lake of lotus (8)-the meaning of ndes (8)-different phases o

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The Meaning of Near-Death Experiences (8)

The Profound Abstruseness of Life and Death :

By Vajra Acharya Pema Lhadren

Translated by Simon S.H. Tang

The Different Phases of Death

Most of the descriptions given by Near-Death Experience(NDE) survivors about the situations after death were ratherexquisite, and that only a minor portion of which wereconsidered as miserable encounters. Data of some researchesand investigations about NDE showed that about one seventhof the cases were miserable ones, while the remaining oneswere of good or mediocre encounters. This is, in fact, not yet a

situation of entering into real death. The exquisite embodimentstems from the release of entanglement as a result of achievingthe initial stage on the partial revival of the functions associatedwith the primordial nature (please refer to the essays of TheMeaning of Near-death Experiences in Issues 4 and 5 of theLake of Lotus).

Hence, the numerous NDE survivors that had returned fromdeath had, indeed, the misunderstandingthat death is not sohorrible, or that they would even like to go afterthe feelings of itstranquility, relaxation, wisdom, great power and compassion.This kind of misunderstanding has made many NDE survivorsto have overlookedthe spiritual training of the religious aspect,

and thus merely yearn for a universal religion without anyrestrictions upon ones own behaviours, nor having any kindsof trainings on the basic foundation of spiritual elevation, butwould only go for the provisions on the solace of mind.

If they could realize that the training of Emptiness (Sunyata)in Buddhism (please refer to the VCD on Emptiness: NeitherExistence Nor Voidness, published by Dudjom BuddhistAssociation)is the only means through which they could reallyenter into and sustain the feelings of tranquility, relaxation,wisdom, great power and compassion, and thus being able torevive the primordial nature, then they would not be wastingtheir valuable and precious time and opportunities by circlinground and round in this cycle of karmic existence (Samsara).In order to realize how this kind of misunderstanding wasformed as well as its disadvantages, one must rst clearlyunderstand the different phases of death.

According to the descriptions in the Tibetan Book of the Dead,death can largely be classied into different phases as follows:

1. The Gradual Entering into the Phase of Death: Thefunctions of the physical body are debilitating gradually.

The Different Phases of Death The Phase of Separation

between the Physical Bodyand the Spiritual Body

The Phase for the Exposure ofthe Primordial Nature

Transitional Period and the

Phase of Standby for Rebirth Shocking Revelations: Scenes

Before Death What is the Up-to-the-Point

Training on SpiritualElevation?

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Metabolism slows down until the person enters intothe phase for the medical denition of death withthe stop of breathing, the stop of heartbeat and thecease of all brain functions. As the physical bodyand the spiritual body are still in connection at thisphase, any changes or reactions in the physicalbody would directly affect the sensations andfeelings of the spiritual body. The dead person,before the cease of breath, might see certainscenes, which can generally be stemmed fromseveral sources:

(1) Projections frommemories;

(2) Illusionsdue to confusions of the mind;

(3) Projections fromthe external environment;

(4) Inuence from specters of the supernaturalworld;

(5) From the physical changes during thedecomposition of the physical body.

The Phase of Separation between thePhysical Body and the Spiritual Body

2. The Entering into the Phase of Separation betweenthe Physical Body and the Spiritual Body: Thesubstances of the physical body underwentdecompositions relentlessly, and the processcontinues from the point of entering into death,until three-and-a-half days after death. This processof decomposition is a physiological change that

creates psychological changes in the spiritualbody. The sensations and sights on the surroundingscenes would also relentlessly change accordingly,and painful feelings would also follow. Those sortsof changes and scenes can be generally classiedas follows:

(i) The Decomposition of Solid Substances:solid substance such as skeletons, muscles,cells and so on would start debilitating and

decomposing. The solid substances that hadlost their vitality started to secrete liquids.For instance, uids would come out from thevarious orices of the deceased. The mostcommonly seen is the discharge of urine andstool. On the verge of death, sweats andvapours containing poisonous elements cameout from all the pores of the body.

