Dust in the Wind: An Exploration of Buddhist Approaches to Death
Paul Dorsett
Imagine you have the opportunity to look at your body right now, but not in the form you currently perceive it, but as a body (your body) that has just died. Stay with the corpse and observe the gradual decay of the body starting with the decay of the muscles, through to the bloating of the body. Stay with and observe your body as over the following months the body rots to a pile of bones, and over the years the bones decay into dust, and are picked up by the wind and deposited somewhere else perhaps in a field where your ashes are used to help the grass grow. Ask yourself what currently separates yourself from this right now? The answer is merely the breath that you are taking.
This powerful meditation on impermanence utilised by Halifax (1997) in her work with terminally ill people is taken from the Mahasatipatthana Sutta, recited at the First Council nearly 2500 years ago, and indicates that Buddhism is prepared to confront and address the issue of death, rather than treat it as a taboo. Indeed, as Landaw and Bodian (2003) recognise, it was Buddha's encounter with a corpse that set him on the path to enlightenment.
The purpose of this article will be to briefly explore Buddhist approaches to death with particular reference to the Tibetan Vajrayana tradition, and consider these in relation to how we have a precious opportunity to prepare for death, and how we can use this precious opportunity to be there for others where their death is imminent.
Clinging to attachment
In his book No death, No fear, Thich Naht Hanh reflects on looking at a picture of himself aged 16. Over fifty years have elapsed since the picture was taken, and Hanh asks us to consider whether the boy in the picture is the same person as the man looking at the picture (2003).
For Hanh, the body, feelings and mental formations have changed, but without the young boy, there could not be the old man. There is in fact a continuation, a process of change in much the same way as the body can eventually be dust in the wind. As the saying goes, the only thing constant is change, and even within the time span it has taken me to write this sentence, change has taken place within my body and thought processes, whether it be a fragment of my skin falling off, or thinking of the next line to write there has been a continuation. Further, he recognises, that there is an 'interconnectedness', a shared being between all things. As he notes (in relation to a piece of paper), 'Without a cloud there will be no rain, without rain the trees cannot grow, and without trees we cannot make paper' (p.27).
Yet, as the first two Noble Truths illustrate, our attempts to remain attached to things whether they be our feelings, views, appearances etc inevitably will lead to suffering (duhka) as change takes place. One can attempt to resist this change by, for example, having plastic surgery to reduce the appearance of ageing, or hanging on to one's views on the world, however this cannot prevent death leading to the disintegration of the body as already mentioned in the Mahasatipatthana Sutta. Nor can it prevent what Austin calls 'the death of self' (1999, p.448) in terms of our views and beliefs. Similarly, if we perceive ourselves as separate from others, we promote the illusion of 'I', 'me',' mine', compared to 'you' and 'yours', which again can lead to suffering as we strive to distance ourselves from the inevitability of death.
Practice dying every day
At the heart of Buddhism is the belief that we each have a precious opportunity in our lifetime to actually prepare for, and use death as a form of liberation and awakening from samsara.
Perhaps one of the most clear and detailed approaches to the subject is found within Tibetan Buddhism in the Vajrayana tradition. This tradition uses daily meditation to access the 'mind of clear light' that resides within us, enabling realisation of the illusory nature of what we perceive we think we are. Additionally the tradition encourages through visualisation, the dissolution of the four elements (earth to water to fire to air) , and the images and colours we experience as we go through the death process which range from smoke to flames of a lamp, black mind sky through to the mind of clear light.
As Landaw and Bodian explain:
The more prepared you are, the better you'll be able to remain fully conscious during the clear light of death experience and use it as your spiritual path to awakening. (2003, p.220)
The tradition also practices what is known as phowa, which refers to consciousness transference at time of death and involves opening energy channels within our bodies to help prepare the individual for death, to allow them to:
…consciously take rebirth in a pure realm of existence where everything is conducive to achieving pure awakening. (ibid.)
The practice of these meditations and visualisations will also help an individual who is unable to stay within the mind of clear light or the pure realm of existence, to whilst they are within the intermediate or 'bardo' realm, to aim for what the Dalai Lama (2002, p.203) has called a 'positive rebirth', which can help them in their awakening.
This is a very brief summary of one tradition's approach to the issue of death, detailing in extraordinary depth the phenomenology of the death experience, and also illustrating the importance of using our lifetime to prepare for our own death that after all is inevitable, and to appreciate:
…how we live this life, after birth, right now to its fullest vitalizing extent right into its final moments. (Austin 1999, p.452)
Developing Sangha
How then can we transfer these practices into our lives and utilise the precious opportunity we have as human beings for the benefit of others? Within Buddhism one of the key practices is that of developing 'mindfulness' which involves:
…cultivating an awareness of one's body thoughts and actions in order to become consciously aware of what one does. (Powers 2000, p.200)
Through practices such as meditation one is able to develop what Brazier (2001, p.64) has called a 'Zen garden' where the weeds (the illusory thought processes of the mind ) are tended by processes such as meditation into a beautiful garden where one has clear awareness of what one is doing., to see things as Halifax (1997) emphasises, 'just the way they are'.
