408 lines
21 KiB
Plaintext
408 lines
21 KiB
Plaintext
The Passage Beyond
|
|
World Scripture
|
|
|
|
THE PASSAGE BEYOND
|
|
|
|
The passage into the next life at the moment of death is a nearly impenetrable
|
|
mystery for us who have not yet experienced it. There are published accounts
|
|
of near-death experiences by people who have been resuscitated from clinical
|
|
death; they report a passing into another world, meeting a being of light, and
|
|
feeling great warmth and accepting love. Perhaps they have experienced the
|
|
first stages of the passage. But the religions of the world are nearly
|
|
unanimous in describing another, less comfortable event: the individual
|
|
undergoes a judgment where he must review his life with unsparing honesty. Yet
|
|
even at that crucial moment the dying person may, by focusing his mind on God
|
|
and accepting the Light that seems to embrace him, leap to a higher realm. Thus
|
|
texts like the Tibetan Book of the Dead and the Bhagavad Gita give counsel on
|
|
the way to assure a safe passage. Jainism, above all, emphasizes the importance
|
|
of control in the transition from this life to the next by the ideal of
|
|
Sallekhana, the holy death, which is attained by the aspirant as he exerts
|
|
himself in fasting and meditation.
|
|
|
|
The Self, having in dreams enjoyed the pleasures of sense, gone hither and
|
|
thither, experienced good and evil, hastens back to the state of waking from
|
|
which he started.
|
|
|
|
As a man passes from dream to wakefulness, so does he pass from this life to
|
|
the next.
|
|
|
|
When a man is about to die, the subtle body, mounted by the intelligent self,
|
|
groans--as a heavily laden cart groans under its burden.
|
|
|
|
When his body becomes thin through old age or disease, the dying man separates
|
|
himself from his limbs, even as a mango or a fig or a banyan fruit separates
|
|
itself from its stalk, and by the same way that he came he hastens to his new
|
|
abode, and there assumes another body, in which to begin a new life.
|
|
|
|
When his body grows weak and he becomes apparently unconscious, the dying man
|
|
gathers his senses about him and, completely withdrawing their powers, descends
|
|
into his heart. No more does he see form or color without.
|
|
|
|
He neither sees, nor smells, nor tastes. He does not speak, he does not hear.
|
|
He does not think, he does not know. For all the organs, detaching themselves
|
|
from his physical body, unite with his subtle body. Then the point of his
|
|
heart, where the nerves join, is lighted by the light of the Self, and by that
|
|
light he departs either through the eye, or through the gate of the skull, or
|
|
through some other aperture of the body. When he thus departs, life departs;
|
|
and when life departs, all the functions of the vital principle depart. The
|
|
Self remains conscious, and, conscious, the dying man goes to his abode. The
|
|
deeds of this life, and the impressions they leave behind, follow him.
|
|
|
|
As a caterpillar, having reached the end of a blade of grass, takes hold of
|
|
another blade and draws itself to it, so the Self, having left behind it [a
|
|
body] unconscious, takes hold of another body and draws himself to it.
|
|
|
|
As a goldsmith, taking an old gold ornament, molds it into another, newer and
|
|
more beautiful, so the Self, having given up the body and left it unconscious,
|
|
takes on a new and better form, either that of the Fathers, or that of the
|
|
Celestial Singers, or that of the gods, or that of other beings, heavenly or
|
|
earthly.
|
|
|
|
1. Hinduism. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.3.34-4.4.4
|
|
|
|
Pre-recorded is the year and hour of nuptials:
|
|
Gather ye all to anoint the door-step.
|
|
Friend! utter blessing that with the Lord,
|
|
the departed be united.
|
|
In each home arrives this courier-packet,
|
|
Calls continually keep arriving.
|
|
Says Nanak, Contemplate Him who sends the call.
|
|
May the day of union for each arrive!
|
|
|
|
2. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Kirtan Sohila, M.1, p. 12
|
|
|
|
O nobly-born... the body which you have now is called the thought-body of
|
|
propensities. Since you do not have a material body of flesh and blood,
|
|
whatever may come--sounds, lights, or rays--are, all three, unable to harm you;
|
|
you are incapable of dying. It is quite sufficient for you to know that these
|
|
apparitions are your own thought-forms. Recognize this to be the Bardo (the
|
|
intermediate state after death).