If a person who takes care of dying patientsor corpses does not put on gloves, the uidscontaining those kinds of poisonous substanceswould inltrate into his/her body and the person

might be infected with various kinds of diseases,among which less severe sicknesses such asarthritis, dermatological diseases or when theperson is weak, convulsion of muscles withouta cause would occur. The physical changes inthis phase of solid decomposition would makethe dying person feel a sense of pressure ofbeing pressed upon by heavy load, and wasrather weak. The scene perceived becomesyellow colour like soil. The visions involved arerelated to collapse, dispersion or wash-away.The deceased might sometimes see smog

with twinkling dim light. This is the physicalphenomenon arisen when solid substancesdecompose. The special terminology used inthe Tibetan Book of the Dead is known as theDecomposition of the Earth Element.

(ii) The Decomposition of Liquid Substances:The liquid in the body starts to evaporate anddissipate in large quantities. When the liquid inthe body expels from all the cells of the organs,the deceased person would feel very wet andthe scene becomes greyish in colour, withall the visions involved to be related to being

besieged by ood, overowing or drowning.The deceased might see the trembling of solarames. The vision of solar ames resemblesthe time when the sun-rise at dawn help toevaporate the water dews formed during thenight, due to the warmth of the rising sun. Thevapour makes the beams of sunlight as if lightwaves in vibration. Thus it is called the solarames. This is the physical phenomenonarisen when the liquid substances decomposeupon death, and is classied as the phase ofliquid decomposition. Observers would nd theBuddha Vairocana

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corpse to become dehydrated gradually. Thespecial terminology used in The Tibetan Bookof the Dead is known as the Decompositionof the Water Element.

(iii) The Decomposition of Heat and Energy: Theheat and energy within the body would beexpelled from all the cells of the organs anddissipate gradually. During the process, thedeceased would feel the heat of burning, and

the scene becomes crimson in colour. Thevisions involved are related to being besiegedby re, volcanic eruption, or suffocation ina smoky environment. Occasionally thedeceased might see light of reies twinklingup and down. This is the physical phenomenonformed during the decomposition of heat andenergy upon death and is in the stage of thedecomposition of energy. Since heat energydissipates gradually, the deceased person,before the cease of breath, would nd boththe vision and the hearing

to become blurred. After thecease of breath, the deceasedwould feel like being trappedin a thick fog, and all sorts ofillusions relating to re or heatappear. Observers would ndthe corpse turn cold gradually.The special terminologyused in the Tibetan Book ofthe Dead is known as theDecomposition of the FireElement.

(iv) Th e D e c o m p o s i t i o n o fthe Gases: The gasesinside the body graduallystop functioning and startdissipating away. Beforethe cease of breath, thedeceased would feel too weakto maintain normal breathinguntil it stops totally. When the exchange of thegases from both inside and outside of the bodycease, while there is the dissipation of energy,then all the organs can no longer sustain tomaintain the gases inside the body, all sorts

of gases would then follow different channelsby slowly leaking out from the body. During theprocess of gas expulsion from all the cells intothe various directions, the deceased one, afterthe cease of breath, would feel the roaring ofstrong wind and deafening thunderbolt. Thescene would turn pale green in colour, and thevisions involved are relating to the impact ofgusty wind, whirling of things in strong gale,and feeling of being choked. Sometimes thedeceased would see lights swaying in the

wind. This is the physical phenomenon on thedecomposition of the gases, which is in thisphase of the decomposition of the gases.Observers would discover that the corpse wouldstart deating and shrinking gradually. Thespecial terminology used in The Tibetan Bookof the Dead is known as the Decompositionof the Wind Element.

