junction, life changes into death
and death into birth.
(N.B: The analogy of a running
train changing tracks should not be mistaken for transmigration, as no entity
goes from one life to the next. Nothing passes to the next life except the
force of the accumulated kamma sankharas.)
Thus every life is a preparation
for the next death. If someone is wise, he or she will use this life to the
best advantage and prepare for a good death. The best death is the one that is
the last, that is not a junction but a
terminus: the death of an arahant. Here there will be no track on which the
train can run further; but until such a terminus is reached, one can at least
ensure that the next death gives rise to a good birth and that the terminus
will be reached in due course. It all depends on us, on our own efforts. We are
makers of our own future, we create our own welfare or misery as well as our
own liberation.
How is it that we are the creators
of the tracks that receive the onrushing train of becoming? To answer this we
must understand what kamma (action) is.
The healthy or unhealthy volition
of our mind is kamma. Before performing any action at the mental, vocal, or
physical level, whatever wholesome or unwholesome volition arises in the mind
is the root of that action. The consciousness arises due to a contact at a
sense door, then the sañña (perception and recognition) evaluates the
experience, sensations (vedana) arise, then a kammic reaction (sankhara) takes
place.
These volitional reactions are of various kinds. How strong is the volition? How slow, deep, shallow, heavy or light? According to this the intensity of these reactions will vary. Some are like a line drawn on water, some like a line drawn on sand and some a line on rock. If the volition is wholesome, then the action will be the same and the fruits will be beneficial; and if the volition is unwholesome, then the action will be the same-it will give fruits of misery.
These volitional reactions are of various kinds. How strong is the volition? How slow, deep, shallow, heavy or light? According to this the intensity of these reactions will vary. Some are like a line drawn on water, some like a line drawn on sand and some a line on rock. If the volition is wholesome, then the action will be the same and the fruits will be beneficial; and if the volition is unwholesome, then the action will be the same-it will give fruits of misery.
Not all of these reactions result
in a new birth. Some are so shallow that they do not give any substantial
fruits. Some are a bit heavier but will be used up in this lifetime. They do
not carry over into the next life. Others being still heavier continue with the
flow of life into the next birth, but they themselves do not give new birth.
Nevertheless they can continue to multiply during this life and the next.
Many
kammas however, are bhava-kammas, or bhava-sankharas, those that give a new
birth, a new life. Each one of these bhava-kammas (actions that give rise to
the process of becoming) carries a magnetic force that is in tune with the
vibrations of a particular plane of existence. The vibrations of a particular
bhava-kamma will unite with the vibrations of the bhava-loka (world, plane)
that has the same intensity, and the two will attract each other according to
the universal laws pertaining to forces of kamma.
As soon as one of these bhava-kammas
is generated, this "railway train of becoming" gets attracted to one
or the other of the thirty-one tracks at the station of death. Actually these
thirty-one tracks are the thirty-one fields of existence. They are the eleven
kama lokas (realms of sensuality: the four lower realms of existence, and the
seven human and celestial realms); the sixteen rupa-brahma lokas (where fine
material body remains), and the four arupa-brahma lokas (non-material realms,
where only mind remains).
At the last moment of this life, a
specific bhava-sankhara will arise. This sankhara capable of giving a new birth
will get connected with the vibrations of the related realm of existence. At
the moment of death the whole field of thirty-one realms is open, so it depends
on which sankhara arises as to which track the train of existence runs on next.
In the same way a train gets shunted onto a new track, the force of the
bhava-kamma reaction provides the push to the flow of consciousness into the
next existence.
For example, the bhava-kamma of anger or malice, being of the
nature of heat and agitation, will unite with some lower field of existence.
Similarly, one with the nature of mettā (compassionate love), having peaceful
and cool vibrations can only unite with some brahma-loka. This is the law of
nature, and these laws are so perfectly "computerized" that there is
never any flaw in the operation.
At the moment of death, generally,
some intense sankhara will arise; it may be either of a wholesome nature or an
unwholesome nature. For example, if one has murdered one's father or mother, or
perhaps some saintly person, in this lifetime, then the memory of this episode
will arise at the moment of death. Likewise if one has done some deep
meditation practice, a similar state of mind will arise.
