Preparing for your last breath

All kinds of beings surely come to death,
They have always died, will always die,
In the same way I shall surely die,
I have no doubt about this.

In this well-known verse of the Dharma, one of the natural laws is pointed out to us all: that whatever has been born will surely die sooner or later. This has always been so in the past and will continue to be the case in the future. Having arisen, all sorts of things, sentient and insentient, are sure to decay and pass out of existence. And this law applies not just to beings and things 'out there', but to each and every one of us. We should be the people who can say of the certainty of death: ‘Doubt about this does not exist in me’. However, it is a different matter to know about this intellectually and to remember it occasionally and on the other hand to act with knowledge that we shall surely die. Quite a number of people behave as though they were sure of not dying, and some as though they were sure that intentional actions (kamma) have no results. But this is like the foolish view of the ostrich which is said to bury its head in the sands on the approach of an enemy, assuming that because the enemy could no longer be seen, therefore he no longer existed. The way of the ostrich does not help us with death.

To people who know but little Dharma, death seems something strange, something never before experienced. And because of this at least such people fear death. The question is, do we have need to fear death, or not? And if not, then why not? The answer here depends on the actions of individual people. Some people will have cause to fear dying, others will have no cause. What are the causes, which bring about the fear of death, and what are the causes which lead to a peaceful death? Fear, generally, is brought about by the presence of some defilements of the heart (kilesa) and by the sort of actions which are born of these defilements. For instance, suppose a person is very much attached to the pleasures of this world. Such a person is delighted by and attached to what is beautiful to the eye, ear, nose, tongue and body. This attachment to these things is an aspect of greed (or lobha). The greed for enjoyment or sensual happiness which is in the heart stimulates the search for pleasant sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches. When these are experienced, the enjoyment, reflection and longing for them makes new karma concerned with desire and so strengthens the greed in the heart. And where there is greed, more or less strong, there will be aversion also, for when a person has greed which cannot be 'satisfied' he may well become angry. And with greed and aversion, there must be delusion as well, for only deluded people could allow them-selves to become greedy and angry, seeing how much harm they do to themselves whenever these defilements arise. So, the more bound up with the pleasures and comforts of this life we are, the more attachment to people and possessions we have, the more difficult it is likely to be for us to die when the time comes for this. Even if we have little greed and little aversion, still we shall have some attachments, and to some extent fear, at the approach of death. And as we are in the position of being ordinary people with these defilements in our hearts now, we should think of what is to be done so that we can, whenever our time comes, die well. Dying well implies living well now. And living well, in the Buddhist sense, means that besides enjoyment we lead a life worthy of a human being and in it, benefit others.

We have obtained a human body. This is called a most precious advantage. We have this human body because in the past we have lived as human beings and done some actions which are suitable for human beings. When we have managed to gain human birth, we should use our excellent chance in this life to choose the path of goodness and benefit. As human beings we can choose - either good or evil, the beneficial or the harmful, the path of development or the path of deterioration. Having a human birth this time, we should live up to the status of human beings. And the status of human beings means the practice of the Five Precepts (not killing, not taking what is not given, no wrong conduct in sexual relations, not speaking falsely and not taking intoxicants to confuse the mind) in our daily lives. Conduct which is below this level, meaning the breaking of these Five Precepts, is not called the conduct of humans. It is subhuman, and such evil kamma leads to fear of death and to the various fearful sorts of sub‑human existence which are experienced by evil‑doers, according to the fruits of their karma. But the Five Precepts are called the Human Dharma (manusa‑dharma), they are the Dharma to be practised by those who wish to be born again the human realm. In fact they are the minimum practice of Dharma for mankind.

Now in practising them we make ourselves happy. Why is this? The person who kills no living beings, does not take what is not given, and so on, has pure conduct through two of the three 'doors' of expression: such a person will be pure in body‑conduct, and pure in speech as well. One who guards bodily actions and speech makes good karma in these respects. Such a person does not harm themselves by doing actions with the body or saying such words, as wise and intelligent people condemn. And because of his pure outward conduct, his mind, the third of the three doors of expression, will be more peaceful, less disturbed, and so more happy. And a person like this who does no harm to themselves by keeping the Five Precepts, also harms no one else. In fact such a person causes others to become happy. 

