Lama Sogyal Rinpoche (a Tibetan Dzogchen Lama of the Nyingma tradition. He is founder and spiritual director of 'Rigpa' - an international network of over 100 Buddhist centers spread across Europe, America, Australia and Asia) narrated a story told by a man to Dr. Kenneth Ring (professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Connecticut and a researcher in the field of near-death studies). The following excerpt is also included in his best-selling book - 'The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying'.
I realised that there are things that every person is sent to Earth to realise and learn. For instance, to share more love, to be more loving toward one another. To discover that the most important thing is human relationships and love, not materialistic things. And to realise that every single thing that you do in your life is recorded and that even though you pass it by not thinking at the time, it always comes up later.
Preparing for death doesn't mean that we cease living; it simply means that we're urged to live fuller lives. Do we truly understand how precious life is? Or are we just use to living it, that death is a far flung thought? When I talk about preparing for death, I talk about being aware that this time is transitional, I mean that the time to give ourselves some soul-food is now, the time to love, care, share, live our lives in goodness is now, the time to realise that our true wealth lies within our soul which is essentially good, is now.
The only time, most of us truly acknowledge death is when we lose a loved one. We mourn our loss, realise for a little while how short life is and then get caught up in the usual humdrum... again. Do you really, really want to know what a near-death experience is like? Try talking to a person who has survived a terror attack, a fatal accident or a life-threatening illness. While experiencing a near-death situation is different from listening to one, the narration helps us come to terms with our own mortality. I reiterate that like life, death is transitional, a phase from one life to another, one realm to the next; but preparation for it is important. We must begin preparations in our physical life to be able to enhance our spiritual one.
Life on Earth is about being thankful for the good time and enduring and learning from the tough ones. So, how do we prepare for death? It's simple really, begin by being thankful for the time we've spent on Earth, thank God for our joy, accept and learn from sorrow (it's pain that strengthens our spirits), call out to him and ask him for help during the difficult times, know that tears (whether they're tears of joy or tears of sorrow) purify our souls, live life in love and forgiveness (arguments - no matter what they're about are futile; it's time to accept our shortcomings and understand another), share joy with everyone, care for people and make it our life's duty to spread love... no matter what.
You could help someone in need, ease someone's pain and tell them that it will be okay because it really will, smile at a stranger, help an elderly person, volunteer at a children's home, do something nice for mum and dad... it really is up to you. God doesn't give us a laundry list of things to do. He hopes that we look within our hearts, know what our list has on it and start working on it right away. And yes, always, always live life in the faith that our good Lord is with us. Remember when we sometimes think that God has forsaken us, he is really carrying us then; he just wants us to believe in him completely... no questions asked. Talk to him and see how things fall into place. God knows our every thought, our every need, our every desire even before we know it. Our good Lord always gives us what we need, not what we want. And we must live our life in his faith, believing always that we are where God wants us to be. (A detailed follow-up post on this tomorrow)
Indeed, preparing for death is one of the best things we can do for others and ourselves because this preparation helps us spread love and joy in a world that is revolves on love. :) I leave you with a beautiful story that was recounted to Raymond Moody (psychologist and author of Life After Life):
When the light appeared, the first thing he said to me was, "What have you done to show me what you've done with your life?" or something to that effect. All through this, he kept stressing on the importance of love.
I am hoping that all of us will be able to answer that question when we face it. And you know what, if we start now, I know we will.
Have a fabulously blessed day everyone. :)
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