Spiritual Practices to prepare for your Death

[tulku]

If you know you only have a few months of your life left, what kind of spiritual practices would you do in order to prepare for your death?

[Informer]

The same as if I was living forever. As much as is within my ability.

[ATMA]

[tulku]

[C T]

Every moment, every breath, every thought....

 

Presence ~ The highest preparatory practice for connecting with the deathless nature of mind.

[Jetsun]

I would probably start with repentance or maybe go on a bender to Amsterdam first then repent afterwards.

[Jetsun]

So no one is gonna tell me which spiritual practices to do?

 

It is ok.

 

I can find out more about those practices on my own.

 

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying has some good advice about what emotions to expect, you may find the biggest problem being other peoples reactions and pain rather than your own. There is a specific practice the Dalai Lama does to practice dying but I am unsure what it is called, I remember him talking about it once saying he is looking forward to the challenge of death because it is a great opportunity to let go of all clinging and attachments once and for all, but before then basic letting go meditation is good preparation.

[Rishi Das]

Awareness in all that you do...Find peace within this moment...and this moment...and this moment.

Edited November 4, 2011 by don_vedo

[Aaron]

Jesus... could you stop starting three new posts every freaking day. We all know you're here. Do you really need that much attention? I mean if they had any substance that would be fine, but you type a sentence, scream "look at me!Look at me!" Then start another once people stop paying attention to you.

 

The fact you are still around after posting pictures of naked dead women, insinuating you would beat to death a woman if she offended you, and so many other things, tells me someone is not paying attention here. you are sick, plain and simple, and you need serious psychological help before you do actually hurt someone.

 

 

Aaron

Edited November 4, 2011 by Twinner

[orb]

Jesus... could you stop starting three new posts every freaking day. We all know you're here. Do you really need that much attention? I mean if they had any substance that would be fine, but you type a sentence, scream "look at me!Look at me!" Then start another once people stop paying attention to you.

 

The fact you are still around after posting pictures of naked dead women, insinuating you would beat to death a woman if she offended you, and so many other things, tells me someone is not paying attention here. you are sick, plain and simple, and you need serious psychological help before you do actually hurt someone.

 

 

Aaron

 

 

Good call sir!

[konchog uma]

If you know you only have a few months of your life left, what kind of spiritual practices would you do in order to prepare for your death?

 

first i would quit complaining about the state of the world and of people in general. If my attitude sucked as bad as yours does, i would be really concerned that that sort of pettiness wouldn't bring desirable results in the hereafter. The spirits that govern death are serious and ruthless and don't have time for the crap you have so much time for. Focus on the immediate essentials of your life and let the rest be part of the divine plan, its meaning and purpose doesnt have to be known to you. That is a spiritual practice.

 

emptiness meditation is great too.

[Jeff]

If you know you only have a few months of your life left, what kind of spiritual practices would you do in order to prepare for your death?

 

The key is to be fully present and not sleep through it. Why would you worry about practices? With your knowledge, why would you be worried about death of the body?

 

[ATMA]

you are sick, plain and simple, and you need serious psychological help before you do actually hurt someone.

-Aarron

 

http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?/topic/4237-insult-policy-reminder/

 

I doubt I can reason with your inflated ego but I will say that i believe tullku (consciously or unconsciously) offers you an amazing opportunity for your own spiritual growth and you continually flub it out the window. These outbursts you continuously release on his threads are no help to anyone. They are detrimental to everyone EXCEPT tulku by bringing a dark energy to the boards and leading by example other members. They are even more detrimental to yourself. Be it non-verbal communication leaves much confusion, I find your posts regarding/to tulku to be very revealing of your current state in spiritual development. Tulku gives you an amazing opportunity to exercise your restraint. It's quite possible that is his sole intention on these boards, not just for you, but for anyone primitive enough to bite at his provocative posts in an impulse of ego wrath.

 

I mean no offense even though some of my words seem insulting (primitive, less advanced, etc.) I would be a hypocrite to enter into a ego-wrath match with you so if that is you give into a rush of ego flood an assault me I suppose you should reread my post. I really believe this is all positive. Good luck.

 

Ommmm.

[Thunder_Gooch]

So no one is gonna tell me which spiritual practices to do?

 

It is ok.

 

I can find out more about those practices on my own.

 

 

No one here is going to tell you because no one here knows any.

