DEATH CANNOT BE AVOIDED.VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.

Bhikkhu Anālayo, Mindfully facing disease and death .

XIII.1 INTRODUCTION

My study of the original texts on the subject of disease, presented in the previous twelve chapters, now turning to the topic closely related to disease, is about death, to be presented. in the remaining twelve chapters.

The predicament of death is made evident in the first truth of the Four Noble Truths (Four Noble Truths) presented in Chapter 1, as a fundamental framework of Buddhism on illness and death. This first truth shows that death along with birth, old age, and illness are a manifestation of dukkha.

The second truth of the Four Noble Truths is that craving is the origin of suffering. In the case of death, the more one tries to grasp, crave, and accept, the more serious death will become. Therefore, the fear of death can be seen as a measure of the degree of one's attachment to the existence of this body.

The third truth pertains to the cessation of suffering, implying that we can have a free attitude, not suffering at death and about to die. Letting go of craving and attachment increases the level of freedom from fear of death.

The fourth truth describes the actual path that must be taken to achieve inner freedom from the fear of death. This path of practice combines the moral foundation with the mind-training system. In this way, the threat posed by death and near death can become a powerful motivator to help us focus our lives on morality and mindfulness through meditation.

The event of death leading to arising Suffering has many causes, among which there is grief due to the death of loved ones. The following sutta presents such a traumatic case, involving King Pasenadi (Persia) of Kosala (Kiều-ta-la). King Pasenadi is often mentioned in the suttas as someone who admires the Buddha and visits him often.

XII.2 DISCUSSION

The sutta presented here emphasizes that death is inevitable. Although everyone knows that, but when it happens to those close and dear, it is often difficult to accept. According to some other equivalent suttas, King Pasenadi's grandmother was 100 or even 120 years old. She died at that age was not a surprise. Despite this, King Pasenadi experienced such deep sadness that the king was willing to give away everything he owned if his grandmother was brought back to life.

The sutta goes on to show the same principle that applies to famous family members, listing the three higher classes of ancient Indian society: brahmin, soldiers, and businessmen. . The same principle applies to kings who rule the world, across four continents in the view of the universe of ancient India.

Death also happened to the gods, and the Arahants, who were disciples of Buddha, were fully enlightened. Early Buddhist thought refers to a class of Buddha called Paccekabuddha, Pratyekabuddha or Pratyekabuddha, one who enlightens himself but does not transmit to others, unlike the Chief Buddha of the Enlightened One. The Pratyekabuddha and Arahant are fully enlightened, but the Pratyekabuddha Buddha is superior, because he has achieved the final goal by himself, without receiving instructions from any Buddha. Even so, all the Buddhas of Enlightenment and Arhat will eventually die.

The same thing happens with the Buddha, the Samyaksambuddha, because compassion teaches the teachings of liberation, superior to the Buddha of Enlightenment. According to tradition, a Buddha of the Right Enlightenment has ten special mental powers (Tathagata Cross Force), in addition he has four infinite obstacles  [1] . With such faculties, He could steadfastly argue with anyone with confidence, and thereby preach the Dharma fearlessly like the roar of a lion. With a great lord with ten powers and four positions like that, he will eventually die - in the sense that the four great bodies stop working.

The examples given thus vividly present the power of death. A key message underneath these examples is the need to view death as an integral part of every person's experience, rather than leaving it just as an accepted theory and quickly forgetting. One way of applying this to practice in daily activities is to occasionally note that the people we just met will die: no one is exempt from that fate.

A condensed expression that can be used to reflect frequently on the death nature of all sentient beings can be found in a verse of the Udānavarga (Dharma Sutta Sutta 1.22), in the various Dhammapada texts (such as Dhp 148) and other texts such as Mahāvastu (Mahāvastu) and Divyāvadāna (Divine Action). This brief statement is as follows:

- Life ends in death (maraṇāntaṃ hi jīvitaṃ)

Such a concise sentence, if allowed to soak through the mind with repeated recollection, can produce a very significant transformative effect. I will return to the practice of visualizing the death of each practitioner in Chapter 24.

Another more comprehensive and comprehensive reflection of King Pasenadi himself is found in a discourse of the Abramus (SĀ 1240) and the equivalent sutta in the First Priest (EĀ 26.6) and Samyutta (SN 3.3). ). In the sutta, the king thought about the importance of old age, illness and death. In addition to the sutta mentioned above, I quote the first part of the sutta as follows:

I sound like this. At one time, the Buddha was in the garden of Loneliness, the forest of States of da, the citadel. Then, the Persian king (Pasenadi) alone in quiet place thinking, thinking to himself: 'There are three dharma that all the world does not love, do not love. It is old, sick, dead. If there were not these three dharmas but the world did not love or cherish them, then the Buddha would not have appeared in life and the world would not have known the dharma that the Tathagata Buddhas had already enlightened to because of humanity. . Because of these three dharmas that all the world does not love, does not like being old, sick, or dead, the Tathagata Buddhas appear in life and the world knows there are dharma that the Tathagata Buddhas have enlightened already for humanity. broad speech. ' 

The sutta continues with King Pasenadi presenting his reflections to Buddha and he expressed his agreement. The same idea is found in the branch of the Sangha (AN 10.76) and the equivalent suttas in the A-Ham Journal whereby the presence of death along with old age and illness is what motivates a person. Buddha appeared and taught in this world.

 The equivalent sutta (Trung A-function, MĀ 204) confirms that death is one of the prominent elements of dukkha, prompting the future Buddha to start his own search journey to enlightenment. enlightenment. 

... (His Bodhisattva) decided to become a monk, making his life as a wanderer an attempt to solve the problem of the "being taken to death" event ... His goal was conquer death in life.

After his enlightenment and before he began to preach the Dharma, according to the Prayer and its equivalent in Middle Ages, the Buddha declared that he had attained the state of "immortality". When he attains immortality through complete enlightenment, he is no longer affected by the death of himself or others. END=NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).GOLDEN AMITABHA MONASTERY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.21/3/2020.