Life Beyond Death
The purpose of death
The nature of life beyond 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.
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 negative impressions and cultivate attitudes of love, 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. If you don't have a spiritual practice, I would 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 simple and easy to learn, and take about 20 minutes twice a day. And both are profound spiritual practices, coming out of the ancient Vedic tradition of India. These programs are not a religion and will not conflict with any religious beliefs or practices. Most cities around the world have TM or Art of Living centers where you can learn one of these wonderful daily practices.
The second most important thing we can do to prepare for death is to reduce the accumulation of negative psychic impressions from our past. Here are some suggestions in that regard.
If you've hurt someone, even in the distant past, apologize to that person and try to make amends in any way that's 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 or counselor. Seek forgiveness in whatever way is meaningful to you. This means accepting responsibility for your actions without excuses or rationalizations. And, at the same time, recognizing that you're no longer the same person as before. That you've evolved and are moving on.
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 compassion that arises out of the understanding that everyone is basically doing the best they can, limited by their own negative and painful conditioning. Ultimately, we forgive others because we realize that it's in our highest self-interest to do so.
Cultivate the intention to avoid speech or action that is harmful to ourselves, others, society or the planet. This means being mindful of others on many levels as we navigate through life. This takes maturity and experience, and invariably we'll fail at times. But that's ok. Mistakes are not a problem if we accept responsibility, apologize, make amends in whatever way we can and move on. In this way, we evolve quickly and avoid the further accumulation of negative psychic impressions.
Throughout our time on Earth, it's valuable to remember that the purpose of individual life is to gain knowledge through experience. Through this process, our experience (including our sense of identity) evolves from the physical plane to the spiritual planes and beyond. By cultivating love for our fellow creatures and by releasing the negative psychic impressions which have accumulated, we have an opportunity to progress quickly and smoothly in this evolutionary process.