When there is no such dense
bhava-kamma to arise, then a comparatively less dense kamma will arise.
Whatever memory is awakened will manifest as the kamma. For example, one may
remember a wholesome kamma of giving food to a saintly person, or one may
remember killing someone. Reflections on such past kammas as these may arise.
Otherwise, objects related to the particular kamma may arise. One may see the
plate full of food that was offered as dana, or the gun that was used to kill
another. These are called the kamma-nimittas (signs).
In another case, a sign or a symbol
of the next life may appear. This is called gati-nimitta (departing sign).
These nimmitas correspond to whichever bhava-loka the flow is being attracted
towards, such as the scene of some celestial world, or perhaps of an animal
world. The dying person will often experience one of these signs as a
forewarning, just as the train's headlight illuminates the track ahead. The
vibrations of these nimittas are identical to the vibrations of the plane of
existence of the next birth.
A good Vipassana meditator has the
capacity to avoid the tracks leading to the lower realms of existence. He
clearly understands the laws of nature, and practices to keep himself ready for
death at all times. If he has reached an advanced age, there is all the more
reason to remain aware every moment. What preparations are undertaken? One
practices Vipassana, remaining equanimous to whatever sensations arise on the
body and thereby breaking the habit pattern of reacting to the unpleasant
sensations. Thus the mind, which is usually generating new unwholesome
sankharas, develops a new habit of remaining equanimous.
Very often at the time
of death, if there are no very heavy sankharas to arise, habitual reactions
occur; and as the new sankhara is being made, an old one from the storehouse
might get stirred up onto the surface, gaining in strength as it arises.
At the approach of death, it is
very likely that one will experience very unpleasant sensations. Old age,
disease and death are dukkha (misery). They produce unpleasant sensations of a
grosser type. If one is not skillful in observing these sensations with
equanimity, then one will be likely to react with feelings of anger,
irritation, maybe malice, which provides an opportunity for a bhava-sankhara of
like vibration to arise.
However, as in the cases of some well developed Vipassana meditators, one can work to avoid reacting to these immensely painful
sensations by maintaining equanimity at the time of death. Then, even those
related bhava-sankharas lying deep in the bhavanga (seat of birth-producing
kamma) will not have an opportunity to arise.
An ordinary person will usually
remain apprehensive, even terror-stricken at the approach of death and thus
will give occasion for a fearful bhava-sankhara to surface. In the same way,
grief, sorrow, depression, and other feelings may arise at the thought of
separation from loved ones, and the related sankhara will come up and dominate
the mind.
A Vipassana meditator, by observing
all his or her sensations with equanimity, weakens the sankhara and thus does
not allow it to arise at the time of death.
The real preparation for death is
this: developing a habit pattern of repeatedly observing the sensations
manifesting in the body and mind with equanimity and with the understanding of
anicca.
At the time of death, this strong
habit of equanimity will automatically appear and the train of existence will
link up with a track on which it will be possible to practice Vipassana in the
new life. In this way, one saves oneself from birth in a lower realm and
attains one of the higher realms, which is very important because Vipassana
cannot be practiced in the lower realms.
A meditator who is on the point of
death is fortunate to have close relatives or friends nearby who can help maintain
a good Dhamma atmosphere, free from lamenting and gloom; people who can practice
Vipassana and generate vibrations of mettā, which are most favourable for a
peaceful death.
At times a non-meditator will
attain a favourable rebirth at the time of death due to the manifestation of
wholesome bhava-sankharas such as generosity, morality and other strong
wholesome qualities. But the special achievement of an established Vipassana
meditator is that he enables himself to attain an existence where he can continue
to practice Vipassana. In this way, by slowly decreasing the stock of
accumulated bhava-sankharas stored in the bhavanga of his flow of
consciousness, one shortens one's journey of becoming and reaches the goal
sooner.
One comes into contact with the
Dhamma in this life because of great merits one has performed in the past. Make
this human life successful by practising Vipassana. Then whenever death comes,
it will come with the experience of an equanimous mind, bringing with it
well-being for the future.
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Through countless eons and endless
time, may every moment of Vipassana practice go for the true happiness,
liberation of all beings, in all the world systems
