Graceful Exits: How Great Beings Die: Death Stories Of Tibetan, Hindu And Zen Masters

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How Great Beings Die

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DEATH STORIES OF TIBETAN, HINDU & ZEN MASTERS

Compiled and edited by Sushi/a Blackman

WEATHERHILL New York • ·Tokyo

IN'TRODUCTION To Bhagawan Nityananda, Baba Muktananda,

In that marvelous Indian epic poem, the Mahabharata, the sage

and Gurumayi Chidvilasananda,

Yudhisthira is asked: "Of all things in life, what is the 1nost amazing?" Yudhisthira answers: "That a man, seeing others die all

the living embodiment of the Siddha lineage.

around him, never thinks that he will die."

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Two thousand years later, people still circumambulate the reality of their own death. In a recent New York Times article, infectious disease specialist Dr. Jack B. Weissman remarked, "What strikes me about our system is that more people are afraid of how they are going to die than the fact that they are going to die." When we do think of dying, we are more often concerned with how to avoid the pain and suffering that may accompany our death than we are with really confronting the meaning of death and how to approach it. We are in dire need of role models, people to show us how to face leaving this world gracefully and to place death in its proper perspective. For this it is natural to tum to those most experienced in dealing with death (and with life): spiritual masters. The Tibetan Buddhist, Zen Buddhist, and Hindu or Yogic traditions that are the focus of this book are deeply linked. One of

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these links is the extrao rdinar y impor tan ce they place on the act of dyi ng. To understan d why, we n eed look no fu rther than the princi ples of karrna a nd reinca rnatio n, w hich have been intri -

that the individual is reborn ; he insiste d that all things are subject. to the law of m.utabihty or irnper mane nce (kno\-v n in Buddh ism as anicca) and th at there is no such thing as a person -

cately w oven into the fabric of life in the East since ancien t tirnes.

al identhy or soul, a doctri ne know n as anatta or "no-self." Howe ver, ka nna which can be u n dersto od as a packa ge of energy contai ning both negati ve and positiv e charge s is trans-

KARh \i\ AND REBIRTtl

Accor ding to the law of karma, all bein gs exper ie n ce th e con sequenc es of their action s both menta l and p hysica l. Th e myria d desire s a nd fears of each lifetirn e compe l us to keep re turnin g to earth ly life to experience th e fruits of our previo us action s, wheth er bitter or sweet . Just as we bring th e irnpressions from our wakin g life into our dream s, so the residu al impressions of our action s in this lHc tirne accon1pan y us to the next. The kind of life we come back into is determ ined, in large part, by h ow we live our presen t life. The maste rs from the East maint ain that to live righ teously, let alone to die well, one m u st act wi.tho ut a n y person al attach in ent to one's action s . To be delive red from the fear of death and the certai nty of rebirth , o ne must act witho u t

terra ble fro In one life to the next. Belief in reinca rn ation and the cycle of rebirth is not uniqu e to the Buddh ists and Hindus. For examp le, an ancien t Egypt ian h ermet ic text fragm ent states that "the soul passes fron1 form to form, and the mansion s of her pilgr.in1ages are rnanif old.'' There is also at least. on e passag e in the Bible that sugge sts Jesus m ay h ave believed in reinca rnatio n. In M atthew 17:13, Christ reveal s his divine form to his th ree closes t discipl es, a nd th en tells them th at his precu rsor, John th e Baptist, is actually an in carnat ion of the proph et Elijah . Origen , a promi nent patria rch of the early Christ ian ch urch, described rebirth in h is De Princip iis: The soul has neithe r beginn ing nor end ... Every soul c01nes to this w orl0 strengt hened by the victori es or weake ned by the defeats of its previ ous life. lts place in th is world as a ve ssel appoin ted to honor or dish o n or is

desire , w ith o ut a person al agen da, and w ithout attach ment to res ults . Hindu s m aintai n that until the indivi dual soul Uiva) merge s w ith the Absol ute, the Self of all, it contin ues to be reborn . The Buddh a also endor sed th e tradition al Indian view that huma n s are trappe d in an endles s cycle of lives, kn own as samsara, characteriz ed by dukkh a, or sufferi ng. Accor ding to his teachi ngs, there is no easy escape from thjs fa te becau se our karma the

deterrn ined by its prevto us Inerjts.

