You will die, so will I

A monk in Kangpa went to central-Tibet and relied on a great Kadampa Guru. Later when he was leaving for his hometown he asked the Guru: “you have given me lots of teachings and pith instructions, now I’m leaving and might not be able to come back again. Could you please give me one more pith instruction?” The Guru told him, throughout these years, the teachings and pith instructions to be given had already been given, and there was nothing else. But the monk insisted the Guru on giving him some more teachings. At last, the Guru held his hand and said: “you will die, and so will I!” This is the pith instruction!

With keeping in mind the impermanence of life and the death, one will automatically make progress in practice until getting accomplishment. Without such thinking, all is just a castle in the air and meaningless. “Will I die today, will I die now…” It depends. You might die now, or this evening, or tomorrow.

The ancient tradition Kadampa masters would put the bowl up-side down while going to sleep in the evening, implying that they would definitely not wake up the next day and definitely die, and would not use these utensils any more. They were practicing impermanence like this. Most of the great ancient tradition Kadampas got accomplishment through practicing impermanence.

An authentic practitioner must understand and see through death. Just as the eminent monks and siddhas ever said, only when one is like “a man who has already died once”, can he be a real practitioner.

We have been learning Buddhism and know many teachings of impermanence of life, but we still could not arouse such right view, not to mention those worldly people. While facing death, one will be pained and terrified! But at that time people are very incapable and unfree.

At present life, we have to endure our own karmic effects, without any other choices, and even the benefits we can get are very few. When facing the death and future life, it will feel more painful and dreadful, and most people will fall into lower realms in their future lives. That is why it is said that “the quantity of the beings in the hell is as many as the dusts in the earth.”