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+ | ====== Buddhismus und Tod ====== | ||
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+ | Summary: | ||
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+ | ==== The Great Unmentionable ==== | ||
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+ | <div chapter> | ||
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+ | (//Note:// It is still often thought today that any form of belief in an afterlife is " | ||
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+ | It is sometimes said that Death today has replaced Sex as "The Great Unmentionable," | ||
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+ | ===== The Traditional Christian View ===== | ||
+ | |||
+ | This asserts that man has an immortal soul, created by God. After death a man will, in some shape or form, receive the reward or punishment for his deeds on earth. In short, the good will go to heaven and the wicked to hell. Heaven and hell are everlasting. Of course, many Christians — even fairly " | ||
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+ | ===== The Modern Secular View ===== | ||
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+ | According to this view, which usually claims to be " | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== The Buddhist Attitude ===== | ||
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+ | The Buddhist attitude to both of these types of view is that they are // | ||
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+ | What actually happens according to Buddhism can only be clearly understood if we have some acquaintance with the Buddhist view of the general nature of man. But before considering this (as far as it is relevant to our subject), it may be as well to observe how the Buddhist view can be misinterpreted. If we say, for instance, that in the Buddhist view man is not distinguished from animals by the possession of an " | ||
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+ | In this case, the true Buddhist view is that the impersonal stream of consciousness flows on — impelled by ignorance and craving — from life to life. Though the process is impersonal, the illusion of personality continues as it does in this life. | ||
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+ | In terms of Absolute Truth, there is no " | ||
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+ | We may therefore say that Buddhism, rejecting Annihilationism outright, partly agrees with the Eternalists, | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Implications of " | ||
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+ | It makes a considerable difference to our outlook on life, whether we believe in //any// form of survival or not. Those who entirely reject the idea of survival inevitably concentrate all their ambitions and hopes, for themselves and others, on this single life on earth. This life, they feel, is all they have and for them the only reasonable goal can be the achievement of //some// kind of mundane satisfaction or contentment in this world — all else being meaningless. The precise implications of such an attitude will depend greatly on a person' | ||
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+ | In addition, there are very many people who are more or less (in some cases greatly) tormented by the fear of utter extinction at death. To point out that this is illogical is useless. For many such, fear of cancer or other fatal diseases, or war and other disasters, is not made any easier to bear because they see no future for themselves beyond the grave. Those who preach the "we have only one life" gospel too enthusiastically may forget in their zeal for good causes the serious psychological harm such talk can do. | ||
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+ | Fear of death is not, of course, confined to those who do not believe in an after-life. It is in fact universal. "In that sleep of death what dreams may come" is a thought that has given pause to many besides Hamlet, and in the past many have gone terrified of hell-fire — and some still do. Probably, however, most believers or would-be believers in survival today settle in fact for something vaguely comforting, a trifle wishful, and with few clearly envisaged details. | ||
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+ | It should be noted that lack of belief in survival is not entirely incompatible with a religious attitude, though probably most sincere believers in all religions have some such faith, however vague. The Jewish religion, for instance, has little to say on an after-life (though this is not denied), and probably many orthodox Jews have little or no faith in one. This is partly due to the reticence of most of the Hebrew Bible (known to Christians as the Old Testament) on the subject, and in this connection the well-known concern of Jews with their race and its continuance is significant — as in the case of the secularists noted above. The relation, of course, is an inverse one: the Jew, concerned with racial survival, thinks little about personal survival. The secularist, rejecting personal survival, pins his hopes on that of the race. The concern of many Christian churchmen with social problems today often goes together with a marked reticence on the subject of survival, and occasionally even with a degree of open skepticism. In some cases this looks like a scarcely-veiled capitulation to the dominant materialistic outlook of the present age. | ||
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+ | Of course there are many who believe — rightly or wrongly — that they can get in touch with the departed. Mediums who claim to be able to do this are numerous, and while some (it is impossible to say how many) are fraudulent, and some others are self-deluded, | ||
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+ | ===== Repression ===== | ||
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+ | Since in fact a fear of death is deep-rooted in everybody, the propagation of an attitude of total skepticism can do much harm. Even a great psychologist like the late Dr. Ernest Jones, the biographer of Freud, considered it necessary to declare that it was important to eliminate from one's mind all belief in an after-life. Now if, in fact, it could somehow be finally proved (which it cannot) that there is no such thing, and if further it were // | ||