 

There are maybe 100 people on this earth that could accurately answer your question, and they aren't on the internet, they haven't written books about it, and they aren't teaching publicly.

Edited November 4, 2011 by More_Pie_Guy

[doc benway]

If you know you only have a few months of your life left, what kind of spiritual practices would you do in order to prepare for your death?

 

Death will take care of itself

I think you would benefit more from asking:

How to prepare for my life?

[thelerner]

Death will take care of itself

I think you would benefit more from asking:

How to prepare for my life?

I think Animatva had a good answer here:

 

"first i would quit complaining about the state of the world and of people in general. If my attitude sucked as bad as yours does, i would be really concerned that that sort of pettiness wouldn't bring desirable results in the hereafter. . Focus on the immediate essentials of your life and let the rest be part of the divine plan, its meaning and purpose doesnt have to be known to you. That is a spiritual practice.

 

emptiness meditation is great too."

 

 

Note: I knocked out the part about spirits of death, because who really knows? We conjecture, but death may be a simple off switch, no different then any other living thing. When the brain dies, we're dead, zero, zip.

 

I don't know. It will take decades of serious meditation (& deep dreamwork) and life experience before I (maybe) know anything. Decades..no short cuts. Live, learn, love, cut wood, carry water all with increasing mindfulness (or maybe no mind).

[konchog uma]

Note: I knocked out the part about spirits of death, because who really knows? We conjecture, but death may be a simple off switch, no different then any other living thing. When the brain dies, we're dead, zero, zip.

 

thanks michael, i guess i should have said "i have read that the spirits who govern death" or "it is said that.." or something. From my own personal experience i have only been in the light once in an AWEsome near death experience, and it was so peaceful, and full of unconditional love and acceptance without question, that maybe even tulku could not help but feel calm and at peace there. So that was indeed conjecture, although i tend to doubt that consciousness is a physical phenomenon that dies when the body does, that too is conjecture from a certain point of view. I guess we all just have our gut instincts and maybe teachings to follow on the subject, so let leave it at that!

 

i might point out good sir that you saying that any other living being has a simple off switch might be conjecture as well. Maybe dogs do go to heaven! Some people say that everything has a spirit and that this spirit is neither created or destroyed but just transmutates to different form between lifetimes, so who really knows?

[thelerner]

Some people say that everything has a spirit and that this spirit is neither created or destroyed but just transmutates to different form between lifetimes, so who really knows?

I agree.

 

Let me plug my story, (damn I forgot my own stories tittle) "Shade and Snake" its in my Personal Discussion site, under Misc Stories. Its somewhat unedited, but it has one of my versions of the afterlife in it.

 

 

 

 

I think the only animal we really know goes to heaven is the cow. After all when a Zen Master is asked does this or that animal go to heaven, they reply- Mooo

Edited November 4, 2011 by thelerner

[Bubbles]

Death will take care of itself

I think you would benefit more from asking:

How to prepare for my life?

 

Another way of putting it may be: Death is already occurring instant by instant as it is life's unfolding. Each moment is annihilated by the coming of the next. So finding how to live fully each moment is finding how to die gracefully.

Edited November 4, 2011 by bubbles

[Aaron]

http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?/topic/4237-insult-policy-reminder/

 

I doubt I can reason with your inflated ego but I will say that i believe tullku (consciously or unconsciously) offers you an amazing opportunity for your own spiritual growth and you continually flub it out the window. These outbursts you continuously release on his threads are no help to anyone. They are detrimental to everyone EXCEPT tulku by bringing a dark energy to the boards and leading by example other members. They are even more detrimental to yourself. Be it non-verbal communication leaves much confusion, I find your posts regarding/to tulku to be very revealing of your current state in spiritual development. Tulku gives you an amazing opportunity to exercise your restraint. It's quite possible that is his sole intention on these boards, not just for you, but for anyone primitive enough to bite at his provocative posts in an impulse of ego wrath.

 

I mean no offense even though some of my words seem insulting (primitive, less advanced, etc.) I would be a hypocrite to enter into a ego-wrath match with you so if that is you give into a rush of ego flood an assault me I suppose you should reread my post. I really believe this is all positive. Good luck.

 

Ommmm.

