CHOD The Merit of Practice in a

Cemetery
CW27:No.10
Yogi C. M. Chen
Today is the auspicious day of the full moon in the seventh month of the lunar
calendar system of China and Tibet. According to the Buddha's teachings from India,
in this month those in the ghost realm have a holiday and a little rest from their
sufferings, and at this time can more easily get in touch with the Dharma. In old China
during this month many pujas or offerings were usually given to the ghosts and to the
ancestors. Today is an especially auspicious day because it is also the birthday of his
Holiness Karmapa. So I would like to talk now on the subject, "What are the merits of
going to a Cemetery and praying to the Dead?"
I have categorized this subject into three sections, each of which is discussed in its
outward, inward, secret and most secret aspect.

I. The Merit of a Cemetery

Why does a cemetery contain so much merit and what are those merits? Outwardly,
the main merit is to help one understand Impermanence. Impermanence is a principal
practice of Hinayana Buddhism and Hinayana is the foundation of the other two
yanas, Mahayana and Vajrayana. This means, as Milarepa said, that the first step to
enter through the Dharma gate is Impermanence and no other practice. Why? Because
as human beings we are all attached to worldly desires, and it is only the realization of
our impermanence that can stop this clinging and lead us to practice the BuddhaDharma. Shakyamuni Buddha himself met the truth of sickness, old-age, death and
the clergy at each of the four gates of his capital. From that point on, he understood
Impermanence, took the first step on the Dharma Path, and continued on the way until
he achieved full enlightenment. To be a real Buddhist, one must realize the truth of
Impermanence.
In our daily life in America we rarely see a coffin or dead person, unlike the East
where a corpse is brought through the streets to the homes of friends and relatives to
receive offerings on the way to the cemetery. Also, most people in the East are poor
and one day's food is all they desire. They know that tomorrow they may die and so
have constant awareness of Impermanence. Thus in the East it is easier to gain the
idea of our transitory existence.
In the West, in America, the dead person is carried in a special car which immigrants
as myself are not even able to recognize. It passes through the streets very quickly and
arrives at the cemetery where the corpse is very swiftly cremated or buried. This is all

very professionally done by trained people. It is only the close family of the deceased
that has a chance to come into contact with and recognize Impermanence. Whatever
an American is involved with, and wherever he finds himself, in society, on the street,
in any circumstance or surroundings, there is the desire for attachment but no idea of
Impermanence. So everyone passes his life very comfortably, very superficially
happy, pursuing his desires. He never thinks that he himself will die and does not
think he needs to follow the Dharma. Thus most people cannot accept the Hinayana
Doctrine of the Four Noble Truths, concerning pain and the cessation of pain, because
their everyday life is so easy and comfortable that they don't know sorrow and have
no motive to renounce their pleasure-seeking life style. If you don't come to a
cemetery, you can nearly forget that there is such a thing called a corpse or such a
thing as Death.
No matter how happy you are in your daily life, when you come to a cemetery and see
so many people buried in the ground, both rich and poor given the same treatment in
death, you cannot help but be influenced by the idea of Impermanence. When we
come to a cemetery to visit dead friends, they seem to tell us, "Oh, you must diligently
practice the Dharma. We are too late, but you still may have some hope. Reflect in
yourself--once our skin was as smooth and white as yours and now our bodies are all
decomposed underneath the ground. Be aware of Impermanence." We may practise
and say prayers to help them, but actually we ourselves get much more help from the
dead than they do from us. They also seem to tell us, "Don't care about the amount of
your salary, or a girlfriend's beauty, or for any desire of the world, for in the end
everything and everyone must be left behind. Neither a rich man nor a man with many
lovers can rid himself of death." What is the purpose of repenting at the moment of
death? We must have time to practise before that moment comes.
When we will die is very uncertain. Buddha himself chose to be born in a human
body because for man there is no set time for death, and so the idea of Impermanence
can arise. Some die in the womb, some in the cradle, some as teenagers or as adults.
We have come so far but how long we have left, who knows? Actually our death may
come at any moment, between any inhalation and exhalation, with any breath. Death
cannot be said to happen just on the day of death, for it happens every month, every
day, every moment that we live; a day passes and we cannot get the same day back.
You should always keep this idea of Impermanence in mind and not spend time in
vain seeking worldly desires which must be left behind at death. We must come to
understand what things are meaningful and valuable to us and what things are
nonsense and a waste of time. So when we come to a cemetery, we must consider all
these things and choose the valuable action to practise. This is the first outward merit
of going to a cemetery: to help us get Impermanence. From Impermanence we can cut
our desires and attachments, from Impermanence we can gain the wish to renounce
and from Impermanence we can become diligent in our practice.
Suppose we want to dry a robe out in the sunshine. You have to hope that the robe will
have an opportunity to be in the sunshine from morning until evening. If the sun
shines at 8 a.m. but it rains at 9, and then the sun comes out at 10 and it rains at 11,
and so on all day long, then the robe cannot dry even if left out one or two days.
Likewise our practice must be diligent; every day and every night we must continue,
even when sleeping, even in the Bardo, even in Death. Where does this diligence
come from? From Impermanence ! You must always keep the idea in mind that you