The above-mentioned decompositions have

special terminologies in The Tibetan Book ofthe Dead, namely: the Separation of the FourElements: Earth, Water, Fire and Wind. Whenthe process of decomposition of these fourbasic elements advances into its subtle level,the energy that is radiated from the physicalbody becomes very weak and there is no wayto conne the spiritual body in retention. Like adisconnected ying kite, the spiritual body wouldnaturally depart from the physical body, trail inaccordance with the tractions from all directions

(that is, the karmic forces) and will drift

along to different places.In general, the spiritual body of a mortal

would disengage from the connementof the physical body within a periodof three-and-a-half days after death.However, there are some Dharmapractitioners who can retain the spiritualbody inside the physical body, forthe special elevation in the spiritualdomain, by their own forces of mentalconcentration. Then, the three-and-a-half day time-frame could be prolonged

to an unpredictable period. If medicaltechnology is being utilized to prolongthe duration on the decomposition of thephysical body, the three-and-a-halfday time-frame could also be extended.NDE survivors must satisfy the medicaldenition of clinical death: the cease

of breath, the cease of heartbeat and thecease of brain functioning, before their experiencescould be taken as a genuine embodiment of after-death.

NDE usually takes place when the physical body

is in a critical and dangerous moment, at whichtime the metabolism of the physical body is solow that it could not retain the spiritual body tostay behind, and so the spiritual body ends upby departing from the physical body. Therefore,some Dharma practitioners and ascetic monkswould purposely torture their own bodies in orderto reduce the rate of metabolism of the physicalbody to an extremely low level, for the sake ofthe separation of the spiritual body from thephysical body. They want to gain the out-of-body experience.

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Once the spiritual body has left the physicalbody, the maintenance of life will rely merely uponthe energy thread which maintains the linkagebetween the spiritual body and the physicalbody (please refer to The Meaning of Near-DeathExperiences in Issues 2 and 3 of the Lake ofLotus). If the energy thread is ruptured, due toany accidental impact, then the person would truly

enter into death, and the spiritual body wouldnever be able to re-enter back into the physicalbody. Hence, the medical denition of clinicaldeath is not the genuine death in either thespiritual realm or in the religious realm. If the energythread is still in connection, the decompositionof the physical body and the changes due tothese physical phenomena could still render theirvarious levels of inuences upon the deceasedpersons spiritual body via this thread. However,the inuence would become weakening undersuch kind of circumstance. In comparing with the

situation while the spiritual body is still inside thephysical body, the effect of inuence has a muchbigger difference. So long as the energy threadremains to be connected, the deceased personcan still have the chance of revival from the dead,and to be able to return back to the physical body.

Ancient traditions and customs would allow thecorpse to be placed under room temperature forthree to seven days, or even longer, without doinganything to it. Hence, there were more reported

cases about the revival from the dead in ancienttimes than the present. Contemporary casesof the revival from the dead mostly take placeduring the moment of clinical death before thephysical body is being sent into the mortuary forfreezing. Once after being freezed in the mortuary,the physical body could no longer be able to bere-vitalized, and thus it is no longer possible tohave the revival from the dead again.

There are people who can apply their mentalenergy to act against the impedance of energy inthe physical body, and thus allowing the spiritualbody to leave the physical body. Hence, nomatter whether it is the utilization of the mentalenergy, or it is some sort of special impact, it isfeasible to withdraw the spiritual body from thephysical body of either a deceased person or aliving one. Some false gurus, or those Gurus oflow levels of wisdom, might utilize use these sortsof approaches tourge their disciples to withdrawtheir spiritual bodies out of their physical bodies,

so making them being trapped in an extremelydangerous brink of death. However, it does nothelp in the training on Emptiness (Sunyata).