 

 

Hello ATMA,

 

I understand that you are making a judgement regarding my behavior and attributing it to my ego, and that's fine, I have an ego and perhaps it is inflated, but what I might recommend is that you consider that my reaction was appropriate given the amount of time that Tulku has been behaving the way he has. He has been here a few months now and his behavior has been negative, abusive, and destructive, if not emotionally, then certainly spiritually. He has been trolling for reactions, making absurd and offensive statements for far longer than my patience warrants. Everything I said was truthful. He is in need of help, I think the majority of the people here see that. If I thought addressing him with compassion would've done any good, I would've but compassion comes in many forms.

 

A priest was in charge of an orphanage many years ago, one of the boys at the orphanage was angry and disruptive. Over and over he would lash out at the other children, biting them, hitting them, even spitting on them. The priest, a man with great patience, took the boy aside each time and talked to him and tried to be kind, knowing the boy was angry at being abandoned by his parents, but the boy was far too angry to listen, and kept acting out. One day the priest called to him to come in for dinner and he ran away from him towards the street, the priest chased after him and caught him just before he ran into the street. At that moment a car whizzed by, narrowly missing both of them.

 

The priest dragged the boy inside and spanked him til the boy began to cry. Then the priest dragged the boy into the room where the other children were eating and made him apologize to everyone in the room, then after the boy apologized to the children, he told the boy he needed to apologize to him as well. The boy was shocked and asked what he needed to apologize to the priest for? The priest answered, "I hurt my hand spanking you." The boy apologized and began crying, the priest took him out of the room and the boy talked to him for the first time.

 

This isn't a made up story, I heard it in college, it was a personal essay written by another student in my class. Years later this student still returned to the orphanage to help the priest and the nuns. He said that it was that moment when this man, who had been so kind to him, had finally broken down and spanked him, that he realized all the pain he was causing others.

 

Compassion is not just talking nice, sometimes it involves shaking someone's conscience til they understand something is wrong. I don't think Tulku has gotten the message yet, but essentially he is hurting and because he is hurting he is causing others pain. I have tried the nice approach, but it didn't work, so in the end I did what I do to all bullies, I push back, defend myself and others.

 

Now this might seem strange for someone who advocates passive resistance, but there are two types of resistance, resistance against the abuses of society and individual resistance, against those individuals within a society who are causing harm to others. In the first case it is far more beneficial to resist passively, to try and avoid the many and commune with others peacefully whenever possible, but in the second case, when someone comes into that community believing they are more important than others and attempt to bully the rest into submission, then you have to put your foot down and show them the door and let them find a community where their behavior is acceptable. Unfortunately I don't think there is any place like that for Tulku, and despite what you might think, I feel very sorry for him and I wish that he could find some peace for his troubled mind, but at the same time I don't think it's beneficial to allow the one to harm the many simply because he has not learned to behave appropriately.

 

If anyone thinks anything I said was dishonest or untruthful, then I will be the first to apologize, but I think that most of the people here understood Tulku's motives as I have.

 

My advice is that in the future, rather than jumping to conclusions, allow yourself some time to understand what is going on. Sometimes the man being chased down isn't the victim, but the culprit.

 

Aaron

 

edit- Also, I don't think anyone deserves to suffer, regardless of what they do, but sadly, sometimes it is only through suffering that change can occur.

Edited November 5, 2011 by Twinner

[konchog uma]

If anyone thinks anything I said was dishonest or untruthful, then I will be the first to apologize, but I think that most of the people here understood Tulku's motives as I have.

 

oh i think you're right on Aaron

 

tulku needs to stop playing baby games and address life on life's terms, and no amount of coddling is going to encourage him to do it. I find his bullshit as annoying and selfish as you do. The irony is that the expression of his selfishness is so egotistical that he ends up being what he despises so vigorously in post after post. ..after post.. etc.

 

I see it all as a cry for attention too, and sometimes compassion means skillful means, or the appropriate reaction to the situation, not just pity and sympathy. Sometimes it means a nice big cup of hot steaming truth is what a person needs to drink, instead of the negative attention they are trolling for.

 

The sad thing about it is that tulku seems to feel that negative attention is better than no attention at all. If he would apply his vigorous zeal to practice and insight, instead of posting incendiary topics here in some desperate plea for attention, he would probably have something worth saying after a while. And the silence in between him saying it and his saying the last thing he said would probably give it a lot more weight! But instead its five posts a day, each of them worse than the last.

 

I pray for his peace just like everyone else who cares, but i'm all for the bitter medicine. You don't bother me with it one bit.