will die very soon, so that this very moment you must practice well. Many
biographies have been written about the diligence of certain sages. As an example, a
sage once lived in a cave and practiced very diligently, but sometimes he had to leave
his cave to urinate. Once, when he went outside, his robe caught on a thorn, and he
thought about picking it up, but then thought, "I must finish urinating quickly and
return to my practice, so why should I take time to pick up my robe from a thorn?" so
he tore his robe away from the thorn and returned to the cave. Even such a short time
he did not wish to waste--such diligence! So many worldly things occupy our minds
and waste a lot of time. We must reflect within ourselves that each moment is
valuable so that not to pursue our practice for even one day may be very harmful for
us. Today we waste time, tomorrow we also will waste time so that even if we live
100 years, most of our time will have been wasted. Always think of this and feel very
sad for ourselves and say, "Oh, just here and now I must begin to practice." This kind
of diligence is also based upon Impermanence.
The practice of Samatha has three enemies. One is a disturbed mind, one is a sleepy
mind and one is a mind of nonsense. These three elements can be cut by
Impermanence. If you have the idea of Impermanence you would not pursue worldly
desires and then disturbed mind would not always come. If you pursue desires outside
meditation time, spending time thinking about this advertisement, or that new dress,
then when you do try to meditate, all these thoughts will continue to come. This is
what is called disturbed mind. If you pursue desires you may also feel tired; when you
are tired the second enemy sleepy mind comes. If you know desire and think, "Oh, I
shall die so why do I pursue all these things. I must just meditate. These few moments
are really good for me." Then you will not be so tired. As for nonsense mind, this is a
reflection of your stupidity and if you really think that everything is impermanent then
you are very wise and always aware. No things can lure you and no desire can attract
you, so you will always keep your mind very clear and attached to the truth, nonsense
will not come. This is merit for meditation.
The second merit is inward. Inward means not of our external world but somehow of
our spiritual mind and spiritual state. If we practice Tantra, we use a mandala, or
special kind of picture, which shows us Buddha's land. This kind of mandala relates to
our spiritual state. At the outside of this mandala is the first circle of five elements
(fire, earth, water, air and wind) then next to these five elements are the eight
cemeteries. Such a cemetery is not an outward cemetery, but is the inward cemetery of
our spiritual state. So even Buddhaland is encircled by a cemetery, called the eight
famous cemeteries. Each cemetery has sages who practise there, pagodas, and dakinis
and ghosts who live and serve there. This is to show that our spiritual state starts from
Impermanence. You must pass through that stage before you gain inner happiness,
wisdom and inner realization. It is very important to show the first step of this
practice, which is why the mandala of every Buddha's Pure-Land is drawn encircled
by the eight cemeteries, which symbolize Impermanence. This is the inward merit.
In its secret aspect, the most important symbol of Impermanence is the Skull. Our
cemeteries here today are very modernized and scientific so everything is done very
cleanly and quickly. But in the East there are four kinds of burials: under the ground
which means you have a corpse which you bury and when the flesh is decayed you
have bones and a skull; burial in the sky where the flesh and bones are given to the
big birds, called scavengers of the sky; burial in the water where the corpse is put in