It is, indeed, a big mistaketo think that if one couldsee the light, or visualize scenes of differentdomains of existence, upon ones departure ofthe spiritual body from the physical body, thenit is a sign of accomplishment in ones Dharmapractice. Similarly, it is extremely wrong to thinkthat death is exquisite. Even though one mightbe able to see the light, yet if one is not able tounite with the light in order to revive ones own

primordial nature, then it is still futile.Only the training on Emptiness (Sunyata), aswell as the training on how to mingle oneself withthe light, are the only pragmatic practices thatpertains to the nal goal of Dharma practice. Withthat, real results can be then be effected. Havingdeparted from the physical body and being driftedalong anywhere, the spiritual body (that is, themind) would merely be more tumultuous, moreconfused and easier apt to fall into real death.This kind of misunderstanding is, indeed, also themost serious misunderstanding among the NDE

survivors.

The Phase for the Exposure of thePrimordial Nature

3. The Entering into the Phase for the Exposure of thePrimordial Nature:when the spiritual body leavesthe physical body and uses one of the exit doorsof life and death to depart, the deceased would see

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the light (please refer to The Meaning of Near-Death Experience in Issue 3 of the Lake of Lotus) .The appearance of the light stems from the factthat all irksome negative sentiments and energies,about eighty types in total under the catchall nameof greed, hatred and ignorance, would come to acomplete halt at that very moment, and so it is justthis natural capability, which is possessed by allbeings and exists since time immemorial, that is

being exposed completely.

In Buddhism, this is called the intrinsic nature,Buddhata or the primordial nature. A deceasedperson, upon the partial revival of this primordialnature, would disengage oneself from this kind ofintertwining, and thus he/she can have the feelingsof rejoice and splendour. There are no other secularfeelings that can excel this. The ability so arisen atthis moment is also the most powerful. However,those who have not been trained on Emptiness(Sunyata) could not, by all means, hold on to thiskind of condition.

Therefore, a mortal, regardless of whether he/shecould return from death, would swiftly leave thisstage. According to the numerous researches on thecase studies of NDE, it has been found that not all theNDE survivors could see the light and recover part ofthe functions associated with the primordial nature.Hence, the topic of whether a Dharma practitioner isable to see the light and to recover the primordialnature becomes the most important objective ofhis/her Dharma practice, and is also a gauge ofsuccess on their methods of Dharma practice.Due to this kind of experience during the process,

numerous NDE survivors have misunderstood thatdeath is not too scary.

Transitional Period and the Phase ofStandby for Rebirth

4. The Entering Into the Transitional Period and thePhase of Standby for Rebirth: This is the mostdangerous and also the most critical stage. Havingdeparted from the physical body, the spiritual bodyswiftly leaves the light and the deceased would

then enter into the transitional period before beingxated (that is, the transitional period before rebirth)which is governed by his own mind, together withthe network being weaved by various karmic forces[due to the virtuous or evil deeds amassed overcountless past lives, then a network of tractionsshaped by the intertwining forces derived from themind of that person as well as that of other personsbeing affected. This network is thus known as thenetwork of karmic forces(please refer to the VCDon The Inconceivable Law of Cause and Effect,published by Dudjom Buddhist Association)].

During this period, the structure of the materialbody is sparse and is known as the IntermediateBody in Tibetan Buddhism (Tib.: Bardo, the body inthis transitional period). While in other religions, thisis known as the soul or spiritual body. Since thestructure of material body in this periodis sparse,and so its inuence and traction is much less thanthat while alive. The impedance on the primordialnature would be greatly reduced. Therefore, the

ability and the freedom in movement after death aremuch greater than that while alive.

Many NDE survivors have found that after departingfrom their physical bodies, their spiritual bodiescould y, could go through any obstacles, wouldbecome strong in precognition, and could driftalong according to the turn of their minds. Themost special feature in this period is that scenes ofextreme rejoice and extreme sadness, extremesplendour and extreme horror might pop up atany moment. The formation of such overwhelmingsensibility stems from the fact thatthe proceeding of

the mind is going too fast, while the body is beingdirected by the mind during this period of time.Furthermore, given the fact that the structure of thenetwork of karmic forces is extremely complicated,the deceased would be subject to relentless illusions,disturbances and tortures from the external tractionswithout a single moment of rest.