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+ | ===== Consequences ===== | ||
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+ | The consequences of a definite denial of the possibility of survival (so highly praised by Dr. Jones) are the persistence of the fear of death, in either an overt or repressed form. Either way there is a distortion of the psyche with resultant suffering, whatever the exact form it may take. Since such an attitude of denial is very widespread in many parts of the world today (and even officially prescribed in some places), these deleterious effects, on a very wide scale, are quite inevitable. In passing, in may be presumed that if in fact there were no survival, we would not have this built-in fear of death. | ||
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+ | In present circumstances, | ||
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+ | The social and personal drawbacks of the " | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Death and the Buddhist ===== | ||
+ | |||
+ | What, then, should be a truly Buddhist attitude towards death? Let us first note that in traditional Christianity, | ||
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+ | However, when one is actually dying it is a bit late to //begin// thinking seriously about death. We should familiarize ourselves with the thought long before we hope it will happen! And besides, even for the young and strong, it can still come with unexpected suddenness. //Mors certa — hora incerta//, "Death is certain — the hour is uncertain." | ||
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+ | We all fear death, but actually we should also fear the rebirth that follows. In practice, this does not always happen. Fear of rebirth is less strong than death. This is part of our usual short-sighted view (for those who do actually believe in rebirth), and the fact must be faced. Full Enlightenment will only be achieved when there is the will to transcend //all// forms of " | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Death-Wish ===== | ||
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+ | Though there is a strong fear of death, there is, strangely enough, also a desire for it. Psycho-analysis has a good deal to say about this, though it is perhaps not very illuminating. But the fact remains that many people show suicidal tendencies, or even actually commit suicide, whatever be the explanation. The Buddha in fact included this " | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Psychology of Survivalism and Anti-Survivalism ===== | ||
+ | |||
+ | It is, of course, easy to suggest that those who believe in some form of survival are victims of wishful thinking, fantasy, and the like. And in many cases there is a good deal of truth in the allegation. But what is less often realized is the fact that the opposite situation also exists. As has been indicated, quite a number of cases can be found of a curiously fanatical and intolerant belief in "death as the end." That this attitude masks a repressed death-fear has been suggested above. It also betrays a measure of conceit: by adopting it one appears " | ||
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+ | Apart from these factors, this attitude also, curiously enough, gives a certain sense of " | ||
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+ | The assumption is in effect that since, admittedly and obviously, there are some fraudulent mediums and so on, therefore //all// such people are fraudulent or at any rate deluded. Quite a number of books and articles have appeared in recent years, assiduously " | ||
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+ | In view of all this, it is important to be aware of the psychological motives which may underlie different attitudes to this whole problem — not only in others but in oneself. While excessive credulity and uncritical dabbling in the occult is to be deplored (and has its own serious dangers), the opposite extreme of total rejection should also be treated with more suspicion and reserve than it often gets. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Spiritualism and the Occult ===== | ||
+ | |||
+ | While Buddhism certainly does not encourage too much preoccupation with these matters, it does not of course deny the existence of various classes of " | ||
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+ | Responsible occultists — of whom there are many — are themselves, of course, thoroughly well aware of the dangers of incautious involvement with these matters, which they often stress. The inhabitants of the various realms are //not// enlightened beings, and while some are undoubtedly much wiser and more advanced than the average human, others are not, and can even exert a definitely malevolent power. | ||
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+ | It is not in the province of Buddhist monks to practice any of the occult arts — it is in fact forbidden them in terms — although it is not infrequently done in the East. Western Buddhists should actually also not concern themselves with such matters. If they nevertheless do so (as many will, whatever is said to the contrary), they should at least be extremely careful to consult only responsible and conscientious practitioners, | ||
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+ | The beings of higher worlds are known in Buddhism as //devas//, and it seems certain that many of them are truly concerned to help mankind as far as lies in their power. It might even be suggested that there is perhaps no essential difference between the higher devas and the // | ||
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+ | Some people are naturally psychic, and some even develop psychic powers as a result, or by-product, of meditation. Such powers are perfectly real, but should not be sought after or clung to, if attained. If they are gained without sufficient insight or moral purification, | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== What is Death? ===== | ||
+ | |||
+ | We now come to the Buddhist definition of death. According to the Ven. Nyanatiloka,< | ||
+ | |||
+ | This definition is very important. Each moment (i.e., millions of times a second) " | ||