the water to feed the fishes; and burial in fire, to get ashes. Originally in very ancient
times, the corpses were less and land was more so burial in the ground was the
practice, but as years passed and the situation changed, other methods of burial
developed. All those corpses under the ground have skulls, so the skull is a very
important sign of a cemetery.
The second meaning of the skull is its symbolism in the Mandala. The Pure-Land
Palace is surrounded by walls and these walls are of three kinds. The skull is one of
them and the first wall of the Buddha's Palace is made of accumulated skulls which
are to show the Protection of the Dharmakaya. This is more profound than the inner
merit. Why Dharmakaya and not Sambhogakaya or Nirmanakaya? In fact, as
mentioned, there are three walls: the first, the skull wall, to show sunyata, is the
Dharmakaya; the second, the Vajra (dorje) wall, to show his wisdom, is the
Sambhogakaya; and the third wall, made of lotuses to show renunciation, is the
Nirmanakaya.
The skull is a protector of the Dharmakaya. Why? Because the Dharmakaya is based
upon the philosophy of Sunyata, that everything is empty. The first stage of
recognition of Emptiness is Impermanence. With the idea of Impermanence you think,
"These things are very transitory and will very easily perish", then by and by you
approach the Sunyata. Surely, the Sunyata's deep philosophical meaning is not quite
the same as this, but through the identity of everything as changeable, everything as
empty, everything as non-self, then you come to know Impermanence and when you
know Impermanence and by and by recognize detachment to the world, then you will
come to realize the pure Sunyata. The Dharmakaya is based upon the Sunyata and that
is why the skull is the symbol of the Dharmakaya. This is the secret merit.
The skull and bones usually make up ornaments for the Buddhas and Dakinis to put
on to show that everything is based upon and made in the Sunyata. The Dakini has a
crown of skulls which symbolizes the different types of psychological mind which are
dead in a realized being. Man has many kinds of mind--ignorance, pride, and all the
thoughts of the mind which must be penetrated and enter the Sunyata and then can be
taken as ornaments. There are about 51 kinds of mind which can be transformed into a
skull, which means they become sublimated with the Sunyata. This is the most secret
merit.
The most sacred symbol of the cemetery is the crown of five skulls worn by Buddha
himself. This is to show the five Buddha wisdoms which have been transformed from
the five mental poisons. To be a real Buddha, you must have the five skulls on your
head as a crown. The five wisdoms are very profound. The first wisdom is the mirrorlike wisdom, the second is equalization wisdom, the third is discriminating wisdom,
the fourth, the wisdom of achievement, and the fifth is the wisdom of the universe of
Dharmakaya. Another symbolic use of the skull is the sceptre of our Guru
Padmasambhava which has three heads on the top. The first head is a skull to show
the Dharmakaya. So the symbol of a skull has a very profound meaning and all these
skulls are connected with the cemetery.
I have talked about the four degrees of symbolization of the skull and its connections
with the cemetery. If you make contact with a cemetery very often, it will be very
easy to get the accomplishment of this symbol.

