Recollection/Death (maraṇassati)
Recollection/Death (maraṇassati)
8. Reading from the draft biography: Ajahn Chah’s dying father asks him to remain in robes for life. [Sickness] [Recollection/Death] [Parents] [Monastic life] [Ajahn Chah] [Determination] // [Learning] [Culture/Thailand] [Unattractiveness] [Forest versus city monks] [Sutta] [Sense of urgency]
Quote: “I dedicate my body and mind, my whole life, to the practice of the Lord Buddha’s teachings in their entirety. I will realize the truth in this lifetime … I will let go of everything and follow the teachings. No matter how much suffering and difficulty I have to endure I will persevere, otherwise there will be no end to my doubts. I will make this life as even and continuous as a single day and night. I will abandon attachments to mind and body and follow the Buddha’s teachings until I know their truth for myself.” — Ajahn Chah [Buddha] [Dhamma] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Knowledge and vision] [Truth] [Relinquishment] [Suffering]
Reflection: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 40 [Energy] [Doubt] [Continuity of mindfulness]
3. “Could you please explain about the death process…how quickly does rebirth occur?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Death] [Rebirth] // [Recollection/Death] [Delusion] [Self-identity view] [Recollection] [Impermanence] [Not-self] [Theravāda] [History/Early Buddhism] [Sutta] [Vajrayāna] [Clinging] [Culture/Thailand] [Chanting] [Goodwill] [Relinquishment] [Ceremony/ritual] [Kamma]
References: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 55: Five Recollections; Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 12: The body is impermanent... [Similes] [Craving]
Simile: Fire blown by the wind (MN 72: Aggivacchagotta Sutta)
Story: A former monk asks Ajahn Chah about working with dying people to give them the opportunity for wholesome rebirth. [Ajahn Chah] [Teachers] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Quote: “I practice dying.” — The Dalai Lama [Dalai Lama] [Recollection/Death]
1. “I was struck by the simile of the stone being heavy, but you won’t know it’s heavy unless you pick it up, and it’s just like suffering. You don’t have to pick it up. I’m battling a loss in my life, and I’m suffering. I didn’t pick up the stone. It was flung at me. I’m not sure how to deal....” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Similes] [Ajahn Chah] [Suffering] [Grief] [Christianity] // [Human] [Naturalness] [Equanimity] [Self-identity view] [Goodwill] [Discernment]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 55: Five Recollections [Characteristics of existence] [Recollection/Death] [Kamma]
Quote: “Whenever you get into a fight with nature, you always lose.”
Quote: “What makes it heavy is the ‘me’ bit.”
1. Ajahn Dtun’s visit and Iris Landsberg. Recollections by Beth Steff.
Quote: “In the morning, a health friend. In the evening, a wisp of cremation smoke.” — unnamed Chan master. [Death] [Recollection/Death]
2. “In the Pure Land tradition, there are practices that prepare one for death. Are there are specific recommendations that yourself or Ajahn Chah would give for preparation for that last moment before death?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Pure Land] [Ajahn Chah] [Death] [Recollection/Death] // [Buddho mantra]
Story: Family members try to encourage a drunkard to recollect “Arahaṃ“ in his last moments. [Mantra] [Humor]
Story: Ajahn Chah’s response to Paul Breiter’s desire to teach meditation to dying people. Told by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Meditation] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Story: Ajahn Karuṇadhammo advises Iris Landsberg to recollect “sorrowless, spotless, secure.” Told by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Recollection]
Sutta: Sn 2.4: Maṅgala Sutta (English chanting translation).