Some people have said that it is not enough merely to refrain from taking life, from taking what is not given, from wrong conduct in sexual relations, from false speech and from intoxicants causing carelessness, and that this is only negative avoidance of evil without any corresponding practice of goodness. Actually, the Five Precepts are not just negative avoidance, for when one does not destroy living beings, one gives them security and peace ‑ and so on for the other precepts. Moreover, a person who practises these Five Precepts of restraint is also encouraged to take up the Five Ennobling Qualities corresponding to the Precepts. Thus we have the practice of Loving‑kindness and Compassion (metta‑karuna) corresponding to the first precept. With the second goes Right Livelihood (samma‑ajiva). Along with the third there is Contentedness (santutthi), while with the fourth there is the obvious practice of Truth (sacca), and the fifth precept has for its counterpart Carefulness (appamada). Now when we think about the life of a person who practises the Five Precepts and the Five Ennobling Qualities, we see that having not harmed others, nor having chosen to deteriorate in his own mind, this person’s life leads to freedom from worry, anxiety and fear. When the bases from which fear arises, the defilements, are even partially removed from the heart and when they are replaced by reasoned faith, moral conduct, generosity and wisdom, what chance has fear?

So with ourselves, since we hope to die with peace in our hearts, unplagued by remorse, thinking of all the good we have done in this life and of all the benefits received by others because our conduct has been in accordance with Dharma, we should make efforts to practise Dharma now. It is sure that Dharma practised now protects one when death comes, for has not Lord Buddha, who has overcome death, said: "Certainly the Dharma protects the Dharma‑practiser, the Dharma well practised brings happiness to him or her. It is the karma made by ourselves which determines our future births, it is our karma which is our companion in the next life. Mother, father, relatives and wealth cannot help at all the person at the point of death. But good karma, the actions which have purified our own hearts and benefited others, these can help. If we want this sort of help, then we should help ourselves and others now.

Of course, these days there are so many people who do not believe in rebirth. They say we have one life now,
and after death we are finished. If this is so, life is reduced to a meaningless round of toil or pleasure. Where people hold that their single life should be devoted only for the good of the world and the advance of civilisation, they must be blind indeed if they cannot see that the evils of this world cannot all be cured by materialistic science. Some conditions are improved, some things worsen, but everywhere life becomes more complex, with more problems. If we live only to try to straighten out the tangles of material life, then we shall never get to any lasting goal at all, for all the constituents of the material world are ever changing, and not only changing but deteriorating as well. For instance, a beautifully smooth new road in five years time will be pot‑holed ‑ and the same law holds good for the whole of the material world. Perhaps then, the attainment of a glorious golden age of materialism is not the purpose of existence here.

Then perhaps it is the case, as some 'one‑lifers' would have it, that we exist to have a good time and enjoy ourselves to the full, just as we like and when we like. But this theory, when we examine it, does not appear praiseworthy. For all desires breed conflicts, and the more desires there are, and the more openly they are expressed, the more conflicts, troubles and sorts of unhappiness are born.

Rather than such meaningless and despairing theories, there is the Dharma, which clearly explains why we are here, that we are what we are because we have made ourselves as we find ourselves now. If we are not satisfied with what we find in ourselves, then there is Dharma as the way of training ourselves and benefiting others. And it is now that we make for ourselves the future. If we wish that future to be full of happiness and freedom, we should be wise and practise Dharma now. It is no use just before death regretting that one did not practise. Regrets do no good, but sincere practise now certainly does.