II. The Merit of Prayer to the Dead

We are here to pray to the dead but what is the merit of such prayer? On this subject
there are also four aspects: outward, inward, secret and most secret.
First, the power of the Phowa prayer outwardly. We come here and we have
understood the importance of the idea of Impermanence. We are very sad to view all
the dead people, but we hope we can come here and purify their sins. Outwardly, I
give some offering and prayers to the Earth-God and angels and ask them to help the
dead people to purify their sins. No one who has died can come alive again; all the
good things of the world have been left behind for the dead can take nothing with
them. As the Bible says, naked they come and naked they go. Actually, what the dead
man does take with him is all the sins he has committed in his life. One's sins cannot
be left behind, because all have been recorded by Yama, the God of Death, and a man
must pay for the evil he has committed on earth.
To repeat, the first merit is to purify the sins of the dead and to help them gain the
right motive to repent. They had no chance to do so when they themselves were on
earth and when the appointed time came they had no opportunity, so we have to help
them repent. We must ask Buddha on their behalf to help them for they have none to
aid them.
After death, the soul of the deceased remains in the Bardo until the next rebirth. This
can be from a period of one week to a maximum of seven weeks or 49 days. The soul
remains near the corpse during the period of the Bardo because although he knows he
is dead after three days, he still has some love for his own body, so that even when the
body is burnt up, the spirit still sleeps with the ashes. We are able to help these souls
who have not yet been reincarnated. We cannot help those who have already been
reborn as a human being, animal, deva or ghost, win a good rebirth. We are only able
to help those in the ghost realm who still remain in the cemetery. Many say that
Buddha did not talk about a soul, but this is a mistake which must be pointed out.
Buddha only said that there was no permanent, no absolute soul without
transformation. Some wish to change the term soul to consciousness, but actually they
are the same thing. This consciousness can be transformed, it can be reincarnated.
Whether this rebirth is good or bad is mainly according to one's Karma, that which
has been done by a person before their death. In Buddhist countries, pujas are given
for the dead souls during the 49 days after death to aid the dead soul gain a good
rebirth.
So the first step is to outwardly offer incense, food, and flowers, and in doing so we
develop our Bodhicitta and hope that the sins of the dead ones will be finished. We
pray, "They have already died and have already been punished so please let their souls
free, especially as today is a special date, let them free."
Inwardly, the second step is to visualize their souls or consciousness as a
Nirmanakaya of Amitabha. The Nirmana Buddha Amitabha is similar to the Buddha
Shakyamuni in his hair and robes, but he is usually red because he is in the West. To
accomplish this transformation, think of the dead person's Buddha nature. Everybody

has Buddha nature, no matter what you have done before your death. Call upon their
Buddha nature and make them aware of it and that their Buddha nature is connected
with Amitabha. Amitabha has the good will to save everybody who faithfully prays to
him. So we ask the Buddha Amitabha to come and remind the dead person to
remember his Buddha nature. This Buddha nature and the goodwill of Amitabha are
connected through your Bodhicitta. This goodwill never ceases and the Buddha nature
is never destroyed. If you have faith in your prayers to Amitabha, so that all the
conditions are gathered, he will shed light on every corpse in the whole cemetery.
This is the first secret. From this circle of light, essentialize and expand your prayers
again to include the whole universe of corpses and so connect with all still in the
Bardo state, in all three times, past, present and future, and in the ten directions.
Visualize all as Amitabha. Even though I am not Buddha, Amitabha has already
accomplished full enlightenment and has the vow to save every sentient being; even
though we do not have the power of Buddhahood, we do have the Bodhicitta
connected with the Buddha, so more or less his power is connected with that
visualization. When visualization of Amitabha becomes complete, surely the soul
becomes Amitabha. No matter what the degree of connection, it is helpful for the dead
person. This is the merit inwardly for the soul can become the Nirmanakaya of
Amitabha.
The merit secretly is the further transformation of this Nirmanakaya Amitabha to the
Sambhogakaya stage. You see the Buddha has three kayas, or bodies; the first,
Nirmanakaya, is in a human form but in Buddhahood, as Sakyamuni Buddha. The
second higher transformation is into the Sambhogakaya which is a different form, not
like a human body but like the Dencho who stands above the Nirmanakaya. When we
say "HEE" we use our energy and breath to push the Nirmanakaya consciousness up
through the head of the dead person into the Sambhogakaya. So the secret merit is that
the soul enters the Sambhogakaya. The Nirmana Pure Land is like heaven but is nontransmigratory. It is not the final complete Buddha palace. Through the practice of
"HEE" we push the Hsia (which is his heart bija or soul-seed as we say in "Om
Amitabha Hsia") up to the HUM heart of Sambhogakaya and so it becomes the
Sambhogakaya.
Most secretly is the "PET" which we say to push the Sambhogakaya heart bija into
the Amitabha Dharmakaya, the final Sunyata, the "AH". If this is accomplished, one
can really be said to become a complete Buddha and this alone is what can be called
the most secret. The third and fourth steps (secret and most secret) are not known by
the exoteric schools but only through the Tantra. All this can be done through the
merit of prayer in the cemetery.
To summarize, outwardly we purify the sins of the deceased; inwardly we help him
become Nirmanakaya; secretly he becomes Sambhogakaya; and most secretly the soul
can become the Dharmakaya.

