Always be aware of death in the middle of life.

 I. INTRODUCTION

In the first Chinese Zen master, there was a monk who asked Zen Master Zhao Chau: " White Buddha, does the dog have Buddha nature? " Zen Master Zhao Zhou replied, " Yes ." The monk asked, " Why does the dog have a buddha's personality and get into the skin like that? " Zen master Zhao Zhou said, " Because of that, I know that ."

Likewise, we are practitioners who know that hatred is suffering, that suffering is suffering, that it is painful to say heavy words to others is to make people suffer, but even in that moment we are not happy, but Why is that bad? In the Only Indications, one day Lady Yemolapa came to ask Bodhisattva Manjushri: " beings know that the yard is suffering, that suffering is suffering, know the path of birth and death is suffering, but still go into ? "Bodhisattva Manjushri said:" Know, but that knowledge is very weak . "

That is when the line of thought arises, I can not stop being dragged by it. We can not stop because we do not have constant contemplation every day. In life, sometimes we are jealous, jealous, can not bear to see other people happy is because I always think life is long, I was very long life. But if we keep in mind that in this life we ​​are only temporarily, tomorrow will have to go, it will drop very quickly. For example, there are two people angry, always embrace in the heart of afflictions, resentment but if the meal heard the news that the other person is dying or tomorrow he or she is no longer living in the world anymore are still angry anymore, or let go? So today we want to share with you a topic: "Mindful of death in everyday life ."

II. LOOK AT THE DEATH OF LIFE IN LIFE BETWEEN CONDITION

In the Middle Sutra it says: Once the Buddha was in Koliya, one day he entered the dharma, knowing that the weaver girl had a good relationship with her in the past. In the conference here three years ago, this girl heard the Buddha meditate on death, returning home often to contemplate on those teachings. Now, when the Buddha returns, he knows for sure that the girl will die tonight, and although she is deeply contemplating death, yet she has not yet attained the fruit of life, she will continue to fall into the path of birth and death. Thus, the Buddha opened the compassionate compassion there for the girl.

When the congregation is crowded, the girl enters the door, devoting herself to the Buddha.

Buddha asked her:

- Where do you come from?

- Lord, I do not know.

- Where will you go?

- Lord, I do not know.

- I do not know?

- I know.

- You know what?

- I do not know.

They sat listening to the four questions between the Buddha and the girl, who did not understand anything, thought that the girl answered silly. The merciful Buddha wanted to declare to the masses should ask:

"My son, when I asked you,  " Where are you from? " , Why do you say" I do not know"?

- Lord, you must have known my son from here. But he wants to ask you from the realm of rebirth here, that I do not know.

Bodhisattva for the force that reborn in this realm lead mentoring beings, and we are due to karma. So do you know from the scene that come?

- My son, when the Tathagata asked: " Where will you go? "Why do you say" I  do not know "?

- Well, you must have known that I was going to the weaving factory because I was holding the basket just in my hand. But I want to ask you to be born again, that I do not know.

"My son, when the Tathagata asked," Do not you know? "Why do you say" I know "?

- Lord, because I know for sure that you will die.

- When the Tathagata asked, " You know what? "Why do you say" I do not know "?

- Because you do not know as long as you die and will be born again.

The Buddha praised the girl's mind, thanks to often contemplating death should have understood the Buddha, then He said the verse:

This world is blind

Few people see clearly

As birds escape the net

Very few go to heaven.

That is who clearly see each and every thought of his birth and destruction, and who will see clearly where he will die and then reborn?

After listening to the Buddha's verse, the girl attained the results of Tu-momentum, that is, the idea. That afternoon, at the textile factory, she accidentally died. Her father was very distressed, came to the Buddha. The Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths to advise him and told him that his daughter was reborn in heaven. So the father asked to leave the practice, after four months he deeply contemplated the case of impermanence and death, he attained Arahantship.

This means that through the profound insight of impermanence and death, there are those who have been liberated in this life.

When we go to bed, we can not guarantee that we are still alive tomorrow. So Zopha Rinpoche, before going to sleep, usually arranges things neatly and neatly for the latter to use. Because he often contemplates the depth of his death, assuming that when he goes to bed, the anomaly can not live and use these things anymore. Due to the inward contemplation of death so when death comes, they are not afraid.

Before entering Nirvana, the Buddha states that after the Tathagata in Nirvana, in the land of Central India, there is a saintly disciple named Uu ba Cuc Da, that is, great number of.

