Death in the village (March 18)
It has recently come to the attention of all the people in my village that a hermit that was living in the caves just on the outside of the village has died. This hermit, that came to be known as Crazy Uncle by the village was not very well known by the people in the village due to his remote location. He has not been seen by anyone in the village in years, nor have any of us spoken to him. The problem with this is that without knowing how it was that he spent his life, we are unsure of how he is to be treated because what one does with a body depends on how they lived their life. Many people in the village have differing opinion about this because some of us believe that he was a tantric practitioner, but it is hard to be sure due to his seclusion. Even the elders of the village that knew him are not in agreement about how it was that he lived his life.
As we have learned from previous experiences of death in the village, we know that death has an effect on everyone that is left behind. As many monks and nuns know, we must reflect on death and dying as it is inevitable for everyone. Impermanence is the nature of existence, and this can be learned through experiences and meditation on death. As monks and nuns meditate and surround themselves with death and the physical decaying of the body after death, they can overcome the fear of it and are then able to better understand the nature of existence. Lay people can also learn to accept it and spend some time on spiritual advancement in order to hope for a favorable rebirth. It should not be feared because it is at the point of death that rebirth occurs. When a lay person in the village dies within their own home, someone is sent to the lama’s home so that proper rituals may be adhered to. The body is cleaned and dressed in simple clothes. As the body is moved from the home, juniper is burned as an offering to the deities in the heavens and there is a procession to the cremation ground at the monastery. A lama is essential to the rituals after death because death serves as a point of transition from one lifetime to the next. The lama reads from the Tibetan Book of the Dead in order to guide the dead through the intermediate state before the next reincarnation. This intermediate state is called the bardo. Lasting forty-nine days after death, the bardo is characterized as terrifying and confusing. Through reading from the Book of the Dead, the lama assists the dead on their journey through the bardo. The bardo has been a major influence in the development of the rituals to be done at death. Those who are not enlightened at the moment of death enter the bardo. I believe that it is safe to assume that Crazy Uncle was not enlightened at the time of his death because at the time of death of realized masters there are manifestations of miracles. The miracles show us that they are liberated from samara. After the death of Milarepa, the sky was luminous and contained mandalas. Milarepa was able to produce multiple bodies for his disciples so that they could be with him. His body could only be burnt once his closest disciple arrived; the other disciples were physically unable to do so until then. For ordinary people, the rituals surrounding the bardo are essential so that the dead can be guided to the next life. Within the bardo, one has visions of 100 different deities, until they reach the 49th or earlier when they enter samara again. This will be essential in the case of Crazy Uncle. He should be treated as an ordinary, lay person, and treated as I described earlier. During the cremation at the funeral ceremony, the lama and his assistant will remain with the body and tend to the fire while they read texts assisting the deceased on the journey.
If we look towards texts on deathbed practices for guidance on this, we can understand that it is the last thought of a monk or a lay person that will decide if they are to continue in the cycle of rebirth or have the ability to escape it. If in the very last moment of death, your only thought can be the reflection of the Buddha; this is the only that death can have the potential for you to be reborn into a Pure Land in the next life. One must have the state of right-mindfulness at the moment of death and if so, an entire lifetime of sin and wrongdoing will no longer matter. This also means that you can also live your life as a practitioner, devoted to a lifetime of virtue and collecting merit has the possibility of a worse reincarnation if the last moments are not pure and focused. Therefore, due to the fact that no one was with the hermit, Crazy Uncle, in his final moments, we do not know whether or not his final moments were focused single-mindedly on the Buddha and the Pure Land. From this we can wonder if what he did throughout his lifetime, whether he was a devoted practitioner or a lay person truly, can determine what we are to do with the body. For it is the final thought that matter in deathbed practices. Typically in the deathbed rituals, one would be surrounded only by the image of the Buddha, incense and other ritual objects so that they may have the ability to focus only on these things. They must be away from any distractions such as anything familiar, so they do not feel distraction due to attachment. Crazy Uncle may have been able to focus in his seclusion and have the ability to visualize the Pure Land, but we cannot be sure.
I believe that the death of the hermit, Crazy Uncle, should be handled as any other funeral for an ordinary person in the village, including the readings from the Book of the Dead, with cremation and should be done so in a timely matter. In fact, I have heard stories of the horrors that will happen if the death rituals are not done quickly after the time of death. This is a dangerous time between death and cremation, and if it not done in accordance with the rituals, the result can be a rising corpse — or, rolang. This is why the death rituals of disposing of the body through cremation or even sky burials are necessary.
