preparation for death

[Jhanananda]

Hello friends, a friend and student sent me an email this morning to tell me that he is dying, and asked me to come see him before he goes.  I am not sure if I will be able to make it physically, but I will of course visit him in the immaterial.

Our dialog reminded me the thing to know about the contemplative life is it is preparation for death.  The goal of the contemplative life is to shift our attention from the material senses to the immaterial (spiritual) senses. 

When the various charisms arise, such as: seeing, feeling, or hearing, the movement of energy, then we have successfully shifted our attention from the material senses to the immaterial (spiritual) senses.  We then simply occupy ourselves with the immaterial (spiritual) senses until death.

Upon death, we continue to occupy ourselves with the immaterial (spiritual) senses.  Doing so, directs us away from the material dimensions to the higher, immaterial (spiritual) dimensions.

When leaving the body upon death just attend to the brightest object in your visual field as you transition from the body into the immaterial (spiritual) dimensions, and you will be taken to high (heavenly) domains.

[Sam Lim]

I've been contemplating death for a while now. No, I am not suicidal. I just felt that there is nothing I can do now. My work is done on this existence. Time to move on and also I don't want to suffer any more in this body. I think death is beautiful. Not being morbid here.

[Jhanananda]

I agree, somewhat, Sam.  What keeps me around is the occasional person whom I meet who has stumbled upon deep meditation, and needs some guidance, because of the vast amount of misinformation that is aggressively broadcast by mainstream religion.

[Alexander]

That is a powerful thing to say, Sam, and what you would expect to hear from someone who's prepared himself for death. The Buddha said you can tell someone who has prepared for death and someone who hasn't by how they react at the end. Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living." I've found that almost no one enters into the meaning of this quote, and examines their lives; consequently, most people are unprepared for death. I developed an early interest in dying and continually kept it in mind. I found that by doing this there was a transformative effect. I think if more people took death seriously in this way, people would be very different, and ready for the end when it happens.