In Tan Tan, a wealthy young man lives with a very beautiful young wife, but the young man realizes that life has so much suffering that he decides to renounce his life. For a time he saw the life of the family also has its own difficulties, not always as good as imagined, so please return to the lay home life. The Precious Three Chrysostom, who knew he should have told him to stay with him one night before his death. That night, the Spirit used to make this monk dreamed of going home, his wife died three days, rotten dead. This guy is too afraid to wake up, know just a dream. The next morning, the monk bowed to the Patriarchs, one day to go home and then return to work. He walked three days to his home, or his wife had died three days, seen rotten. Witnessing to his beautiful wife, who now has only one rotten beast, this monk reflects deeply on death and at the moment of actual realization of Arahantship. Then the monk returned to pay homage to the three Chrysanthemums asking repentance.

Through the above story we see, one sees the life of the monk suffering, no peace, happiness, but after contemplating deeply about death, immediately leave all. When we still crave, even if we do not have deep contemplation of death, if continual contemplation, then naturally let go of light.

Wicked waves of this pain, if you see in the scene to see the naughty but true nature, but it is impermanent nature, not self nature. What is impermanent, not self-nature? Understand and live with it, you can escape the opposite.

Lama Zopha Rinphoche said: " The main remedy for treating worldly dharmas is meditating on impermanence and death. If we do not remember about the death, we do not remember the French . "When listening to the French, but when you go out the door you do not remember the French, not remember the French law is not, will gradually rot. Bodhi mind. Ancient virtues have said: "The Buddha's year in the money, bicameral ascension Buddha, three years discord Buddha". There are people who first learned French, practiced diligently, but after a period of ignorance, is also due to lack of deep contemplation of death. Once meditated deeply, then when sitting meditation, thoughts are no longer rushed to much. We ourselves also experienced this when retreats, that when you go to the canteen, mindfulness is not sure that you will stand up to live in this life again, then suddenly panicked. Very nice!

"And even if we remember the idea, but if we do not remember the idea of ​​death impermanence, we can not practice the law."

There are many people remember the French, the reason is very good, but do not remember the death should not refrain. I think I live life, live forever without knowing the sudden death, without notice. Understand that then we can practice Dharma.

In the fourth chapter, the Buddha asked the disciples:

- How long do people live?

The first one answered:  Network people live in a day .

Buddha said:  He has not seen the director .

The second said:  Network people live in the meal .

- He has not seen the director.

The third answer:  Network of people living in the breath.

Confirmation:  He saw the director .

Breath inhaled, not breathing out is dead. At that moment, Buddhist insight is that you have seen the direction, is liberation.

The Theravada Master teaches very carefully about this issue. For example, the glass is very sweet, can you feel it? Of course, I'm not stone. But feel this sweet and see the danger of the sweet is immediately exported, that the glass is liberation. For example, is this toxic, do you drink? I do not drink anymore is free. Very simple. Many times we think that the Zen Meditation is secondary, but in reality the dharma has no class, no class or no. The methods taught by the Buddha point directly to his weak heart. .

Many people say the method of the book is a simple, but not completely. When you breathe in, you see each thought, every thought, that is wisdom. And what is seen is insight, what stops these thoughts is intended. Peer-to-peer communication. The method of reciting the Buddha, too. Want to go to the Great Tathagata or Mahamudra, then the body of the sentence must match. So the methods given by the Buddha are all correct, only afraid to practice or not.

The Zen mentions that, in the Song Dynasty, there is a monk who attained enlightenment with a friend named Zhang Luo. One day the Venerable advised you to be old, the death of impermanence is not known at all, try to practice, generosity and do good deeds. You think you are healthy, long life so the appointment will practice after completing three wishes. The first is the older son has not married, the next daughter did not married husband, the last thing is not finished construction. Deliberately one month later, Zhang died. Venerable to the crowd, do not chanting anything but read a verse:

My name is Truong Luu

Advising him to study, to make three things

Three things unbroken, impermanent to

Imprisonment Pluto not respect each other.

When impermanence comes, Pluto does not respect anyone, even if it is his case in the following story. In the Ngu dynasty, it is said that, in the Association of Tue An teacher, there is a teacher of the age is also quite large, high virtue, preserve the precepts, but the hindrance that the Buddha should be no time. tu many. One day he was meditating, the soldiers of the King appeared:  "The Venerable Master, the term of the Venerable, please follow me."  He said:  "He told the King, that my Buddha is too messy, I have to worry about the public, so I renewed for seven days.". Pledge to love Mr. Master should agree to back seven days. During these seven days, the master of spirituality, not a single thought. At the end of seven days, the devil came to see him but did not see. He sat there, but he did not find it. See where? Sitting here is to see the shadow only, where the head of the Buddha nature do not see? Where can no one see? Devotees searched for seven days without seeing it removed. He is also sitting at the same time. So even if Pluto has respect, it is only for seven days. If anyone knows that I only live another month, ensure that he diligently diligently to release.

