State of mind in the moment of death

Shinran Shonin said in one of his Letters (Mattosho):

“I, for my own part, attach no significance to the condition, good or bad, of persons in their final moments. People in whom shinjin (faith) is determined do not doubt, and so abide among the truly settled. For this reason, their end also - even for those ignorant and foolish and lacking in wisdom - is a happy one.”

This is for me, one of the most important statements of Shinran Shonin. No matter if I die well, in my bed, or in the street like a homeless person, no matter if I feel good or bad, if I smile and die peacefully with the appearance of a wise person or I cry because of pain or fear, no matter if my death makes a good impression or not, no matter if I die of old age or in my youth, I am accepted exactly as I am and I will be born in the Pure Land because of Amida’s Compassion. This is because, in His Primal Vow, Amida Buddha did not mention a special condition in which I have to die in order to be born in the Pure Land, He just promised that those beings who trust in Him, wish to be born in His land and say His Name will be born there. These three minds – the mind who entrusts in Amida, the mind who wishes to be born in Amida’s Land and the mind who says Nembutsu are in fact one mind –  the manifestations of the entrusting mind.

In Jodo Shinshu our salvation starts in the here and now, that is, we enter the stage of non-retrogression (“truly settled”) or the stage of those assured of Nirvana, in the very moment we entrust ourselves to Amida Buddha, and we are born in the Pure Land where we become immediately Buddhas in the moment we die. But even after we receive shinjin (faith in Amida Buddha) we continue to live our lives like ordinary people, filled with blind passions and illusions, and we can die like ordinary people because of the problems of ordinary people.

However, this very ordinary person is already “received and never abandoned” by the Compassion of Amida Buddha and in this way his end becomes a happy one. He dies like an ordinary person but is reborn as a Buddha in the Pure Land of Amida.

Soldiers are saved by Amida Buddha if they entrust to Him - Honen Shonin's instructions to Samurai Taro Tadatsuma Amakasu

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Selected passages from Honen Shonin 

with commentary

In the province of Musashi there lived a samurai called Taro Tadatsuna Amakasu, who belonged to the Inomata clan and was in the service of the Minamoto family. He was also a devout Nembutsu follower of Honen Shonin. At that time there was a conflict with the monk armies of Mount Hiei who took their stand at the Hiyosho Hachioji shrine. Tadatsuna was put by Imperial command in charge of a body of troops to suppress the uprising. Before going to battle he paid a visit to Honen and said to him: 

“I have often heard you say that even sinners like us, if they will only say the Nembutsu, and put their whole trust in Amida’s Primal Vow, will undoubtedly attain Ojo (birth in the Pure Land). This has made a deep impression upon me, but I suppose it is the case only with those who are lying on a sick bed and calmly waiting for the end to come. But as for myself, being a samurai, I cannot do just as I would like, and now in obedience to an imperial order, I am setting out for the castle at Hachioji to chastise those obstreperous priests of Sammon. I was born in a soldier’s family and trained in the use of the bow and arrow, being on the one hand under obligation not to fail in carrying out at least in some measure the will of my ancestors, and on the other responsible for handling down something of glory to my posterity. And yet if, as a soldier, I abandon myself to the driving back of the enemy, all sorts of wicked and furious passions are likely to be stirred within me, and it becomes very hard to awaken any pious feeling in my heart. If, indeed, I should allow myself to keep thinking all the time about the transitoriness of life, and trying not to forget the truth about attaining Ojo by the Nembutsu, I should be in danger of being taken captive by my enemies, and thereby be eternally branded as a coward, straightway have all my patrimony confiscated, and so for a fool like me it is very hard to decide which of these courses to choose. Will you not tell me how I may accomplish my cherished desire for Ojo, without on the other hand sacrificing the honor of my family as an archer?” 

Simple instructions for beings in the intermediate state (bardo) to be born in the Pure Land

(last update November 26th 2018 - scroll down to read)

Question:

Can a person who did not entrust to Amida Buddha during his life, change his mind and entrust while in the intermediate state between death and the next rebirth (bardo)?