|
|
|
|
3. Buddhism. Tibetan Book of the Dead
|
|
|
|
- - - - - - - - - - - -
|
|
Brihadanyaka Upanishad 4.3.34-4.4.4: Cf. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.3.11-14,
|
|
pp. 333f. These verses deal with rebirth for those who have not attained the
|
|
highest. The Upanishad (4.4.6-7, p. 352) describes the passage of those who
|
|
will pass beyond the realm of samsara to unity with Brahman. Kirtan Sohila,
|
|
M.1: The passage to death is welcomed with this Peal of Laudation, recited at
|
|
the finale of the funeral service as well as daily as an evening prayer. Union
|
|
with Creator is likened to marriage. Through absorption in praising God, the
|
|
soul on departing the body will find union with God and escape the wheel of
|
|
transmigration.
|
|
- - - - - - - - - - - -
|
|
|
|
Those who remember me at the time of death will come to me. Do not doubt this.
|
|
Whatever occupies the mind at the time of death determines the destiny of the
|
|
dying; always they will tend toward that state of being. Therefore, remember
|
|
me at all times....
|
|
|
|
Remembering me at the time of death, close down the doors of the senses and
|
|
place the mind in the heart. Then, while absorbed in meditation, focus all
|
|
energy upwards towards the head. Repeating in this state the divine Name, the
|
|
syllable OM that represents the changeless Brahman, you will go forth from the
|
|
body and attain the supreme goal.
|
|
|
|
4. Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 8.5-7, 12-13
|
|
|
|
If this thought occurs to a monk, "I am sick and not able, at this time, to
|
|
regularly mortify the flesh," that monk should regularly reduce his food;
|
|
regularly reducing his food and diminishing his sins, he should take proper
|
|
care of his body, being immovable like a beam; exerting himself he dissolves
|
|
his body....
|
|
|
|
This is the truth: speaking truth, free from passion, crossing the samsara,
|
|
abating irresoluteness, knowing all truth and not being known, leaving this
|
|
frail body. Overcoming all sorts of pains and troubles through trust in this,
|
|
he accomplishes this fearful religious death. Even thus he will in due time
|
|
put an end to existence. This has been adopted by many who were free from
|
|
delusion; it is good, wholesome, proper, beatifying, meritorious. Thus I say.
|
|
|
|
5. Jainism. Acarangasutra 1.7.6
|
|
|
|
- - - - - - - - - - - -
|
|
Bhagavad Gita 8.5-13: This teaches that one's prayer and attitude at the time
|
|
of death is all-important for the soul's subsequent journey. Regardless of the
|
|
quality of one's life, just remembering God at the time of death can lead to
|
|
liberation. Yet since death may come suddenly, and may be accompanied by much
|
|
pain and distraction, the habit of remembering God should be nurtured
|
|
throughout life. Some Hindus name their children with divine names in order
|
|
that, at the time of death, the natural human desire to think of one's children
|
|
will cause them to meditate on the divine name and thus win beatitude. For
|
|
instance, the story of Ajamil in Srimad Bhagavatam 6.1 describes a dishonest
|
|
man who on his deathbed lay thinking of his youngest son called Narayana (a
|
|
name of Krishna), and hence inadvertently he found liberation. In contrast to
|
|
this view, see Qur'an 4.17-18, p. 907. Acarangasutra 1.7.6: Sallekhana means
|
|
to fast oneself to death while in the complete control of the passions through
|
|
meditation and in full mindfulness. Such a holy death leads to Nirvana or to
|
|
rebirth in the celestial realms. Lay people and monks alike may aspire to the
|
|
holy death when the body has begun to deteriorate in old age or from a terminal
|
|
illness. Then, under proper supervision and according to established ritual,
|
|
they make an end that is at the same time a moment of purity, free of passion
|
|
or delusion. Cf. Uttaradhyayana Sutra 4.7, p. 741; Gittin 57b, p. 886.
|
|
- - - - - - - - - - - -
|
|
|
|
At the moment of death the sum of all the experiences of life on earth comes to
|
|
the surface of the mind--for in the mind are stored all impressions of past
|
|
deeds--and the dying man then becomes absorbed in these experiences. Then
|
|
comes complete loss of memory. Next there arises before man's mind the vision
|
|
of his life to come, a vision regulated by his impressions of his past deeds;
|
|
and he no longer recollects his life on earth. This complete forgetfulness of
|
|
his past identity is death.
|
|
|
|
His complete acceptance of another state and identification with a new body is
|
|
said to be his birth. He no longer remembers his past life, and, though he has
|
|
existed before, he considers himself newly born.
|
|
|
|
His next birth is regulated by the deeds of the present life--the deeds which
|
|
make up his character. If his character is dominated by light, he achieves a
|
|
higher birth, that of a deva or of a sage; if by passion, he is returned to
|
|
earth as a demon or as a man; and if by darkness he is born from the lower
|
|
wombs.
