Phurpa Tashi Rinpoche
If assisted chanting (of mantras or Buddha-names) at the point of death is done
with compassion, the blessings of the mantra become greater. Moreover, mantras
are liberation by hearing, so this has an even greater significance. But I can’t say for sure if this enables the
deceased to take rebirth in pureland.
What is the reason? We have all heard many teachings from pure and qualified
teachers and even heard much Dharma chanting from groups who do assisted
chanting. But looking back at our mind,
it still seems hard and unchanged.
Therefore, can assisted chanting ensure that the deceased take rebirth in
pureland? I do not dare to say so.
A leader of such a group asked me this question too. If the body of the corpse
becomes soft and flexible, can we take that to be an auspicious sign of taking
rebirth in pureland? If the deceased’s
body was soft and flexible all the way from the point of death onwards, that is
truly a remarkable sign. It means that
this person had not the slightest fear in facing death.
When there is fear, the body tenses up.
This is something we all know. When we were young and went to the
hospital to receive an injection, the nervousness would cause our muscles to
become taut or tight. The doctor had to coax us saying, “It is not painful, I
have not injected yet.” Then wham, he would inject us when we were slightly
relaxed. When we are nervous, the body is tense.
At the point of death, the mind is suffering and fearful, the body would
therefore be tense. Before long, the
corpse would become rigid. If a person
is relaxed, the body would not be so stiff.
But after a while, the body would become soft and flexible again. This is a natural process. I once asked a policeman from the criminal
department about this and he said, “After some hours, the deceased’s corpse
becomes softer.” So, when we check the flexibility of the corpse, we have to
check the timing it becomes soft and flexible.
But could this be taken as a sign of rebirth in pureland, I can’t say
for sure…
For the question you just asked, if I should brazenly give a definite answer,
and if my answer were wrong, the negative karma would be equivalent to digging out
the eyes of all sentient beings in the six realms (as taught by Lama Achuk
Rinpoche). This is how severe the karma
is.
Sometimes when I hear how some teachers speak, I think they are quite daring.
Perhaps it is due to not understanding the severity of the karma, or maybe
there is no fear of the consequences.
But I am afraid, truly afraid!
Since I took ordination from the age of 12 till now, I have been
learning Dharma and trusting fully in cause-and-effect. Isn’t all these because I am afraid of
cause-and-effect?
If I don’t know something, I would say that I don’t know. Lama Achuk Rinpoche
has never said definitively that the corpse softening and becoming flexible is
a sign of rebirth in purelands, so I would not say that it is a sure sign.