III. The Relationship Between Us and the Dead

What is the relationship between us and the dead person and what is the merit to be
gained by contact with them? This topic is also classified in its aspects from shallow
to profound.
Outwardly, both have to remember and be aware of Impermanence and repent all sins.
The dead have more or less sinned and we also have more or less sinned. They have
already died but fortunately we have become friends with them so that we can learn
from their example. They have died and so make us remember Impermanence and we
also have a debt to them for they have aroused our Bodhicitta, our merciful mind.
They show by their examples, "We are lying here underneath the ground and you will
also be here soon.''
We must both help the dead by praying for them and also get profit for ourselves by
learning from their examples and by awakening to Impermanence a little earlier. If we
were at this moment out on the street, we would never come to know about this. We
must seize the chance to take the dead as our teachers. You must think, "He has died
and I will follow, so how can we utilize that little time that is left to do something
good, to do something valuable for myself which can be brought away after death."
Nothing that is done here on earth is very valuable, there is nothing that can be taken
away after death and the sins you have committed on earth are justly punished. If you
gain merit during life, after death this merit will help you to ascend to heaven, to
become a Buddha, Arhat, or Bodhisattva. All depends on how we utilize the time
which still remains to us. We help the dead and they help us to become awakened.
This is the outward merit.
Many corpses have never had the opportunity to hear Buddhist teachings. By listening
to your speech in the cemetery, the ghost may reflect about his lifetime and why he
became a ghost; he may hear that selfishness drove him to be lustful and thus fall into
sin and into the ghostly realm, and hearing this he may repent his sins. Those in the
Bardo state still have some attachment which keeps them in the Bardo. He may hear
that because he had such a desire in his lifetime, so after death he still remembers and
clings to his desires and thus cannot get rebirth quickly. So after you give Puja and
emphasize about the teachings of no-desire, no-self, the ghost may hear it and once
and for all be awakened. When he was a man, he was disturbed by his family, his
surroundings, his nation. When he enters the Bardo or becomes a ghost, he is no
longer disturbed by such things and may more easily accept the teachings. His body is
also more spiritual than material and because his body is not flesh and his
consciousness is just spirit, it may be easier for him to accept spititual teachings. In
the Bardo or ghost state, there is no sexual disturbance, no lust to make him stupid, no
veil to the Truth. In life it is difficult to assimilate the idea of Impermanence, but in
death he is aware of his state and may follow your practice and be benefited.
Inwardly, there is also a relationship between ourselves and the dead. We have talked
about our influence on those not yet reborn, but can those already reborn also get any
merit from our practice and contact with them? Yes, you must know why. The Truth
has no limitation of time or space. When we talk about the Truth we are really in
contact with the Truth and with the Dharmakaya. Wherever one is reborn, one is in the
Dharmakaya. The Dharmakaya includes the ten directions of limitless space, the three
pillars of time, past, present, and future, the whole entity and the whole truth so

