Buddha knows : Death & Rebirth

Buddha knows - An interview with Abbot Dhammajayo on Buddhism

by Monica Øien

“For example, if one’s mind is blemished, one may be reborn in purgatory. But if one’s mind is completely dark, one may head to
a deeper hell realm”

Monica :                    In the Christian religion we believe that we go to heaven, which is a better place
  in the afterlife. So life is just a preparation for death in my religion.
  And I just wonder if it’s different for you, and can you visualize death?

Luang Por :             What everyone in this world will face on their deathbed is the flashback of his/her  doings from birth to the last day of life. Regardless of race or religion, all human beings will see the recurring pictures of their past deeds while they are  dying.
Either good or bad, our deeds will reappear in our mind like a movie. If the person always did good deeds, at their deathbed their mind will be filled with  happiness.
The picture of their goodness will appear bright and clear in their mind. This is the sign that the person will be led to the celestial realm or reborn in  good place after their death. In contrast, if the person usually committed sinful deeds like killing, stealing, or drinking alcohol, their mind will be loaded down  with the weight of unwholesomeness and thus diminished by darkness. The person will see a black spot or a gloomy picture before being drawn into a black  tube which is the way leading to the realm of suffering. Indeed, there are many destinations waiting for the dead. The deceased may be reincarnated in  the realm of hell or, purgatory, as a devil, a ghost,
an animal, a human being, a nymph, or an angel, depending on the state of the mind when the person is  dying. The state of mind could vary based on the ratio of brightness and darkness in the mind. So the variable mixture could lead to a different afterlife.  For  example, if one’s mind is blemished, one may be reborn in purgatory. But if one’s mind is completely dark, one may head to a deeper realm of hell. If the mind is  slightly dark, one could be reborn as an animal. Likewise, if one’s mind is bright enough, one will be reborn as a human. If the mind is very bright, one can be reborn as a celestial being, ranging from an earth sprite, a tree sprite, an air sprite,
a lower celestial being, or a higher celestial being. Do you think people with a  Christian background can understand this? It is not easy to explain the law of karma.

Monica :          Yes, somehow it reminds me of my own culture. Yes it is understandable.
 People are  just so afraid of talking about it in Norway. And it’s just as normal as  being born wouldn’t you say? That’s why I think we need to calm people down a little bit  and give them some knowledge about death. And I need a clearer picture. 

                        It’s just I need more information to say, ok, can we think about it without being
so fearful?

Luang Por :          We’re discussing about how to make it brief but to the point.

Monica :               Yes, that’s right. Would you like to know what we do something about it?
When   people die in Norway we usually don’t see them because we’re so afraid of death, and we don’t want to say goodbye. The normal goodbye with dead people is just to put them in the hospital, then into the refrigerator and then put them into the earth; into the tomb. I don’t know why that happens because back in the middle ages in Norway people died at home, and they used to stay at home for few days so that they could say goodbye. So now everything has become so strange and so impersonal. How do you explain it?

Luang Por :          There is a universal procedure that happens to people from all walks of life   regardless of their belief or ethic. Before people die, they will see the rewinding pictures of their past deeds. The frequent deeds will come first. For example, if one drinks liquor regularly, one will see the pictures of oneself drinking alcohol. Despite the fact that one enjoyed it so much when committing such action, one will feel regretful and uncomfortable before dying. The pre-disembodiment image will then  appear to hint where one will head to. For example, seeing the image of hell denizens will denote that one will go to hell in the afterlife. If one always killed animals in the past, one will see the rewinding pictures of oneself killing animals. Then one will feel discomfort and sorrowful and the pre-disembodiment image will appear to be animals. This means that one will have to be reborn as an animal after dying. I hope you understand, Monica? If I don’t explain with illustrative words, you may not understand. Goodness and badness are universal terms which can be defined differently from religion to religion, so it is necessary to give examples. Like the story of the Norwegian navy men, who were reborn as earth sprites because they don’t have enough merit to be reborn in the celestial realm, but they didn’t have much sin to go to the realm of punishment as well. They have merit from showing support to fellow people only. This is what I want to clarify to you.

Monica :               So is this a thing you can achieve in meditation?

Luang Por :          It happens on earth, but also in the astral dimension. As there are the rich, the   middle class, and the poor in this world, there are also different classes of earth sprites. For the parents of the navy man that we mentioned, he became a common Earth sprite. I hope you understand this. The spirit of their son was also discharged from the body; he was dead. So the tunnel that he entered was the entrance between the two worlds.

Monica :               That’s very difficult to understand.

Luang Por :          During that stage, he was already freed from the feeling of the physical body.

                             He felt  no pain.

Monica :               For me personally, I think it’s interesting. But it’s going to be too difficult for the TV viewers to understand all this. We need to do a documentary on this subject.

Luang Por :           Please accept it as additional universal knowledge. If you find that it is not  acceptable, it’s okay. But you need to separate what is true from what you believe.
Do you want to witness this by yourself? You can do so with meditation practice.