Thus the early Christians, like their maste r, appea r to h ave accept ed reinca rnatio n, but th e conce pt was suppre ssed by the En1pe ror Justin ian's Counc il of Const antino ple in 538 AD. In the Jewis h mystical traditi on of the Middle Ages, the notion of a preexisting soul develo ped over tin1 c into the idea of reinca rna tion.

conse quenc es of our action s surviv es the death of the bod y to condit ion a new physical existe nce. The Buddh a did n ot teach

Accor ding to David Chide ster in his book Patterns o[Transcen dence, the K.abba list.ic conce p t of ._qilgul (n1ete1npsycbosis) came to

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signify a pro cess wh ere by souls we re con tinu ous ly reb orn un til thr oug h me dita tion , prayer, and conscientious ritu al observa nce -th ey we re pur ifie d of all sin and eve ntu ally restor ed to God. Re cen tly doc um ent ed inc ide nts also poi nt tow ard the aut hen tici ty of rein car nation: chi ldr en retu rni ng to cities wh ere the y live d in pre vio us lives and ide ntifying family me mb ers ; the selectio n of tulkus (re inc arn ate d lamas) fro m a wri tten list of attr ibu tes left by the pre vio us incarnatio n; and the spo nta neo us past-life regression exp erie n ces of ma ny pat ien ts wh ile und er hypnosis by medical doctors, such as tho se Dr. Brian We iss rec oun ts in his boo k Many Lives, Many Masters. Suc h dat a are ero din g the objections of eve n har den ed skeptics and nud gin g us to revam p our und ers tan din g of wh o we are. As Ste phe n Levine so ma rve lou sly put s it in his boo k Who Dies? it is tim e for us to per ceiv e our selves "as spiritual beings wit h physical experiences rath er than as physical beings wit h spi ritu al exp erie nces." This is how gre at beings perceive themselves, and how, to our gre at fortun e, the y per ceive us as well.

TH E PIN NA CL E OF l-iU MA N TJFE If the re is som eth ing tha t con tinu es into ano the r life, wh at is the

n atu re of tha t som eth ing ? The ma sters refe r to this "so me thin g" by different nam es. Bu ddh ist practition ers have call ed it a "psychospiritual substra tum " or "a stre am of exi sten ce-energy, '' wh ile Hindus or followers of yoga refer to it as the atm an, or soul. The y con cur on one crucial poi nt, how eve r: tha t the goal of life for eve ry ma n and wo ma n is liberation not to lea ve any residual impressions at all.

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Lib era tion fro m the cycle of bir th- and -de ath ma y sou nd like an abs trus e con cep t tha t does not tou ch us immediately. Bu t in tru th, to lea p clear of bir th- and -de ath is the final object of hum an life. In Zen it is called the sup rem e proble m, the mo st pressing of all proble ms. The pin nac le of a hum an life is to die and n ot to be reb orn . Thi s mo st sub lim e and remark able of ends is refe rre d to as self -realiza tion , final libe rati on, or nir van a (a ter m tha t suggests the blo wing out of the fire of pas sio ns) . And, in wh at is som etim es called the bes t-k ept secret of the East, we lea rn tha t we don 't hav e to wait unt il we die to attain this final goa l. The cycle of bir th and dea th can be bro ken now. Nir van a, or selfrea lization ,can be atta ine d wit hin this lifetime. Wh en the Tao ist phi los oph er Ch uang- tzu was asked wh y Master Wa ng Tai wa s so ext rao rdi nar y, he replied: "Life and dea th are rev ere d as gre at mo me nts of change, yet to him the y are as no cha nge at all. He ave n and Ear th ma y top ple ove r and collapse aro und him, yet he wo uld rem ain wit hou t a stir. His n1ind is pur e and flaw less, th ere fore he doe s not sha re the sam e fate as the thi ngs aro und him ." On ce one knows one's tru e nat ure , the dea th of the physical bod y bec om es irre lev an tdea th is n o lon ge r real. Th e ma ste rs rea ssu re us tha t this process of self-re aliz atio n or nirvan a is not an annihilatio n, not som ethin g to fear. They like n the final sta te to the merging of a raindro p int o the oce an exi sten ce rem ain s, but one 's limitations and sen se of sep ara ten ess dissolve. Once a per son has bro ken throug h to this final stat e, rein carnation is no longer a necessity. No contin uing factor, linking one inc arn atio n wit h ano the r, remains. This does not me an tha t the liberate d bei ng nev er retu rns som e do, out of com pas sio n for