Allied to this practice is the development of 'loving compassion for all things.' To carry out any Buddhist meditation whether it be on impermanence, or the dissolution of the four elements solely for yourself merely reinforces the illusion of a separate I, and inevitably leads to suffering over loss and impermanence, rather than promote interconnectedness with all things.
As Halifax (1997) indicates, community (sangha) is inherent within all things not just other people, but with the clouds, trees, and grass etc. This process of interconnectedness and mindfulness gives us the opportunity to step beyond the perceptions and expectation that we have in terms of engaging with the world and actually engage with the world just the way it is. Thus consider how do you connect with a person who is terminally ill? Do you automatically go into what Dass (1992) calls the 'helper prisoner' role wanting to do everything for them, rather than interconnect and empathise with them, or be as Halifax notes a 'slave to one's ego' and take on the role of helper until one becomes burned out? Through the development of mindfulness one is able to 'see the client just as they are and to appreciate the world as it is revealed' (Brazier 2001, p.70).
Mindfulness enables us to step into this world, but also to recognise when we move into role identities such as the helper, or the giver of sympathy when it is not what the other person wants.
The need for a paradigm shift?
As the Fifth Contemplation of Atisha recognises, there are many causes of death. Death may come quickly and unexpectedly such as a car accident, or a heart attack, or it may be a long drawn out process such as an illness like cancer which may involve the person going through a process of medical treatment such as chemotherapy, and operations before the recognition that the body is dissolving.
A long drawn out illness can lead to an individual being heavily reliant on pain relief such as morphine, and for many people suffering a terminal illness, their care needs will be such that they need to stay in a hospital. How then can we apply these Buddhist practices within this area?
The prospect of imminent death brings with it many issues that include the needs of a terminally ill person in areas such as physical, psychological, emotional, and practical, and similarly these factors can affect the person's family and friends as well. However as Halifax stresses the emphasis within hospitals is on the process of curing an illness or pain relief if the condition is terminal, as opposed to a more holistic perspective which looks to healing the individual. The difficulty with this perspective is that we tend to purely engage with a person as a patient who we help by administering medication, rather than interconnect with them. The development of mindfulness can help the healthcare professional connect with another person on a more profound and compassionate level, but additionally as Halifax recognises there is a healing role needed where an individual can work directly with the patient and their family during the process of death. This involves being there for their needs whatever they are, whether emptying a bed pan, engaging with their anger and despair, frustration, using guided meditations, connecting with the family's grief ' just the way things are', in essence our true Buddha nature.
Thus within the teachings and practices of Buddhism is a pathway to enlightenment, which places death within its place within the journey rather than something to be feared. The challenge is to enable these teachings to be brought fuller into contemporary views on the subject. Galin (2003, p.111) for example, recognises that the concept of self or I is an area, which leads to difficulty in definition and application in psychology and counselling, yet in reality as Watson (2003) emphasises the self is merely a set of processes rather than an individual 'I'. An actual awareness of this can be a liberating experience, helping enable death to be placed in its rightful place, yet in reality many therapies do not address this idea. Even at the final stages of death where an individual may recognise what Austin (1999, p.449) calls 'the fearsome fictions of 'I-Me-Mine', there may be little opportunity within a hospital setting to discuss and practice meditations on no self and impermanence.
Additionally the use of pain relief medication may as the Dalai Lama (2002, p.104) recognises, inhibit the individual's mental consciousness, which he considers should be as clear as possible. 'Taking an injection to allow a "peaceful death" could deprive the mind of the precious opportunity of manifesting in a virtuous way by reflecting on impermanence' (ibid).
Also within a hospital setting is the question of supporting a person's family who are suffering grief. Consideration needs to be given how one approaches the nature of impermanence or no self with the family when it relates to a loved one whom the family perceive with a certain identity?
The challenge to Buddhism is to widen the debate on the issues of death, and to look for ways for health care providers to widen perspectives on care and compassion from a curing one to a truly healing one. Within the United Kingdom there has been recent debate on the introduction of 'Dignity Nurses' for elderly patients in hospitals to ensure their care needs are respected , but does such an approach focus on what we think are the needs of the patient rather than being mindful of the patient at the present moment?
For those that are at the point of death do we need to change our perception of what true healing and compassion actually is for them? Buddhism gives us a precious opportunity to change this perception.
Our true nature is the nature of no birth and no death. Only when we touch our true nature, can we transcend the fear of non-being, the fear of annihilation.(Hanh 2002, p.7)
References
Austin, J. (1999). Zen and the Brain. MIT Press.
Brazier, D. (2001). Zen Therapy. Robinson.
Dass, R. (1992). Death is not an outrage. Sounds True Audio Cassette.
Galen, D. (2003). The concepts of self, person, I in Western Psychology and in Buddhism. In B. Allan Wallace (ed.), Buddhism and Science: Breaking New Ground. Columbia
Halifax, J. (1997). Being with Dying. Sounds True Audio Cassette.
HH the Dalai Lama. (2002). Advice on Dying. Rider.
Landaw, J. & Bodian S. (2003). Buddhism for Dummies. Wiley Publishing
Hanh, T.N. (2002). No Death, No Fear. Rider.
Powers, J. (2000). A Concise Encyclopaedia of Buddhism. Oneworld
Watson, G. (2002). The Resonance of Emptiness. Routledge Curzon.