|
|
|
|
6. Hinduism. Srimad Bhagavatam 11.15
|
|
|
|
Leaving the dead body on the ground like a log of wood or a clod of earth, the
|
|
relatives depart with averted faces; but spiritual merit follows the soul.
|
|
|
|
Let him therefore always slowly accumulate spiritual merit, in order that it
|
|
may be his companion after death; for without merit as his companion he will
|
|
traverse a gloom difficult to traverse.
|
|
|
|
That companion speedily conducts the man who is devoted to duty and effaces his
|
|
sins by austerities, to the next world, radiant and clothed with an ethereal
|
|
body.
|
|
|
|
7. Hinduism. Laws of Manu 4.241-43
|
|
|
|
He, having effected an activity of body that is harmful, effected an activity
|
|
of speech that is harmful, effected an activity of mind that is harmful, arises
|
|
in a world that is harmful. Because he has uprisen in a world that is harmful,
|
|
harmful sensory impingements assail him. He, being assailed by harmful sensory
|
|
impingements, experiences a harmful feeling, without exception painful, even as
|
|
do creatures in Niraya Hell. In this way, there is the uprising of a being
|
|
from what he has come to be; he uprises according to what he does; when he has
|
|
uprisen sensory impingements assail him. So I speak thus: Creatures are heir
|
|
to deeds.
|
|
|
|
8. Buddhism. Majjhima Nikaya i.389-90, Kukkuravatikasutta
|
|
|
|
And every man's augury have we fastened to his own neck, and We shall bring
|
|
forth for him on the Day of Resurrection a book which he will find wide open.
|
|
"Read your book! Your soul suffices as a reckoner against your this day."
|
|
|
|
9. Islam. Qur'an 17.13-14
|
|
|
|
- - - - - - - - - - - -
|
|
Srimad Bhagavatam 11.15: 'Light' (sattva), 'passion' (rajas), and 'darkness'
|
|
(tamas) are the three gunas, qualities of embodied existence; see Bhagavad Gita
|
|
18.40, p. 383. This passage speaks of a new embodied birth, and is not the way
|
|
of the highest soul, who is no longer entangled in the fetters of the gunas.
|
|
Cf. Svetasvatara Upanishad 5.11-12, p. 696. Laws of Manu 4.241-243: Cf. Laws
|
|
of Manu 4.238-39, p. 338; Dhammapada 219-20, p. 338. Majjhima Nikaya i.389-90:
|
|
Cf. Qur'an 28.83-84, p. 339; Majjhima Nikaya iii.202-06, pp. 697f; Garland
|
|
Sutra 10, p. 188. Qur'an 17.13-14: Cf. Qur'an 39.47-48, p. 190.
|
|
- - - - - - - - - - - -
|
|
|
|
Towards the wicked man and the righteous one
|
|
And him in whom right and wrong meet
|
|
Shall the Judge act in upright manner,
|
|
According to the laws of the present existence.
|
|
|
|
10. Zoroastrianism. Avesta, Yasna 33.1
|
|
|
|
Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it; from His presence
|
|
earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead,
|
|
great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also
|
|
another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged
|
|
by what was written in the books, by what they had done.
|
|
|
|
11. Christianity. Bible, Revelation 20.11-12
|
|
|
|
After you depart this life, God shall demand a reckoning of your deeds
|
|
That in His ledger are recorded.
|
|
Those that are rebellious, shall be summoned.
|
|
Azrael, the angel of death, will hover over them,
|
|
And trapped in a blind alley they will know not any escape.
|
|
Saith Nanak, Falsehood must be destroyed;
|
|
Truth in the end shall prevail.
|
|
|
|
12. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Ramkali-ki-Var 13, M.1, p. 953
|
|
|
|
At the gates of the land of the dead
|
|
You will pass before a searching Judge.
|
|
His justice is true and he will examine your feet,
|
|
He will know how to find every stain,
|
|
Whether visible or hidden under the skin;
|
|
If you have fallen on the way he will know.
|
|
If the Judge finds no stains on your feet
|
|
Open your belly to joy, for you have overcome
|
|
And your belly is clean.