In fact, there is a girl in Belgium who has not done evil all her life, but does not know the practice, but just feels vague. Suddenly one day, she discovered that she has cancer at the end of treatment can not be cured, the doctor said she would die in the next one or two months. The family invited two teachers to guide, encourage and support her meditation. Knowing that I only had one month to live, she gave up all of it, just sitting in meditation, thinking nothing else, even sitting in the whole day without eating. Until the last day before she left, she held her sister's hand, smiled and let go, not feeling any pain.

In another case, in Canada there was a Buddhist who had meditated in the past. One day he found himself suffering from terminal cancer and was sent home by the doctor. Knowing he was going to die, he decided to give up all of it, in the closed room to meditate to death. Previously he only sit one hour now he sat continuously for two days, three days. Sit like this one day while sitting, he saw his belly boiling, when he left his foot to see the black tar pitch. After the examination again, the disease is always gone.

The two cases are based on the blessing of each person. But through that we see deep contemplation of death, I will practice diligently. Now we sit sore feet are exhausted, say the next morning, or I recite the Buddha for a while, let go play out, tomorrow next. But do we continue tomorrow? Not sure yet, right?

Consciousness is the impermanence that, Truc Lam has made shelves:

Breath like the nose

Life is like clouds drifting away from the mountain

The voices of each bright moon

It is not trivial to have a spring.

Do you see your life like the clouds? Sometimes we do good deeds in the past life, the cloud gathered into rich image, happy. Over that period, in the past we have also done evil, the clouds are melting, gathering into another image. We see life as very illusion, impermanence. But Buddhism points out that it is not for you to be pessimistic, but for you to delve deeply into meditation, to see the impermanence of dharmas, and how to live your life for the sake of value. .

The spirit of the Buddha is "renunciation", which means refusing all craving, clinging, jealousy, selfishness ... but not rejection of life. Knowing life is impermanent, but it must be impermanent to go to the truth. Buddhism is not pessimistic, censure, that Buddhism is " self-lit up that go, torch lit with the Dharma ."

"The voice of each bright moon":  Birds call the voice is dynamic or net? Movement. Is the moon bright or moving? Pure. Wanting to see the eternal spring in your own nature, you have to overcome the net, the hate, the owner.

Thus, after deeply contemplating impermanence and death, you will naturally have a stronger will than the former. Ready to sacrifice for the benefit of all, but with a condition that is not grasp. That is the merit of the Bodhisattva.

In the Ngũ Đăng Hội Nguyên, there is an old lady to ask Zen Master Triệu Châu:

- Venerable Bach, I saw the body of the woman is too difficult, difficult obstacles to cultivate, the Venerable just give me how to cultivate the next life into a male body.

The Venerable said:

- No need to wait for the next life, before the Chief Chancellor I will transfer to her.

When the old lady stood in front of the Main Hall, Zen Master Triệu Châu beat three bell, said:

- If you want to convert into a male body, you have to listen to me, volunteering like this: "I make vows for all people born in the heavens, while children are inferior to hell."

The old woman was afraid that this vow was not related to her desire to move to the male body for easy practice. Venerable at this new disclosure:

- That is the male transition.

This story is very simple, but you try to reconsider, what is a macho? Speaking of men is a misnomer. The macho man has a spirit of tolerance, a vision, a great willingness, wanting everyone to be happy and safe and willing to suffer the suffering of man in life. . That is the macho, the Buddha, the Bodhisattva. Which is the Buddha, is the Bodhisattva, where else to distinguish men and women anymore. In the monastery, there are teachers in the kitchen, eating for themselves is very simple, but the desire for all the monks, nuns, you eat to full, wealthy. Tu is from the heart. Seeing that, they are willing to make great efforts to suffer for beings are instant release.

III. YEAR OF DEATH METHOD FOR DEATH

Master Sanhua Sanh offers five meditations on death to bring practitioners to the path of enlightenment and liberation.

1. Contemplation increasingly approaches death.

" When I walk, every step is near death ." For example, step one that knows the second step is dying, if you contemplate such deep insight, then there is hope? Make sure it's gone.

"When I got home, most of my life was over."

We experience when traveling by plane or bus ... keep in mind that there is no guarantee that you will be alive until you arrive home. Continuous contemplation as such will not be about the world again, but always stay in the world. When staying like that, the concept of fear is no longer so I am very calm and not afraid of death.