Answer:

I do not recall any passage from Shinran, Rennyo, Honen or other Patriarch of our lineage in which liberation through faith while in bardo was specifically mentioned, but I personally think it is possible. In fact, Shinran too, said a few times in his writings that beings who are born in the Pure Land of Amida Buddha „are not solely from this world”[1], so I don’t see why a bardo being cannot go there  if he comes in accord with Amida’s Primal Vow, that is, if he entrusts to Him, says His Name and wishes to go His Pure Land.  The Primal Vow itself is all inclusive as Amida does not say there that only human beings can go to His Pure Land (- see my explanations of The meaning of "sentient beings of the ten quarters" from the Primal Vow).

A short discussion on suicide by Pure Land followers

Victory Banner - symbol of the victory
of Buddha Dharma. People of shinjin are victorious
  over death and rebirth, because they entrust
themselves to Amida's Power, and are assured of birth 
in the Pure Land, so their last life as samsaric beings may
be one of service, helping others to entrust to Amida and 
be sure of birth in the Pure Land. 

Question by D.K.: Some ancient accounts tell of Pure Land disciples committing suicide in order to go to the Pure Land. I've heard some Buddhist scholars say that this is equal to killing a Buddha... because by killing oneself one is tampering with karma and because we ALL have a Buddha nature. Please tell me dear Rev. Josho what your take on this is. Namo Amida Bu

My answer: Killing oneself is NOT the same with killing a Buddha. This does not even worth discussing. All I can say is this - if one has shinjin (faith in Amida) the conditions of his death (suicide or other causes) does NOT matter because he will certainly go to the Pure Land. However, a person of shinjin can continue his life in human form to help others receive shinjin too, as Shinran advised, "receive yourself shinjin and help others receive shinjin". This is the attitude of our school, and not like those people from who knows what "ancient account" (definitely NOT from the account of our school!). 

What is the rush to go to the Pure Land by suicide, when we’ll certainly die sooner or later? Lets live a life of faith, try to be an example of faith for others, spread the Amida Dharma or help others spread it, and don't make society think that we are a sect of desperate suicidal people who can't handle life.

D.K.: I agree. I myself have entrusted myself and my karmic destiny to Amida. So my future in this realm of Samsara has been entrusted to Him.  I was just curious as to our school's view on this topic.

           

My answer: Certainly I have never seen in Shinran's writings any condemnation, or encouraging of suicide. But I clearly saw an encouragement to live a life of faith and helping others receive faith. This being the case, I gave the above answer.

Contemplating the suffering of the intermediate state (bardo)

article connected to this collection of teachings

Samsara is suffering - description and contemplation 

of the six realms of samsaric existence

After describing each of the six realms of samsaric existence, I find it important to also explain the intermediate state between death and the next rebirth (antarabhava in Sanskrit, bardo in Tibetan)[1]. All beings pass through this state, which is itself filled with various dangers and suffering, depending on the individual karma. But first, let me say a few words about the process of dying.

Not all beings die the same way. Those who cultivated virtue and who die with a virtuous mind, that is, while remembering their good deeds or focusing on good thoughts, may see various pleasant images as though in a dream. Their death is comfortable and do not feel too much pain in body. On the other hand, those who did evil deeds and who die with an unvirtuous and attached mind experience  immense suffering when leaving their bodies:

2) Impermanence and death

(this article is the 2nd part of The Four Profound Thoughts that Turn the Mind Toward the Dharma)

"This existence of ours is as transient as autumn clouds.

To watch the birth and death of beings is like looking at the movement of a dance.

A lifetime is like a flash of lightning in the sky,

Rushing by, like a torrent down a steep mountain".[1]

           

Nothing that can be found in samsara lasts forever: the outer universe, the bodies of beings in various states of existence, the social status and wealth, our so called "spiritual achievements", etc.

