His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Death
By Terry Reis Kennedy
Once, when His Holiness was asked what might happen to a person who experienced sudden death, he replied, “Under such circumstances, the individual may find himself or herself in a state of extreme anxiety or shock, but generally speaking, the state of mind in such situations can be described as neutral—neither virtuous nor non-virtuous.”
But so many people wish for sudden death. Is this acceptable? “Of course, from the practitioner’s viewpoint the natural death is better.” His Holiness says. “There is more time to think and to practice.”
Often family members don’t want to inform their loved ones that they are dying. This may not be beneficial either. Dalai Lama notes, “I have met some Tibetan practitioners who have told me of their experiences. Some patients suffering from terminal illness ask for their doctor’s honest opinion as to whether their illness can be cured or not, and if their illness is terminal, how long do they have to live. Once these patients know that they have only a certain amount of time left, they say to me that it comes as a kind of relief, because then they can re-orient their lives so that they can get their priorities right. So I think a great deal depends on one’s own practice. Other than that, I don’t know—it’s difficult.”
Is there anyway that an HIV-positive person can overcome the guilt and anger often associated with this disease and better prepare for death?
“That is a problem,” the Embodiment of Compassion admits. “To a large extent society’s attitude is also not very healthy because there is a tendency to marginalize those with HIV. In addition, the people themselves are completely discouraged or have a very low state of mental strength. But if individuals have some sort of practice, like Buddhist practice, then of course they can see that this life is just one life and that the end of this life is not the end forever. Also, every event and experience of this life is, of course, due to our own action or karma, not necessarily in previous lives but also due to action within this lifetime. According to the law of causality, these unfortunate things are due to one’s own previous actions. So that is also a consolation I think”
Have scientific studies on reincarnation added any new information to ancient wisdom on the subject of death and dying? His Holiness has observed, “One that I’ve noticed among the findings of researchers who have done investigations into the phenomena of rebirth based on the testimony of children who claim to recollect their past lives is that in many of the cases, the manner in which the previous life’s death was met was quite sudden, like accidents and so forth. So I feel there might be something here which needs a lot of research. From a Buddhist viewpoint, as far as I know there is no particular explanation.”