Story: A couple asks Master Hua what kind of dog they should get. [Master Hsuan Hua] [Animal] [Rebirth]
10. “How can we interest the mind in the recollection of death?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection/Death] [Desire] // [Mindfulness of breathing] [Sickness] [Death] [Poo Jum Gom] [Mindfulness of body] [Sense of urgency]
11. “Is recollection of death useful for laypeople?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection/Death] [Lay life] // [Human]
12. Comment by Ajahn Ñāṇiko: There is a belief that contemplating death can call death to you. [Recollection/Death] [Death] // [Fear]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
13. “How do I keep the mind from proliferating about what happens after death?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection/Death] [Rebirth] [Proliferation] // [Progress of insight]
15. Discussion about faith followers and Dhamma followers. [Stream entry] [Stages of awakening] [Death] [Sutta]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Not-self] [Concentration] [Recollection/Death]
Reference: Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, pp. 441-445: Ajahn Chah comes down Pu Pek Mountain and nothing is the same. [Ajahn Chah]
Response by Ajahn Cunda. [Ajahn Amaro]
16. Comment: Comments about bringing death contemplation into the present moment. [Recollection/Death] [Present moment awareness] [Rebirth]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Vajrayāna]
3. “In the reading, did it say that he [Chao Khun Nor] slept in a coffin?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Chao Khun Nor] [Recollection/Death]
11. “Is there a meditation practice to use with someone who is dying?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation] [Death] // [Faith] [Simplicity] [Happiness] [Recollection/Death] [Ageing] [Sickness]
Story about Ram Dass’s dying mother: “Richard, shut up!” [Ram Dass] [Fear] [Restlessness and worry]
12. Comments about uncertainty, impermanence, and denial of the reality of one’s own death. [Impermanence] [Culture/West] [Heedfulness] [Virtue] [Death] [Recollection/Death]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
23. “In Vajrayāna you visualize a column of light and going out the top of your head in preparation for death. Is there a related practice in this tradition?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Vajrayāna] [Visualization] [Recollection/Death] [Theravāda] [Death] // [Tranquility] [Mindfulness]
Reference: “Our Real Home” in Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 145.
4. Reflection by Jeanne Daskais: How Dhamma practice helped me be with my mother’s death and support my family through the process. [Parents] [Sickness] [Buddhist identity] [Family] [Death] // [Grief] [Christianity] [Health care] [Relationships] [Recollection/Death] [Generosity]
Sutta: SN 47.19: The Bamboo Acrobat
3. “This has happened a few times only but I’m puzzled, please help. When my mind was very calm, a sudden sort of energetic feeling is all over the body and my spine feels very cold. And then suddenly I have a flash of memory from childhood of drowning in the tank in our backyard. On a different occasion I saw the dead putrefied face of an old woman, horrific, mouth wide open. How do I deal with all this? I get a shock and concentration stops, sometimes sending shivers.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/Unusual experiences] [Concentration] [Rapture] [Recollection/Death]
9. “I have an autoimmune disorder of undiagnosed origin. I was wondering if it was worth this precious time of practice to send mettā and thoughts of healing to the body. If so, how do you recommend approaching it? Also, is this compatible with seeing this ailment as a heavenly messenger (and as a contemplation of the body’s demise)? As symptom management reduces it to a mild physical irritation should I also contemplate unpleasant feelings? Or is it best to just stay grounded in the breath and mettā and not risk proliferation. Much gratitude.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sickness] [Mindfulness of feeling] [Recollection/Death] [Proliferation] [Goodwill]
15. “Although in reasonable condition, I am realizing that fear / anxiety of death / non-becoming is pervasive in the background of my daily life. Does the Buddha speak to that which continues after the body dies? Other than the five recollections and contemplating impermanence, does he offer guidance on how to best prepare to greet ones own death? Thank you so much.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection/Death] [Rebirth] [Impermanence] [Fear]
[Session] [Recollection/Death]
Reading: Nine point death meditation from the Lam Rim.
Reading: AN 6.19: Mindfulness of Death (1).
Reading: AN 6.20: Mindfulness of Death (2).
Reading: MN 10: Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, The Foundations of Mindfulness, Charnel ground contemplations.
Reading: “Only the Practice of Dharma Can Help Us at the Time of Death,” Larry Rosenberg, Tricycle, Summer 2000.
1. Comments by Beth Steff about the Lam Rim teachings. [Vajrayāna] [Bhikkhu Bodhi] [Recollection/Death]
Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo.
2. Recollections of visiting the morgue in Thailand. Recounted by Debbie Stamp. [Recollection/Death]
14. “One of the books I have read suggests to practice the last moment of life every night. What would you suggest for practicing marananussati?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection/Death]
1. “Can you please say a little more about using the contemplation of death to gladden the mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection/Death] [Gladdening the mind]
10. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 662-664 “Por Puang” [Ajahn Chah] // [Temporary ordination] [Wat Pah Pong] [Generosity] [Recollection/Death] [Sickness] [Death] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Three Refuges]
14. “What are your thoughts about maintaining a practice you’re at the bedside of someone actively passing away?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sickness] [Death] // [Listening] [Fear] [Personal presence] [Intuition]
Story: Ram Dass anxiously tries to guide his stepmother through the dying process. [Ram Dass] [Teaching Dhamma] [Restlessness and worry] [Mindfulness of mind] [Recollection/Death]