|
|
|
|
13. African Traditional Religion. Dahomey Song
|
|
|
|
They that are born are destined to die; and the dead to be brought to life
|
|
again; and the living to be judged, to know, to make known, and to be made
|
|
conscious that He is God, He the Maker, He the Creator, He the Discerner, He
|
|
the Judge, He the Witness, He the Complainant; He it is that will in future
|
|
judge, blessed be He, with whom there is no unrighteousness, nor forgetfulness,
|
|
nor respect of persons, nor taking of bribes. Know also that everything is
|
|
according to reckoning; and let not your imagination give you hope that the
|
|
grave will be a place of refuge for you. For perforce you were formed, and
|
|
perforce you were born, and perforce you live, and perforce you will die, and
|
|
perforce you will in the future have to give account and reckoning before the
|
|
King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He.
|
|
|
|
14. Judaism. Mishnah, Abot 4.29
|
|
|
|
- - - - - - - - - - - -
|
|
Yasna 33.1: Cf. Yasna 48.4, p. 409; Book of Mormon, Alma 41:3-4, p. 190.
|
|
Revelation 20.11-12: Cf. Matthew 25.31-45, p. 990; Abot 3.20, p. 187; Qur'an
|
|
99.6-8, p. 190. Abot 4.29: Cf. Abot 3.20, p. 187.
|
|
- - - - - - - - - - - -
|
|
|
|
Behold, two guardian angels appointed to learn [man's doings] learn and note
|
|
them, one sitting on the right and one on the left. Not a word does he utter
|
|
but there is a sentinel by him, ready to note it. And the stupor of death will
|
|
bring truth before his eyes, "This was the thing which you were trying to
|
|
escape!"
|
|
|
|
15. Islam. Qur'an 50.17-19
|
|
|
|
Anything evil refrain from doing; all good deeds do! So will you be released
|
|
forever from the influence of evil stars, and always be encompassed by good
|
|
guardian angels.
|
|
|
|
16. Taoism. Tract of the Quiet Way
|
|
|
|
The Good Spirit, who was born simultaneously with you, will come now and count
|
|
out your good deeds with white pebbles, and the Evil Spirit, who was born
|
|
simultaneously with you, will come and count out your evil deeds with black
|
|
pebbles. Thereupon you will be greatly frightened, awed, and terrified, and
|
|
will tremble; and you will attempt to tell lies, saying, "I have not committed
|
|
any evil deed."
|
|
|
|
Then the Lord of Death will say, "I will consult the Mirror of karma." He will
|
|
look in the Mirror, wherein every good and evil act is vividly reflected. Lying
|
|
will be of no avail.
|
|
|
|
Then one of the executive furies of the Lord of Death will place a rope around
|
|
your neck and drag you along; he will cut off your head, extract your heart,
|
|
pull out your intestines, lick up your brain, drink your blood, eat your flesh,
|
|
and gnaw your bones; but you will be incapable of dying. Although your body be
|
|
hacked to pieces, it will revive again. The repeated hacking [symbolizing the
|
|
pangs of the deceased's conscience] will cause intense pain and torture.
|
|
|
|
Even at the time that the pebbles are being counted out, be not frightened;
|
|
tell no lies; and fear not the Lord of Death.
|
|
|
|
Your body being a mental body is incapable of dying even though beheaded and
|
|
quartered. In reality, your body is of the nature of voidness; you need not be
|
|
afraid. The Lords of Death are your own hallucinations. Your desire-body is a
|
|
body of propensities, and void. Voidness cannot injure voidness; the
|
|
qualityless cannot injure the qualityless. Apart from one's own
|
|
hallucinations, in reality there are no such things existing outside oneself as
|
|
Lord of Death, or god, or demon. Act so as to recognize this.
|
|
|
|
17. Buddhism. Tibetan Book of the Dead
|
|
|
|
The self is the maker and non-maker, and itself makes happiness and misery, is
|
|
its own friend and its own foe, decides its own condition good or evil, and is
|
|
its own river Veyarana [the river in which hell-beings are tormented].
|
|
|
|
18. Jainism. Madaghishloka
|
|
|
|
- - - - - - - - - - - -
|
|
Qur'an 50.17-19: Cf. Qur'an 13.10-11, p. 190; 41.30-31, p. 368. Tract of the
|
|
Quiet Way: Cf. Abot 4.13, p. 338. Tibetan Book of the Dead: Cf. Milarepa, p.
|
|
381. Madaghishloka: Cf. Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life 4.28-35, p. 392.
|
|
- - - - - - - - - - - -
|
|
|
|
When we subject ourselves to the least discrimination or particularization,
|
|
transformation takes place; otherwise, all things remain as void as space, as
|
|
they inherently are. By dwelling our mind on evil things, hell arises. By
|
|
dwelling our mind on good acts, paradise appears. Dragons and snakes are the
|
|
transformations of venomous hatred, while heavenly Bodhisattvas are mercy
|
|
personified. The upper regions are Wisdom crystallized, while the underworld
|
|
is only another form of ignorance and infatuation.