Or look at this from a different point of view. All of us are looking for happiness and comfort (sukha) all the time. So, for that matter, are all living beings. Now when we experience discomfort and what is unsatisfactory (dukkha) we try to evade it and seek again for happiness. For instance, one's body gets tired or cramped from sitting in one position for too long and so we change the position ‑ we seek comfort and try to get away from discomfort. This bodily dukkha is with us all the time as minor discomfort, or as great pain, but we always look for its opposite ‑ sukha or happiness. Similarly, our minds stained with the defilements must also feel sorrow, from mild regrets to the depths of despair, but we seek to find mental happiness all the time. As our search, and the search of other living beings, is always in the direction of happiness and away from suffering, we shall be wise to order our lives now so that the factors giving rise to happiness are always present, and those giving rise to sufferings of various sorts are minimised. Now the factors leading to or supporting happiness are the various aspects of Dharma practice.

It is true that happiness arises from material things, called amisa‑sukha, but this is a very changeable and transitory pleasure ‑ and as people and things change and deteriorate, so this pleasure associated with them will vanish away and be succeeded by sufferings and regrets. But practice of Dharma produces happiness which none can remove, for the fruits of practice are within one's own heart. When a person is generous and practises Dana, or giving, they think of their intended gifts and such thoughts bring happiness: they are happy at the time of giving too, while afterwards thinking back over what they have done, they are also happy. And the same applies to other factors of Dharma practice, such as Sila or moral conduct, and Bhavana or meditation. People who have made efforts to practise these Dharma factors in their lives really have some good karma to collect when they die. And if they die recollecting the goodness done by them and the benefits others have received, then their hearts cannot be fearful or bewildered. So Dharma is not just for old people who have come near to death. Dharma is not just for monks and nuns but for lay-people as well ‑ for who does not want to find the way beyond conflicts and unhappiness, and gain happiness and peace?

There is Dharma for everyone, according to their lives and according to their understanding. Lord Buddha, out of compassion for us, has bequeathed to us this wonderful Dharma which is like a medicine to cure all ills. And all of us need to be cured of disease, for all of us have the ills of greed, aversion and delusion in our hearts. The medicine of Dharma is there for us to take, if we wish to get well. Even the greatest of all physicians, Lord Buddha, cannot force us to take it if we do not wish to do so. But he does tell us what will be the consequences of refusing to take the medicine: that we shall be bound to the wheel of birth and death, blinded by ignorance of the Truth within ourselves and, driven onward to more dukkha by the burning craving in our hearts. What is it best to do? To remove scales of ignorance from our own eyes so that we see the Truth and win happiness and peace free from insecurity, and lead others along in this way? To remove from our hearts even little by little the raging fire of desires and so discover the cool and certain refuge there? Or should we continue blind and diseased as we are, leading others by uncertain ways?

We have the medicine with us. It has kept well for 2500 years and more and still has the full strength to cure disease, because Truth does not change. Nor in all this long time have the diseases to be cured changed. All that is needed is our own effort to reach for this medicine and take it as prescribed ‑ practising the Dharma according to Dharma - and if we are taking this medicine already, then to make sure that we continue regularly with it. No medicine cures merely by being praised and worshipped in bottles and phials: we have to apply it as the doctor has ordered. Then our praise of its special powers will be founded on our own experience of its curative properties. And we do not need to believe in medicine for it to work, for, providing that we take it, the medicine will do its work regardless of whether we believe in it or not. Similarly with Dharma, which we do not have to believe in. We have only to practise it to find out whether it works. 

Our Great Teacher, sometimes called Bhesajjarajaguru ‑ the Regal Physician Teacher - first cured himself with the Dharma‑medicine and then he offered it to others for them to apply. And both in the Buddha’s time and down to the present day, there have always been those who are applying the medicine, and those who come to be cured. Theirs indeed is the Supreme Happiness, the Paramasukha, of those who have gone beyond the fleeting events of recurrent birth and death and found peace and security in themselves far excelling the transitory pleasures of this brief life.

Death is the natural end of all of us. When it will come we cannot know. But we can be prepared for it with Dharma. ‘Dhammo bhave rakkhati dhammacarim ‑ certainly the Dharma protects the Dharma practiser; Dhammo sucinno sukharnavahati ‑ the Dharma well‑practised bring happiness’. We shall be wise if we make efforts so that this applies to ourselves. So at our time of death, we can rejoice in the generous and virtuous life we have led.	

Laurence – Khantipalo.