"When we are drinking a cup of tea, when we are eating rice, when we talk, when we are meditating,  every one of us is mindfulness, let alone let go very light."

His Holiness the Dalai Lama said, " Be careful, be sincere, another day has passed."

In Meditation books, there is a story about Zen Master Y Am very diligent practice. When it was dark, he cried, " Today is not good, tomorrow do not know how elaborately."

The Zen master Nham Kham said:  "The time does not wait for people, a blink of an eye has died, the body is still healthy, why do not even learn to reach the bottom of the bottom, we have good luck today Meet the Dharma ? "

Do you have good luck? Many times when we see the dhamma is simply too simple, but in the words of the Buddha, we have good fortune, great fortune to hear the holy words of the Buddha. But when hearing that, the teachings of the Buddha fell in his consciousness, never lost.

There are many older people who come to the monastery to lament that they are too late to learn the Dharma and have lived a life of great error. But what is late?

French saying:

Who lived a hundred years.

Glory, not meditation

Better live one day

Just practice meditation.

Just live a day with the precepts, meditation practice that better than a hundred years do not keep precepts, do not meditate. So now you have the opportunity to live on many days of meditation, meditation? Too much.

" A person's life, a hundred years, can be divided into two parts, half of which goes to sleep, which is not counting the day's sleep, and most of the fifty years of waking in controversy, illness and many other useless activities. If we combine all the time spent in cultivation, very little. And then we have to die, even though you have a perfect human body. "

In the French Sutra recorded example, the four brothers Pham justified the news, know that seven days to die, so he said goodbye. The first said, " I dive into the sea, in the midst of King Pluto will not do anything ." The second said, " I'm trapped in Mount Tudi." The third said, " I flew in nothingness ." The fourth said, " I went into the market ." Deliberate seven days later, the devil arrives. Marketers saw a Pham just died in the market, to tell the king. The Buddha said,  "There are four things people can not escape. One is in Central Asia itself m  not born, the birth must be old, old must then patients must die ". That is four things, no one can escape. If we do good things, when we die, we will be reborn in heaven; If we work very wickedly, we will fall into hell; And those who are in the middle of life, 49 days after the right to be reborn, to say "in the middle body can not be born ..."

The Sun said shelves:

Not in the sky between the sea

Do not fall into the mountain

No place in the world

Escape from death

Do not worry before your eyes

Same things will come

People do not calm

The old man died

So self-static

So the birth was over

Bhikshu wins the maiden

Get out of the cycle of birth and death.

It means that the Buddha said he was sure he would die, so he stopped and woke up, that is, "the birth was over", won the legacy of suffering is "escape round birth and death".

2. Contemplating death is uncertain

That means we can pick up death at any moment, such as poisonous snake bites, car accidents, tsunamis, earthquakes ... In the excellence story tells a story: worshiper A Nan begging The Buddha into the Shiva sees a crowd around a talented artist, everyone praises. But after the alms round was over, Sun worshiped this guy died, very surprised, he went to the white Buddha: " What today you look so strange, never seen." The new Buddha said: " Human life as fast as the wind, hard to hold back. Then he said, there is nothing strange . " Then the Buddha said shelves:

I just saw it

It's gone

Yesterday was new

Now no longer

I'm young

Do not rely on

Youth also die

Boyfriend countless.

In the Dhammapada, the Buddha has the verse:

See life as an illusion

Life is like a bubble

Who see life like that

Death does not do anything.

I want to get rid of birth and death, less nostalgia and clinging in life, then we have to look at this life as illusion, like bubbles.

Zen master Khue Phong said that there are three types of religious. The first is to see the scene without attachment, which is the saint. Second class, meet the scene that stick, that is the people do not know the religion. Third, meeting the scene is attached, but just know to let go, it is people like me, who is religious. So we have a part in it, not pessimistic. Sometimes I have anger, but try not to be angry for a long time but to know how to let go, and the monk is "the most irresponsible, most deadly dream," not to be angry more than one night, see birth and death as the illusion, then that the recitation, not angry anymore.

3. Recognize who must die

In the elite quarters, it was said that the Han emperor was very good at recruiting generals. One day he said to the public who is the longest human life is very longevity. As soon as he finished talking, he laughed. The king is talking and laughing in front of the king so that he is guilty of the military, must be beheaded. Before being dragged outside, the king asked him:  "When I say, why did you laugh? " He replied,  "Shen heard Peng.END=NAM MO SAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=THICH CHAN TANH.THE MIND OF ENLIGHTENMENT.VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=GOLDEN LOTUS MONASTERY=AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.31/5/2018.