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rnan kind . The Hin du trad itio n spea ks of volu ntar y rein carn ations, called vyutthana, by fully enli ghte ned mas ters who retu rn to eart hly life even afte r may a (illusion) and the ope rati on of karm a has ceas ed to bind the1n. Similarly, Bud dhists believe that bod hisa ttva s the "en ligh tene d bein gs" who are the emb odin ent 1

of corn pass ion will defe r thei r own final libe ratio n, retu rnin g to assist all sen tien t bein gs in thei r stru ggle tow ard real izat ion. Wh ile man y of us hav e bee n taug ht to live wel l now bec ause of con seq uen ces the rew ards of hea ven , for exa mpl e the mas ters teac h us that this "'carrot" mus t be tran scen ded com plet ely. Gre at mas ters live well, not for anti cipa ted pers ona l gain, but for the love of God. The ir lives are full of selfless service, bec ause they und erst and that we are all one . The Bud dha dec lare d that all men cou ld test his path of non atta chm ent for them selv es. Wh ile man y of us aro und the wor ld toda y con tem plat e this goal, aspi re to it, and eve n acti vely pur sue it, in our hea rt-o f-he arts we ofte n harb or dou bts that it is actu ally with in our reac h. The mas ters in this boo k sho w us by thei r own exa mpl e that it is. Som e of them atta ined real izat ion whi le alive; othe rs atta ined the final stat e at dea th. The y are our role mod els, in life and in dea th. By extr acti ng and savo ring thei r sub tle presenc e from thes e stories, we can ren ew dail y our commit_ men t to the goal. We nee d only to pau se a little and dip into the une ndin g rive r of thei r grac e.

LEA VIN G T 'HE BQ l)Y

''Ev eryo ne wan ts to kno w the details of dying, tho ugh few are willing to say so." So begins She rwi n Nul and 's rece nt best sell er

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Hovv We Die. Ove r the past few years, I hav e foun d in rnyself a grow ing curiosity abo ut the details of how grea t bein gs die. This curiosity, how eve r, is abo ut the sub tle rath er than the physical aspects. For me, the que stio ns are rnor e abo ut the uns een issues, th e rnysteries. For exa mpl e, one que stio n seek ers freq uen tly ask is why do self-realized beings, vvho hav e tran scen ded the body, hav e physical pain and suff erin g at all? Wh en Ram akri shn a, one of Indi a's grea test saints, was dyin g of thro at cancer, som eon e asked him how he wou ld exp lain this. He ans wer ed that whe re ther e is form, ther e is pain , ther e is suffering. Wit h suc h self-realized mas ters , how eve r, we sec that whi le the exte rnal self n1ay exp erie nce the rava ging effe cts of a disease, the inn er self the self they are mos t dee ply con nec ted to is tota lly at peace. For a rnaster, dea th is not dea th but libe rati on. Acc ordi ng to the Prashna Upanishad and man y othe r Eas tern scri ptur es, the ape rtur e thro ugh whi ch the soul leav es the bod y is wha t indi cate s th e cou rse of its jou rne y afte r dea th . In yogic terms, one of the vital airs, the uda na prana, 1110ves with in the mai n sub tle ner ve cha nne l an d carries the soul to its app ropr iate exit. The sou l of one who has bec on1e unit ed ·w ith the sup rem e Con scio usn ess in this life, or who is so com plet ely focu sed on that dire ctio n that he will reac h that stat e afte r dea th, pass es out thro ugh a tiny ape rture in the crow n of the h ead kno wn as the brah mar and hra or vidriri. The Katha Upanishad states: "Go ing upw ard thro ugh that , one becon1cs imr nor tal." To exit thro ugh this ape rtur e has bee n like ned r.o tryi ng to pass a thre ad thro ugh a very fine nee dle if eve n one fiber of desire is stick in g out, the thre ad can jarn. To accon1plish this task, one 's focus 1nust be attu ned by con stan t practice so that it is tota lly .one -po inte d.

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The soul of a virtuous person may depart through any of the other apertures in the head: the eyes, nose, or 1nouth. It then travels along a path of light until it reaches a subtle plane of existence, such as heaven or the realm of ancestors, where it settles to enjoy the fruits of good actions, or karma. But the Hindu and Buddhist scriptures, along with some Egyptian and Greek writings, tell us that these are but temporar y realms, where one is weJcon1e to stay until one's good merhs are exhauste d and the time comes for the soul to be rebo rn on earth. Those whose actions on earth have been lacking in virtue leave the body through the lower openings and travel a path of darkness to experien ce the fruits of bad actions until the next cycle begins. These subtle planes of heaven and hell are described in sin1ilar terms by practicall y all traditions. In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, the sage Yajnavalkya tells us that when we go to sleep, we take along the m aterial of this world and create a dream state, which is perceive d by means of our own "brightne ss." It is this same light of consciousness, he says, that is present at death: When this self gets to weakness, gets to confusedn ess, as it were, then the breaths gather around him. He takes to himself those particles of light and descends into the heart .. .. The point of his heart bccom.es lighted up and by that light the self departs either through the eye ~r thro ugh the h ead or through o th er apertu res of th e body.