The great world systems with their various realms and planets that appear due to collective karma of beings inhabiting them will disintegrate one day. Then other worlds will be born and die again.[2] The long-living gods of higher states of existence know death too, just like any samsaric being. Rulers of vast celestial realms as well as rulers of humans will also die and their kingdoms will dissapear. Rich and poor, succesful people or losers, all will leave their present bodies and will not take with them any of their worldly achievements or failure. Death is indeed, the great equalizer:

Funeral verses on the death of self power mind

A friend of mine asked me to send him a few words on the occasion of Obon festival, so I wrote these verses, which comprise the essentials of our teaching. I call them Funeral Verses on the Death of Self-Power Mind:

Cremate the old corpse of clinging to your so called merits and "spiritual realisations" in the fire of the twofould profound conviction.

Conduct daily funeral ceremonies for your attachement to self power by entrusting to Amida's Power of salvation.

As the smoke offering to provide to the departed, enjoy in the merit transference of coming back to this world to save all beings.

And for the funeral monument, raise the Nembutsu of faith on the grave of different practices, teachings and wrong views.

 ***

Explanation of some terms for those who have little knowledge of Jodo Shinshu:

Shinjin is freedom from death

Meeting with Amida Buddha after
being born in the Pure Land at the end of life
(source: amidanet.com)

Some say that we, nembutsu followers, live our daily life in a permanent obsession with death. But I say we live a life of relaxation and gratitude because the greatest matter of death and afterlife has already been solved for us by Amida Buddha.

We know we are free not only of the consequences of death which follows the end of this life, but of all deaths and rebirths of samsaric existence. We know that nobody we love in this life, or we have loved in the innumerable lives of the past, will ever be separated from us by death, because we’ll save them all once we attain Buddhahood in the Pure Land of Amida. So, how can faith (shinjin) in Amida be called „obsession with death”, when true FREEDOM is its natural consequence!

Old dwellers and newly born in the Pure Land
dance with joy and express their gratitude to Amida
(source: amidanet.com)

Namo Amida Butsu!

May you all have a meaningful  Obon!

May all beings solve the matter of afterlife through faith in Amida Buddha!

Because you are an ordinary person

Especially because you are an ordinary person, you can’t afford not to be sure where you go after death. So, if you encountered Amida’s helping hand, accept it immediately, without any second thought. You must not assume yourself any risk and do not allow death to catch you unprepared, that is, without faith (shinjin). Let smart guys and virtuous practitioners dwell in the „here and now”, realize emptiness, oneness, or whatever they say they realize, but you stay humble and cling to the sleeves of Amida.

Question: What part of our mind goes to the Pure Land?

Question: What part of our mind goes to the Pure Land? Is it the mind we currently have, in others words is it who we are now that goes to be born in the Pure Land?”

Answer: What we know for sure is that birth in the Pure Land takes place after physical death. This is what the Masters of our tradition clearly said, so we accept it.

At death, what we call ‘mind stream’ leaves the physical body and instead of passing through bardo (intermediary state) and then to other states of existence, it goes directly to the Pure Land where Enlightenment happens immediately. At that very moment, the delusions of our ‘mind stream’ are naturally melt like ice meeting fire, and our true enlightened nature will appear. So, we may say that we go to the Pure Land as we are, but once born there, in the safe and enlightened realm of Amida, ‘we’ transform into something completely different, that is, fully Enlightened Buddhas.

But all these things are inconceivable and beyond conceptual understanding, so I cannot enter into further analysis. Some aspects are imposibile to understand at the level we are now as unenlightened beings. Now all we need to do is to simply entrust to Amida. Jodo Shinshu is the path of simple faith, not of profound understanding in this life of the ultimate nature of mind.

Do not have patience

I myself cannot find any satisfaction with Buddhist teachings and practices that doesn’t promise me a quick escape from birth and death. This why I entrust myself to Amida Buddha, because I am in a hurry to become a Buddha. 

I know that some virtuous practitioners might interpret my hurry as laziness in spiritual matters or as lack of patience. I don’t deny anything, but when I deeply contemplate the rare chance of being born a human and how easy it is to fall again in the lower realms[1] or when I see that even in this life, thoughts resembling those of animals, hungry spirits or hell dwellers often appear in my mind and in the mind of others, I feel that I do not want to assume any risk of failing to quickly become a Buddha once and for all. 