Lord Maitreya, the Coming Future Buddha

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In general, there are cycles of every seven days inthis period of time, and the excruciating experienceof death would be repeated at the end of each cycle.The reason for the repeating of these cycles is due tothe periodic rule of Mother Naturethatthe memorysystems of the deceased persons are triggeredto copy and reproduce the various footages. Thedeceased thus unconsciously repeats the dyingprocess. Thus, the dying process would be repeatedseven times, and so the deceased person wouldundergo seven cycles of death, that is, a total offorty-nine days before rebirth would take place. Thisperiodic rule of Mother Nature resembles the ebband ow of tides, or the self-spinning of the planetearth, such that for a certain period of time, the thingwill repeat itself once again.

According to the information provided by those peoplewho can recall their previous lives, or those who did itunder hypnosis, this transitional period sometimes

could be rather long. The main reason is because theforty-nine days is not counted in the human time-scale.If the deceased was a human being when he/she died,then the rst half of the forty-nine days would be basedon the human time-scale; while the latter half of thetime period would have to depend upon the time-scale ofthe realm where the deceased is going to be reborn. Inother words, in different realms and dimensions, thetime scales will vary. The period of forty-nine-days is,in fact, a very difcult time period to estimate,and shouldmerely be considered as composed of seven cycles.

If the negative sentimentin the mind of the deceasedperson is too strong at the moment of dying, theseven cycles could turn into unpredictable number ofcycles. Therefore, according to information provided bythose who can recall their previous lives, it has foundthat a person who died by committing suicide willnot only could not see the light after death, but willalso relentlessly repeating the agonizing scene of thesuicide. It is so miserable that even observers would

not be able to endure the mishap. Therefore, the sevencycles is only referring to a general situation. Whetherthe mental strength, together with the karmic forces, isstrong or not would either reduce or prolong the period ofthe seven cycles. Hence, Dharma practitioners wouldendeavor for their spiritual uplift, that is, the trainingon the strength of the mind and the improvements ofones own karmic forces. It is hope that they would nothave to go through this stage and will be able to directlyrevive their primordial nature while they were still in thephase for the exposure of the primordial nature, inorder to be liberated from rebirth once and for all. These

are the true objectives of Dharma practice. The so-called supernatural powers would merely be a subjectbeing yearned for by people without any wisdom. Thereis no benet from it in terms of the training on the mindand the improvement of the karmic forces, but will onlybe more harmful than good. The objective is not tolearn to be an acrobat or a magician, nor is it aimingfor performances in a circus, then why should one yearnfor it?

Hence, death is not a playful game since it is right at thecritical moment of changeduring this transitional period.If a person is not careful about it, one would end up in a

realm or dimension of long-term suffering. If the deceasedis to be reborn as an animal of low intelligence, thenthe odds that he/she could be reborn later as a humanbeing again is rather low. Even if the person could bereborn as a human being, and though under hypnosis, itis still hard to recover the memory of foolishness duringthat period when he/she was an animal. It was not untilthe nal attainment of Buddhahood, when the supremeabilities of the primordial nature can be revived, thatthe history of all of ones countless past lives can thenbe visualized clearly and seamlessly. Even though this isthe case, with the information provided by those peoplewho could recall their previous lives, or those who did it

under hypnosis, there are exceptions whereby some ofthem couldstill remember that they had been animals intheir past lives. In other words, when a deceased personwithout any spiritual training is going to be reborn, thenhe/she would trail under the tractions of karmic forcesand drift like a light feather. The person would thenbe connected to the material substancepresent in theplace where he/she would be drifting upon. One wouldthen be involuntarily xated to some kind of a life with

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including the numerous sutras in Buddhism, areurging people to perform as many virtuous deedsas possible, because they understand the Law ofMother Nature in that negative forces should besuppressed by positive forces, in order that onecould temporarily avert the entanglements.