woe." He tells us that such a seeker will enjoy the fruits of a heavenly plane for a while, then be reborn into a pure and prosperous fainily, or a family of yogis. There the soul regains the mental impressi ons that had been develope d in its previous life, and with th is as a starting point, strives again for perfectio n. The importan ce of choosing a life in which one will meet a master is a point the different tradition s agree upon. The Tibetan Book of the Dead instructs: If one n1ust be reborn on earth, look over the possibilitie s and choose a good birth; one that will assure continuation of spiritual progress, and that will assure the meet-

ing with a Guru who is a virtuous friend, so that you will thus attain liberation .

In the Indian tradition it is said that aspirants who have faith in and devotion for their master are assured salvation by their master at the time of death . By entering into a state of deep meditation at death, they have an awarene ss of what is happenin g and are free of fear. In Zen, death in a seated or standing position is consider ed worthy of an enlighten ed person. Some Zen masters depa rt this life voluntari ly; this is tru e in other traditions as well. However , it is the dying person's state of mind rather than ability to control the manner of dying that is most importan t among all three of the tradition s we are discussing.

What happens to the aspirant, the seeker, who has set out on the path of union but. has not beco1ne one-poin ted at the tim e of death? In the Bhagavad Cita, Lord I":"!;' ~

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was fille d with a swe et scen t, and the sounds of cym bals cou ld be hea rd. And at th e time of her cren1a tion, the sky was fill ed with rain bow s.

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One spri ng day in 199 5, afte r spe ndin g a m ont h inst ruct ing Soto Zen teac hers nea r San Fran cisc o, Mae zurn i Ros h i retu rne d to Jap an to visit fam ily and frie nds, as had bee n his custcnn for twe nty -fiv e year s. Dur ing his visit, in the pres enc e of an old frie nd and abb ot, he corn plet ed and date d ''in the mo nth of the the inka [fin al stat eme nt of emp owe rm ent from ma ster to successo r] fo r his disciple, Sensei Tets uge n Glassrna n . This doc ume nt, whi ch turn ed out to be his "last Dha rma wor ds," con -

Aza leas "

clud es as follows:

Lzfe after lzfe, birth after birth, please practice diligently. Never falter. Do not let die the Wisdom seed of the Bu ddhas and Ancestors. Truly.' I inzplore you!

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Hak uyu Taiz an 1'v1aennn i

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Hui-yung, in the throes of a grave illness in 414, suddenly asked for his clothes and sandals, folded his hands, and tried to stand, as if he were seeing something. When the attendant monks asked him what he saw, he replied, "The Buddha is coming." Just as he finished speaking, he died.

After two years in the rock cave near his hometown of Hsiangyang, P' ang Yun also known as Layrnan P' ang decided it was tin1e to die. Sitting for meditation, he instructed his daughter Ling-chao to go outside and come back to inform him when the sun had reached its zenith. At twelve, he would die. Ling-chao went out and came back almost immediately, saying, "It's already noon, and there's an eclipse of the sun. Come and look." "Is that so?" said P'ang.

By 1693, Bankci's health had so deteriorated that his disciples began building him a burial pagoda. On the tenth of August Bankei was carried there on a litter. The next day he told an attendant in secret that he would be dead within three months. For the tiine left to him, Bankei continued seeing students from his bed. Immediately before he died in November, as he'd predicted, he stopped taking food and medicine. Giving instructions to his most intimate students, he admonished them for their tears, saying, "How do you expect to see Ine, if you look at me in terms of birth and death?" When one disciple asked him to compose a traditional Zen death poern, he said: I've lived for seventy-two years. I've been teaching people for forty-five. What I've been telling you and others every day during that time is all my death verse. I'm not going to make another one now, before I die, just because everyone else does it.

"0 h, yes."

P' ang Yun rose from his seat and went to the window. At that mornent Ling-chao jumped into his vacant place, crossed her legs, and, instantly, died. When P' ang returned and saw what had happened, he said, "My daughter's way was always quick. Now she's gone ahead of me." He went out, gathered firewood, performed a cremation ceremony, and observed the traditional mourning period of seven days before dying himself in the company of Governor Yu Ti. Yu had come to ask how he was. P' ang put his head on his friend's knee, saying, "I beg you to just see all existent phenomena as empty and to beware of taking as real all that is nonexistent. Take care of yourself in this world of shadows and echoes." Then he peacefully passed away.

