Into the Jaws of Yama, Lord of Death: Buddhism, Bioethics, and Death

7. The Transition Between Life and Death

Chapter 7  The Transition Between Life and Death The ultimate objective for Buddhists is the attainment of liberation from the wheel of rebirth, for unless liberation is reached, the sufferings and dissatisfactions of saμsåra continue indefinitely. Unless an individual conscientiously attempts to purify his or her mental continuum of defilements like greed, hatred, and ignorance, these impressions produced by former actions will continue to be transmitted throughout successive lifetimes, repeating themselves over and over. This understanding of cyclic existence is the foundation of all Buddhist practices and therefore the texts and commentaries of all Buddhist traditions have a great deal to say about the nature of death and dying. But it is the Tibetan texts and commentaries that have the most to say about what is experienced during the transition between death of the physical body and the next rebirth. These texts provide instructions for understanding the mechanics of the dying process as well as for negotiating the journey. From them, we learn that death is not a final destination, but simply one momentary event in a succession of moments of transition from one existence to another. This realization frees us from conventional expectations and allows us to experience dying on its own terms. The relationship between life, death, the bardo state, and rebirth is so subtle and complex that it is not easily grasped by the ordinary mind. The link between a person’s identity in this lifetime and the next is as tenuous as the thread of connectedness between one moment of consciousness and the next. As real as our self-identity may appear to us in our ordinary, unawakened state, the elements that 99 100 Into the Jaws of Yama, Lord of Death constitute that identity are not concrete, but ephemeral, each dependent on the causal relationships connecting one moment and the next. The tendency to grasp at individual identity results from misconceiving the self as substantial and enduring. This gives rise to many problems , both in everyday life and at the end of life. Although the ordinary tendency to grasp at an inaccurate concept of self is natural, it also gives rise to the fear and depression that accompany illness and explains , in part, why a terminal diagnosis comes as such a terrible shock. For Buddhists, correcting misconceptions about the nature of the self is central to eliminating the anxiety and suffering that complicate the experience of dying and rebirth. Insight into the connections between lifetimes, and the way our actions and their consequences affect this process puts us in a much better position to skillfully navigate the journey. Whereas dying is the process during which the physical and mental components of an individual disintegrate, death is the culmination of this process. When the physical body is no longer capable of sustaining life, the coarser states of consciousness disintegrate, one after the other, leaving only the continuity of a very subtle level of consciousness. What happens after that is a matter of interpretation among the different Buddhist schools. A diverse range of viewpoints are presented in the Buddhist texts, and different Buddhist traditions further vary in their practical applications of the ideas presented in these texts. In this chapter, I will discuss these different perspectives and the relevance they have for a cross-cultural dialogue on bioethics. First, I trace the roots of the bardo concept to its Indian sources and discuss its variant interpretations. Next, I explain Tibetan interpretations in more detail. Finally, I explore why an understanding of the bardo concept may be helpful for facilitating a smooth transition from death to rebirth and why it is relevant to a discussion of liberation, enlightenment, and end-of-life decision making. Indian Buddhist Concepts of the Intermediate State The idea of an intermediate state (antaråbhava, Tib: bardo) has its precursors in classical Indian thought. As Arindam Chakrabarti points out, all philosophical schools agree that death is but “a change of phase in the continuing story of the life of a single individual, even if that individual is reducible to a causally connected set and series of psychophysical states).”1 Vedic eschatology described several distinct “paths” after death: (1) the “ancestral” path (pi†ryåna); (2) the illuminated path of the gods (devayånam); and (3) immediate rebirth as an The Transition Between Life and Death 101 insect or other subhuman state without any interlude. The ancestral path, achieved through the...