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

5. Foundations of Buddhist Ethics

Chapter 5  Foundations of Buddhist Ethics Buddhist texts from different places and periods present a variety of responses to questions about the nature of self, the nature of death, and what transpires in the process of a person’s dying. For Buddhist practitioners , there is also an active engagement with death in meditation. Formulas like “The only thing that separates us from death is one breath,” and “There is no guarantee which will come first, tomorrow or the next life,” are constant reminders of the impermanent nature of human existence , enjoining practitioners to live each moment as if it were their last. The breath, the gossamer link between life and death, is a favorite mnemonic in Buddhist mindfulness practice. The rising and falling of the breath mirrors the arising and perishing of each moment—a continual reminder that living beings begin dying the moment they are born. Buddhist texts describe analytical and experiential meditations on death, and especially recommend practice in cemeteries. To gain insight into death and impermanence, the practitioner reflects upon the fact that all compounded phenomena invariably disintegrate, all that is born must die. A standard meditation on death begins by contemplating that all living beings inevitably must die, the time of death is unpredictable, and at the time of death only one’s spiritual practice, good deeds, and mental cultivation will be of any value. Possessions, loved ones, and worldly accomplishments will be of no use and may even become an impediment at the moment of death, if anger, fear, or attachment arises. Preparing for death by cultivating the mind will help one face death peacefully and mindfully, while the virtuous actions created throughout one’s life will be the causes for a positive rebirth. 63 64 Into the Jaws of Yama, Lord of Death Contemplation on death helps us gain realization of the finitude and fragility of the body, helps dispel the illusion of our individuality and specialness, and motivates us to strive for liberation. Among the advantages of meditation on death and impermanence is that this awareness cuts through sensual desire, desire for rebirth, ignorance, and the conceit of the “I.” Because death deprives us the objects of our attachment, meditation is useful for cutting through these attachments. The primary benefit of meditation on death is that it motivates us to practice diligently. The Visuddhimagga, a fifth-century text by Buddhaghosa, explains many methods of contemplating death.1 For example, the eight recollections on death include reflections on: (1) coming face-to-face with death as the executioner; (2) the loss of prosperity; (3) the inevitable lot of all living beings; (4) the countless factors, internal and external, that can cause death2 ; (5) the imminence of death; (6) the uncertainty of the time of death; (7) the definite limits of the life span; and (8) the brevity of each moment that brings one closer to death. The meditation on a rotting corpse, one of the thirteen dutangas (austerities) designed to generate renunciation, is even more graphic. It involves visiting a charnel ground daily to observe and reflect on the stages of decomposition of corpses. One reflects on the ten impurities of the rotting corpse as: (1) swollen, (2) discolored, (3) festering, (4) fissured, (5) mangled, (6) dismembered , (7) cut, (8) bloody, (9) worm-infested, and (10) skeletal.3 These meditations make it impossible to deny the reality of death and spur one to prepare for death through intensive practice. Buddhist Definitions of Life and Death In the early Indian Buddhist scheme of things, the principle of nonharm (ahiμsa), to avoid causing death or injury to sentient life, was a supreme value. Each living being had its own allotted life span as a result of its own karma and a death that occurred as a result of an accident was regarded as untimely, though accidents are regarded as the result of karma, too. Buddhaghosa explains this distinction in his commentary on mindfulness of death: Herein, death (mara£a) is the interruption of the life faculty included within a single becoming (existence). . . . As intended here it is of two kinds, that is to say, timely death and untimely death. Herein, timely death comes about with the exhaustion of merit or with the exhaustion of a life span or with both. Untimely death comes about through kamma that interrupts kamma.4 Foundations of Buddhist Ethics 65 In the case of a timely death, the...