Solve the matter of death and after death NOW!

"We should all quickly take to heart the

matter of the greatest importance of the afterlife, entrust ourselves deeply to
Amida Buddha, and recite the nembutsu." (Master Rennyo)

No matter what I do, there is one thought that comes to me naturaly and this is: „I will die one day, maybe tommorow or even today”.....

To be or not to be a religious person lies in how much attention one gives to his own death and after life. And there is something more: in how hurried he or she is to solve this matter of death and after death.

This I think should be a great urge for a Buddhist practitioner – to solve the matter of death NOW, as soon as possible, to be hurried to solve it and to not postpone it for another day or year.

Time for practice

M said to me, „I am very sick, I haven’t felt well for two months, so I can’t practice”.

But if you don’t practice*  when you are sick and in danger of death, when will you ever practice? Now is the time, when your life is fragile. In fact, your life is always fragile but only when you are ill you truly feel the fragility of life.

The meaning of Obon (festival of the dead 14th-15th August)

When someone died very young a few years ago everybody was astonished. How could this happen? Why her? She was so young!

This is how every family reacts when a younger member dies suddenly.

Death looks like a thief entering unexpectedly with dirty boots in your room.

People are always taken by surprise. Even you, the reader of these lines, might be shocked if the doctor would tell you that you have cancer and only 3 months to live. Even me, the writer, might react in the same manner.

Why is that? Because for us death does not exist, it is something that always happens to somebody else or which is scheduled to take place some other time in the far future.

You are not your body

There are many situations when you want to do something but your body doesn’t obey your wishes. Like for example, you would like to read or learn all night but the body is too tired and wishes to sleep. Or you have a very important task to finish, but the body suddenly feels hunger and needs to eat. Also, you have to go to the toilet every day, even many times a day.

Sleep, hunger, thirst, the need to urinate comes automatically, no matter whether you want them to happen or not. So, it seems that your body has its own needs and its own mechanism.

Even now when you read these lines, inside your body the stomach is digesting food, the heart is beating, the blood is running through the veins: in short, many organs do their daily routine without your awareness. And in the exact moment you enjoy your reading, it might happen that you need to go to the toilet. There are many moments when you really don’t want to go to the toilet because you are watching a good movie, spending your time in good company or listening to an inspiring Dharma talk. But no matter whether you like it or not, you will be forced by the body to interrupt any enjoyable activity and go to urinate. Urine forms itself inside your body without your notice, and from time to time you have to go to the toilet, no matter if you like it or not.

Death barrier

“Death barrier,

what does it mean to you?”[1]

 This question is like a koan. You have to answer it, but not using only your rational mind. You have to put all your heart into this question. Ask yourself over and over again, “death barrier, what does it mean to me?”

What does death mean to you? Do you really feel that you will die, do you really understand impermanence? This question is addressed to you personally; it is not a general question, not a philosophical question, but a very intimate question. It must become very personal. 

 

Take the thought of death in your everyday life, when you go to bed in the evening, when you start your day in the morning, when you are sad or when you feel happy, when it is your birthday or when you get married, when eating a good meal, after having sex, when you are satisfied…invite death to enter your mind and make you aware of its hidden presence. 

 

Everything you have is fragile, so feel this fragility. “Fragile” is a very good word. Feel the fragility of your own body, of your relations with others, of the environment you live in, and especially feel the fragility of your own so-called spiritual achievements. Be aware that you can die every day, every moment, and fear most about the place you might go after death. Fear most if you haven’t received shinjin (faith) yet, and do all you can to be sure that your destination is certain. Don’t waste the time you have without solving the most important matters of death and what comes after death.

Master Rennyo said:

“Those who do not know the importance of the afterlife are ignorant, even though they may understand eighty thousand sutras and teachings; those who solved the problem of the afterlife are wise, even though they may be unlettered men and women”.

---

[1] Zuiken Inagaki Sensei.