|
|
|
|
19. Buddhism. Sutra of Hui Neng 6
|
|
|
|
Naturally every Hopi wants to join the spirits of his loved ones who have
|
|
passed beyond. To that end he keeps his heart pure and is kind and generous to
|
|
other people.
|
|
|
|
When a bad person, one who is known as "not-Hopi," dies, his fate is very
|
|
different. Witches called the "Two Hearts" take him by the hand as soon as the
|
|
breath is out of his body, and they lead him away to their own country. The
|
|
country of the Two Hearts is as bad as they are themselves.
|
|
|
|
20. Native American Religions. Hopi tradition
|
|
|
|
The Trumpet will be sounded, and whoever is in heaven and whoever is on earth
|
|
will be stunned, except for someone God may wish. Then another [blast] will be
|
|
blown and behold, they will stand there watching! The earth will shine through
|
|
its Lord's light and the Book will be laid open. Prophets and witnesses will
|
|
be brought in, and judgment will be pronounced among them formally, and they
|
|
will not be harmed. Every soul will be repaid for whatever it has done; He is
|
|
quite aware of what they are doing.
|
|
|
|
The ones who disbelieve will be driven along to hell in throngs until, just as
|
|
they come up to it, its gates will swing open and its keepers will say to them,
|
|
"Did not messengers come to you from among yourselves reciting your Lord's
|
|
verses to you and warning you about meeting [Him] on this day of yours?" They
|
|
will say, "Of course!" But the Sentence about torment has still come due for
|
|
disbelievers. Someone else will say, "Enter hell's gates to remain there.
|
|
What an awful lodging will it be for the overbearing!"
|
|
|
|
The ones who have heeded their Lord will be driven along to the Garden in
|
|
throngs until just as they come up to it, its gates will swing open and its
|
|
keepers will tell them, "Peace be upon you! You have been good, so enter it to
|
|
remain there." They will say, "Praise be to God who has held true to His
|
|
promise for us and let us inherit the earth! We shall settle down anywhere we
|
|
wish to in the Garden. How favored are such workers' wages!"
|
|
|
|
You will see the angels clustering around the Throne hymning their Lord's
|
|
praise. Judgment will be pronounced on them formally, and they will say,
|
|
"Praise be to God, Lord of the universe!"
|
|
|
|
21. Islam. Qur'an 39.68-75
|
|
|
|
- - - - - - - - - - - -
|
|
Qur'an 39.68-75: Cf. Qur'an 69.13-37, p. 1098.
|
|
- - - - - - - - - - - -
|
|
|
|
Whoever, man or woman, O Wise Lord,
|
|
Shall give me what thou knowest is the best of this existence,
|
|
To wit--reward for righteousness and the dominion with the Good Mind--
|
|
And all those whom I shall induce to worship such as you,
|
|
With all those will I cross the Bridge of the Separator!
|
|
The sacrificers and the sorcerer princes
|
|
Have subdued mankind to the yoke of their dominion,
|
|
To destroy existence through evil deeds:
|
|
They shall be tortured by their own soul and their own conscience,
|
|
When they come to the Bridge of the Separator,
|
|
Forever to be inmates of the House of Evil.
|
|
|
|
22. Zoroastrianism. Avesta, Yasna 46.10-11
|
|
|
|
God will then set up a bridge over Gehenna and intercession will be allowed,
|
|
and they will say, "O God, keep safe, keep safe." The believers will then pass
|
|
over like the twinkling of an eye, like lightning, like wind, like a bird, like
|
|
the finest horses and camels. Some will escape and be kept safe, some will be
|
|
lacerated [by flesh-hooks and thorns which will rise up from Gehenna] and let
|
|
go, and some will be pushed into the fire of Gehenna.
|
|
|
|
23. Islam. Hadith of Bukhari and Muslim
|
|
|
|
- - - - - - - - - - - -
|
|
Yasna 46.10-11: Zarathustra promises blessings for those who support him and
|
|
help the teaching achieve dominion in the world, and woe for the evil-doers who
|
|
practice false religion. The 'Bridge of the Separator,' where the righteous
|
|
and the wicked will be sorted out, is an image also found in popular Islam, as
|
|
in the following tradition. Compare also the Hindu theme of crossing the
|
|
waters: see Atharva Veda 12.2.26-27, p. 543. Hadith of Bukhari and Muslim:
|
|
This bridge is called Sirat.
|
|
- - - - - - - - - - - -
|
|
|