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+ | Death, then, except in the case of the arahant (to which we shall briefly refer), is in the Buddhist view inseparable from rebirth. But two kinds of rebirth are distinguished: | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== What is Rebirth? ===== | ||
+ | |||
+ | Though " | ||
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+ | The reason why rebirth, of whatever kind, takes place is because of the unexpended force of //ta.nhaa// or craving, conditioned by ignorance. This force of ignorance and craving is comparable to a powerful electric current. To suppose that it just ceases at physical death is actually quite unreasonable, | ||
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+ | " | ||
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+ | The Western assumption that character and mental traits are genetically inherited is not accepted in Buddhism; true, there may be some genetic element, apart from the purely physical side, but essential inheritance here is karmic. The apparent inheritance of mental traits can be explained in many other ways. In part, it is mere assumption. If a child turns out to be musical, people will recall that his uncle George used to play the clarinet, a fact which would have been forgotten had the child been tone-deaf. Parental and other environmental influences can undoubtedly account for much, especially when we allow for unconscious (telepathic) influence. Sir Alister Hardy has even suggested that genes may be capable of being influenced telepathically. Further, the " | ||
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+ | ===== Death and the Arahant ===== | ||
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+ | For one who has attained full Enlightenment in this life, the death of the body brings with it the end of all individual existence: this at least is the Theravada teaching. This is called // | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Meditation and Death ===== | ||
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+ | In his elaborate survey of Buddhist meditation methods, the Ven. Dr. Vajira~naa.na says this of the meditation on mindfulness of death: "It virtually belongs to the Vipassanaa meditation, for the disciple should develop it while holding the perception of //anicca//, //dukkha//, and // | ||
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+ | When the Ven. Somdet Phra Vanarata, the then Vice-Patriarch of Thailand, visited Wat Dhammapadiipa, | ||
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+ | The standard Meditation on Death is given by Buddhaghosa in Chapter VIII of the // | ||
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+ | " | ||
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+ | Buddhaghosa concludes: "A bhikkhu devoted to mindfulness of death is constantly diligent. He acquires perception of disenchantment with all kinds of becoming (existence). He conquers attachment to life. He condemns evil. He avoids much storing. He has not stain of avarice about requisites. Perception of impermanence grows in him, following upon which there appear the perceptions of pain and not-self. But while beings who have not developed mindfulness of death fall victims to fear, horror and confusion at the time of death as though suddenly seized by wild beasts, spirits, snakes, robbers, or murderers, he dies undeluded and fearless without falling into any such state. And if he does not attain the deathless here and now, he is at least headed for a happy destiny on the break up of the body. | ||
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+ | <div freeverse> | ||
+ | Now when a man is truly wise, | ||
+ | His constant task will surely be | ||
+ | This recollection about death | ||
+ | Blessed with such mighty potency."< | ||
+ | </ | ||
+ | </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Appendix: Science and Survival ===== | ||
+ | <div chapter> | ||
+ | <span anchor # | ||
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+ | There are still those who suppose that it is somehow " | ||
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+ | As has been pointed out earlier, there are psychological reasons why some scientists almost willfully shut their eyes to all evidence for the paranormal; this enables them to continue operating on the assumption that all manifestations of " | ||
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+ | The human brain is a very remarkable organ, which has still been only very superficially explored, owing to obvious practical difficulties in addition to its own quite extraordinary complexity. But quite certainly not all mental activities can be related to it. The various forms of ESP (extra-sensory-perception) phenomena are facts, and nothing in the physical brain has been found to account for them, even by officially materialist Soviet-bloc scientists who have a vested interest in establishing such a connection. Telepathy, for instance, is not (except metaphorically) a form of " | ||
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+ | Now while the existence of telepathy does not in itself prove survival or rebirth — indeed it is often rather freely invoked to " | ||
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+ | There is, of course, a wealth of positive evidence for survival in general and for rebirth in particular. The material collected by the Society for Physical Research over nearly a century is highly impressive, and every single item in these records has been subjected before acceptance to the most stringent tests — far more stringent in fact than for many modern scientific " | ||
+ | </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Notes ===== | ||
+ | <div chapter> | ||
+ | <div notes> | ||
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+ | ? <span fn # | ||
+ | :: Hinsie & Shatzky, // | ||
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+ | ? <span fn # | ||
+ | :: //Buddhist Dictionary//, | ||
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+ | ? <span fn # | ||
+ | :: // | ||
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+ | ? <span fn # | ||
+ | :: The full text of this passage is to be found in //The Der Pfad der Reinigung// (// | ||
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+ | Die [[http:// | ||
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+ | Buddhist Publication Society\\ | ||
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