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Having said this, the great Zen rnaster passed away, sitting per· fectly straight. Over five thousand people were in attendance at his funeral.

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Six months before Lahiri Mahasaya left his physical body he told his wife, "The body will go soon. Do not cry at that time." During the sum1ner of 1895, the master developed a small boil on his

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back, whic h he did not wan t lanced. Som e of those near him thou ght perh aps he was work ing out in his own body the nega tive karm a of some of his disciples. Whe n a few disciples beca me insistent, h e repli ed cryptically: "The body has to find a caus e to go. I will be agre eable to wha teve r you wan t to do. " A few days before his final depa rture , disciples of Lahiri Mahasaya gath ered arou nd him. Som e, having been called inter nally, arriv ed fro m long dista nces . For hour s the mas ter expo unde d on the Bhag avad Gita, then he simp ly said: "I am going hom e." This rema rk prov oked an outp ouri ng of angu ish amo ng his devo tees. He respo nded with : "Be com forte d. I shall rise again ." Follo wing this state men t, Lahiri Mah asay a rose from his seat and walk ed in a circle three times. He then assu med the lotus post ure, facin g nort h, and gloriously ente red the final

Four and fifty years I've hun g the sky with stars Now I leap thr oug hWh at shattering! -Do gen (120 0-12 53) Japa nese Zen mast er

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maha sama dhi .

-------- ---------------- --------- ---- ---Death arises from lzfe itself -Lao Tzu

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Just before Chih -hsie n of Hua nch' i passed away in 9 05 AD he asked his atten dant s, IJWho dies si tting?" They answ ered , "A mon k." He said, "Wh o dies stand ing?" They replied, "Enl ighte ned mon ks." He then walk ed arou nd seve n steps with his hand s hanging down, and died.

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When Zen Master Ryoen Gcnseki was told he had cancer and was given a life expectancy of several rnonths, he set off alone on a long pilgriinage. Ryoen lived for two more years. For nearly two weeks before his death, in critical condition, every morning he crawled frotn his roon1 to the main hall of the ten1ple to invoke the names of the n1asters of his lineage. He needed to rest fre-

death approaching, he broke his leg with his own hands and took the full lotus. Then, despite agonizing pain, he wrote his final vvords and died vvith the last stroke of the brush. Buddhas and patriarchs cut to pieces; The sword is ever kept sharpened. ~¥here the wheel turns The void gnashes its teeth.

quently throughout both his crawling and invocation. When he died, he was found sitting in the zazen position.

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him r ve co to k on n1 the ted ec dir y, nit dig e ns me im ith w ing the re wi th ea rth .

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d ce pla he , ing dy of ess oc pr the in s wa a nd na ma ah Br i am Sw As u Yo e. ev gri t no o "D d: sai d an les cip dis s hi of e on on nd his ha ch rea d an d Go in ed rg me be all sh u Yo ll. we me d ve ser h ave ay 1n u yo t tha ng ssi ble my u yo e giv I n. ma ah Br of kn ow led ge

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att ain thi s." pre re we o wh s tee vo de d an les cip dis the all d lle Th en he ca te na tio ec aff an d an ng ssi ble a d ha be ch ea r Fo e. se nt to his sid d, an ion vis tal en nd ce ns tra his in d rbe so ab me ca be wo rd . He th en

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aft er so me, tim e, co nti nu ed in a sw ee t, ten de r voice: "I am flo atn ea oc the on ge led ow kn d an th fai of f lea e th on ng ati flo am I . ing ers oth w sa he t tha ed irn cla ex he ly en dd su en Th n." ma ah Br of a, nd na ka ve Vi , na ish kr ma Ra Sri : him re fo be ay aw d sse pa ad h o wh in d rbe so ab , ile wh a for ll sti s wa He a. nd na ga Yo , da an an Prem t Ou e. fac his on ss tne ee sw t ea gr of on ssi pre ex an th wi n tio m ed ita le sib res xp ine t tha , Ah '' : ed im cla ex ly en dd su he ce, en sil of the the am I ... na ish kr ma Ra my of na ish Kr e th , na sh kri ma Ra lig ht ! my th wi e nc da to t n wa I t; fee my on ts kle an t Pu y. bo rd he sh ep

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Brah mananda

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