Life Beyond Death
The purpose of death
The nature of life after death
How we can prepare for death
How we can assist the dying
How to Prepare for Death
Every moment keep your luggage packed. Nobody knows when death will call. The warrant of death is like the arrest warrant. One cannot think of appealing against it. No matter what is happening, we have to quickly leave off and go. So, if you are ready before hand, there will not be much difficulty in leaving. Brahmananda Saraswathi, Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath
Preparing for death is not something we can do in a week or a month, or any fixed time frame. In the broadest sense, our whole life is preparation because whatever psychic impressions we gather during life will form the landscape of our experience after death. To the degree we can resolve painful feelings and cultivate compassion, we will greatly enhance the quality of our experience, both during life and after death. Here are some suggestions in that regard.
First and foremost is to cultivate a daily spiritual practice. The most universal practice is repetition of the holy "word", or "name" of God, using a string of beads called a rosary, mala, or Tasbih. This ancient practice is revered in all the great traditions and as effective means to purify the subtle body and dissolve the deep psychic impressions which bind it to the Earth plane. Your priest, rabbi or imam can help you get started. If you don't feel drawn to any particular tradition and are looking for a way to begin, I recommend either the Transcendental Meditation program (TM), as taught by the late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, or the Art of Living program, as taught by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Both of these programs are easy to learn and will not conflict with any religious creed or belief. Most cities around the world have TM or Art of Living centers where you can learn one of these programs.
The second thing we can do is to take responsibility for our past actions and forgive others for theirs. If you've hurt someone, even in the distant past, apologize to that person and try to make amends in any way is appropriate. If you are unable to do this, or if contact from you would not be welcome by the other person, talk about your feelings with a trusted friend and/or seek redemption in a way is meaningful to you. For example, you might take a vow, do penance or go on a spiritual pilgrimage. When performed in the spirit of repentance, these are powerful demonstrations to your own psyche that you've taken full responsibility for your actions. When you've completed one of these rituals, you've stepped into a river and walked out onto the other side, a changed person.
If someone has hurt you, forgive that person completely and without conditions. This may take time but keep trying. Forgiveness does not mean we have to accept bad or inappropriate behavior. The person's behavior may be unacceptable, but we can still forgive the person. Forgiveness is a form of compassion which arises from the understanding that basically, we're all doing the best we can, limited by our own negative and painful conditioning. Ultimately, we forgive others because we realize it's in our own best interest to do so.
The third thing we can do to prepare for death is to cultivate the principle of "Do no harm", or Ahimsa in Sanskrit. This means to make an effort to avoid speech or action which is harmful to ourselves, others, society or the planet. Ahimsa requires us to be mindful of others on many levels as we navigate through life. It takes maturity and experience, and invariably we'll fail at times. But that's ok. Mistakes are not a problem if we accept responsibility, make amends in whatever way we can and move on. The purpose of life is to gain knowledge through experience. And this includes making a lot of mistakes along the way.