2. Main Force: if the deceased person has receivedcorrect and proper trainings on spiritual elevation

while still alive, then he could apply his own strengthof the mind as the directing force to act against thetractions from evil karma, so to avoid the blackhole and to select a good place for his own rebirth.One might even be able to disengage oneself fromthose attracting forces forever; that is, to totallydisengage oneself by becoming liberated from theoverriding processes of deaths and rebirths (theso-called cycle of karmic existence Samsara inSanskrit). It is a question of whether the training onspiritual elevation for the deceased person is reallyup-to-the-point or not.

If the two afore-mentioned methods are included in onestraining and can be strictly applied, the odds for onesown success is extremely high, indeed.

What is the Up-to-the-Point Trainingon Spiritual Elevation?

A book authored by the famous Japanese Monk Gensin,known as The Essentials of Rebirth, has detaileddescriptions on the scenes of the Hell and the Ultimate-Rejoicing World. It also provided guidance on how tohelp people in their terminating stage. These methods

include:

1. Put a statue or painting of the Buddha Amitabha infront of the dying patients bed.

2. Tie a piece ofve-colour threadsonto the hand ofthe Buddha statue, with the other end to be held bythe dying person.

3. Ask the dying person to concentrate on the whitesubtle light spot at the centre of the forehead ofBuddha Amitabha, and then focus on chanting theHoly Name of Buddha Amitabha.

4. With other people helping to chantthe Holy Name ofBuddha Amitabhabeside his/her death-bed.

During that time, a group of the upper class elitesin theJapanese society had form an organization, headed byMonk Gensin, and is called the Twenty-Five SamayaCongregation for Buddha Chanting Society. There weretotally twenty-ve members in their group. For everyfteenth day of the month, they gathered together for thechanting of the Buddha Name overnight. If there was

any member passing away, other members would go tohelp with the chanting. At one time, there was a dyingmember, and in order to provide a suitable venue forboth chanting and caring, a lodging was specially builtfor him named as the Rebirth House. There were atleast two members tending after him around the clock.Thereafter, whenever there was a member going to die,other members would render assistance mutually.

The special point was that members would keep onasking the dying person as to what he had seen in hisdying experiences, and the dying person would honestlyanswer everything. The scenes described were thenrecorded accordingly, and so a collection of the articleswas later published for future generations, under thename of Past Accounts of the Twenty-Five SamayaRooted Congregation. The outcomes were extremelyshocking because some of the members proclaimedthat they only see a stretch of darkness, and nothingelse. Some other members had seen the Hell. Somereported being besieged by re. Some said beingburnt to charcoal by great ames. Some proclaimedbeing embraced by the light, and see Buddha Amitabhacoming to fetch for them. For the twenty-ve members,the outcomes were not only different from one person toanother, but they tended to be more on dismal ratherthan on rejoicing.

These scenes of dying also occur in other religions aswell. Some reported being embraced by light, and seeeither Jesus or Mother Maria come to receive them.Why is that? So, in fact, what does this scene of dyingrepresent? When a person sees a bad scene, does itrepresent a worrisome result and a miserable ending?By using the same methods of practice, and unitingtogether diligently for their practices, why did the twenty-ve members still have different and miserable scenesof dying? In which aspect(s) did the problem arise?Other religions also have the experience of having Godcoming to fetch for the deceased person. Then, doesit mean that all religions have the same effects? Howto carry out ones practice in order to be sure that thescene of dying can be good? In case a bad scene ofdying appeared, are there any others means of rescue?So, in fact, what are some of the necessary conditionsfor the methods of Dharma practice in order to make itup-to-the-point for the training of spiritual uplifting?

From the articles on the Meaning of Near-DeathExperience throughout the Issues 1 to 8 of the Lakeof Lotus, can you derive some reasonable answers tothose questions? We may conduct a brain-stormingsession of wisdom and give these some thoughts. In thefuture articles, we will try to verify the answers which canadhere to both science and the Buddhist teachings.How about that? (To be continued).

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