whether we are alive or dead, whether we are Buddha, or whether we still

transmigrate, everything and everyone is within that Dharmakaya.
Why does every drop in the ocean taste the same? A person who is able to see the
Dharmakaya and practise the Mahamudra or the Great Perfection and can meditate
upon it, has the soul of every being within his hand and within his influence.
Whatever he prays for must be influenced. Nothing can escape from the Dharmakaya.
That is why whether alive or dead, 45 years or 49 centuries old or even 49 world
histories everyone is influenced. One small stone can be thrown in the water and you
may think this stone stops at the bottom but the waves slowly influence everywhere.
No matter how small the stone is, once it is thrown it affects the whole ocean. So why
cannot prayers to the dead also create an influence? They can. But some can easily
accept this influence and some very slowly do so and some may only after many years
feel the influence, just like the waves spreading very slowly, one by one. It is also like
our sunshine. When it appears in the open sky, there is sunshine everywhere and every
blade of grass is penetrated by it. We must have such faith.
The gurus of the past have touched so many souls with Phowa, have given so many
blessings, so they continue to transform all that exists today. By the practice of the
Gurus and the Buddhas many years of merit have been gathered and the Dharma
wheel has been turned. That is why when we scatter small amounts of rice and talk a
little, it can help the dead. Maybe some soul may very quickly recieve our help,
maybe some a little later. This is according to their own condition. When we help
them we are in the Position of Consequence, we are just representatives of the
Dharmakaya. If we just speak one word, one sentence, or throw one grain of rice, it
touches the Dharmakaya, just like one stone thrown in the ocean influences
everywhere. You must touch the surface in yourself and pray for the dead; you must
create an influence. You must come to the cemetery and perform some Phowa. Just
have some faith in the Dharmakaya for the dead person. If you practise in your room,
it is too selfish; if we practise here, every ghost more or less can connect with it and
be benefited. This inward spiritual practice is for the benefit of both the living and the
dead. The deceased get blessings from our Phowa and we get the chance to review
and increase our practice.
Secretly, the dead can attain the Pure Land and the practitioner can get spiritual food
for his rebirth in the future. When you practise by yourself in your room, you just get
the certain result of that practice; but when you practise in a cemetery, you help the
dead obtain a good rebirth so that when your time comes, when you are going to die,
you will also be fortunate and meet a good lama or practitioner to help you obtain a
good rebirth. This kind of opportunity is very difficult to get, especially in America.
Think of your friends: some come to see you for talk or for enjoyment, for drink, for
dance, or for love, but what is the use of this? The real spiritual friend is very, very
rare, so in order for you to meet on that special day at the very time of your death, at
that very moment, you must have some merit from your cemetery practice. Otherwise,
you cannot get this kind of chance, especially in the West. In Tibet there were many
lamas to pray for the dead but there is nobody here to advise you to practise
Impermanence and there are no lamas to come and help you obtain a good rebirth at
your moment of death. Nobody in America knows how to give Phowa. For many
years Buddhists have died in this country in vain as their Gurus did not do any Phowa
for them. You see, one man may die but he is not alone in death for many of his

enemies and many of his friends come to meet him in the ghost state. They say, "We
could not get the chance when you were alive, but now is the time for you to pay up
and receive retribution". And Yama, the God of Death, sends his soldiers and his
workers, passes judgement, and comes to take you to the Hell realm. So at the time of
death, the mind is not properly fixed. You cannot do anything with your "free" mind-no free will, no free mind. But those persons who try to help the dead might get help
from their ghost friends and be rid of the bad ghosts who come to trouble them during
death. This is the law of cause and effect. I have done something to help the dead so
when I am going to die, I will also get someone to help me. This is the secret merit.
The most secret aspect is not only between the dead and the living but for the whole
universal peace. Many think, "Oh, the state of this world is due to this man or that
man, this communism or that capitalism." But actually the outer world's order is not
made only by man but also by ghosts and all the dead people and demons. The dead
can cause the living to fight with each other. In the Bible it says that God said, "I have
caused the war, I have come to help Israel." So in the Bible it points out that many
wars have been caused by God's anger, but a ghosts's anger can also make a war, not
only God's. Ghost anger can cause a family war and a national war. God's anger can
make a great international war. Therefore we must not only leave the living persons
peaceful but also allow the ghosts to be peaceful. Then the whole universe can truly
get peace. Some places have a plague of disease which kills many people. This is also
caused by a ghost. If all the souls in the cemeteries are settled and fixed, then this
earth can be peaceful. If the dead and the living are not at peace, the whole universe is
not peaceful.
These are the four aspects of merits between the living and the dead.

IV. Conclusions
We should know that if we treat all the dead as our friends, then we must entertain
them. If we treat all the ghosts as our enemy, we must overcome them. Suppose there
is an enemy among the ghosts, then I must overcome him with the Dharma. Suppose
there is a friend to help us, I must entertain him with the teachings. We must have
good relations with the ghosts. That is why we should come often to a cemetery. We
must realize that death has no certainty. Don't think, "I am only 30, he is 60 and will
die before me." Sometimes the young ones die before their elders. We must always be
aware of this. There is a very nice poem on this subject:
Death rides on every passing breeze
He lurks in every flower
Each season has its own disease
Each peril every hour.
Not only do I emphasize this subject now, but when I was 40 I went to Calcutta and
lived in a cemetery. I got up at 11 o'clock at night and did puja until 1 a.m. We say that
the real time for ghosts is between 11 and 1 a.m. After 1 a.m. the cock crows and the
ghosts go away. So I rented a house within a graveyard and had all my food sent there

and lived in that place for more than two months. I have a Chinese poem which I
wrote in the cemetery. I would like to read and translate it for you:
Could I convert stone, nodding its head so high,
Or cut my flesh to patch up your skull so nigh.
I would like to help you wake up and teach,
Let all worldlings know your death before they die.
About ordinary death there is no need to talk, but there are many kinds of unusual
cases of death. Once I heard someone speak about death in sleep as a good peaceful
death, but this kind of death is not good because you cannot be a man again when you
die without awareness of consciousness. He does not know he is dying. A man must
die slowly, aware of death, preparing and praying for himself. Such a death in sleep
may be peaceful in body, but not in consciousness. According to history, there are
many cases of strange deaths, so I will mention just a few to make us aware of the
uncertainty of death.
A big eagle picked a tortoise up from the sea and the tortoise fell down on top of
Aeschylus' head and killed him. So wide a sky and such a little head, but the tortoise
fell right on top of him and he died instantly. This is a strange case. This kind of death
cannot help one ascend.
When Agathocles was 95 years old he died by chewing on a toothpick, so small a
thing, and Fabius died by a goat hair in a glass of milk. Gabrielle died by eating an
orange; he choked and died. Charles VII knocked his head against the door lintel and
died. Some people have died by laughing. A lady friend who used to repeat Amitabha
died in this way. Laughing, she just fell down and died. My friend died because he
drank a lot of alcohol on New Years and then took a cigarette and this cigarette caused
the brandy inside to ignite and he burnt up and died. Some people fall off a horse and
die as William III did. There are also many cases of great longevity. In the Bible it
says that Seth lived 920 years, Enos was 905 years old and Cainan lived 910 years.
There are many such cases, but who prevents and protects you from death? You must
have faith on God, have faith on the protector, have faith on Amitabha, then you will
be protected. Many say we must have good diet or good exercise, but many die by
food and by physical exertion. There is no real protection except our God, our
Buddha, and even our ghostly friends. If a ghost has already gotten our blessing, he
will always protect us. A friend of mine who had gotten ghostly protection went to
take food somewhere but the ghost knew it was poisoned and told him, "Don't take
it." The ghost knows of such things quite well. Man has no supernatural powers, but
the ghost has a little supernatural power and can read man's mind. The Guru
Tsongkhapa has a protector who is a ghost.
Finally, I want to say something connecting everything in my talk. Let us state what
we are aimed at. We want Impermanence as the starting point of practice, but we must
know that there is a Yoga of Non-Death. The Non-Death Yoga is not just a practice
but has been proved by Padmasambhava. He did not die nor have many other Indian
sages. Padmasambhava is still alive. I have published a book on this special Yoga
called Non-Death Yoga (Note: Chenian Booklet New No. 86.) But as I do not sell my
books, many do not take it seriously. This yoga is not so easy to practise; you must

first have many, many kinds of foundation practice. But it is not impossible to rid of
death. There is the possibility of learning the Yoga of Non-Death and practising it. So
I hope as you are very young that you can practise and become a Non-Death Guru.