Sharing: Supportive-chanting at end of life

Question:

During the end-of-life supportive-chanting of Amitabha, the deceased's body cannot be moved for eight hours. But in Japan, especially in hospitals, if we perform supportive-chanting when someone has just died, the hospital immediately requires their body to be moved to the mortuary when they die.  What should we do then?

Dharma Master Ding Hong:

…this depends on the merit of the practitioner. If you wish to pass away with ease, have people chant Amitabha for you right after you pass and have no one move your body, then you must cultivate merit right now.

You save this merit to be used at the time of your death. When you cultivate merit, you cannot yet enjoy it. When you enjoy your merits, it is used up. Therefore, you must cultivate strongly, do giving, let go.  At the same time, take suffering as your teacher. Live simply where possible. This way, your merits are preserved. When your end of life comes, you will have no problems.

We encountered the same problem in Hong Kong. Hong Kong law also dictates that once a person dies, the police must be called. If in a hospital, they must be immediately moved to the mortuary.

However, we have also sent off some fellow HK practitioners who had great merit. They notified the police a full 24 hours later.  The police came, took a look, and said, "Okay, let's check the body." After examining the body, it was fine. They did not investigate further.

There was no problem leaving the body there for 24 hours.  They had great merit. At the time of their passing, no karmic creditors came to disturb or interfere with them.

If one passes away in the hospital, it is quite troublesome because the hospital cannot accommodate you, especially if you enter the Intensive Care Unit [ICU]. Once you enter the ICU, your fate is completely handed over to the doctors.  Your family members can't do anything; fellow practitioners can do even less...

I have seen it myself. We once went to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong to do supportive-chanting for a pureland practitioner. Her son didn’t know what to do. His mother had a stroke and he immediately sent her to the hospital.

She was sent to the hospital, fell into a coma and went into the ICU. In the ICU, you mostly go in and only come out when you are dead. They use these machines to prolong your life or extend it for a few days. This is considered fulfilling the medical staff's responsibility of saving life.

How did they prolong her life? They cut open her windpipe and inserted a ventilator tube. Because your nose is no longer working, they insert it directly into the windpipe. They use a machine to help you breathe and they add a pump to the heart.

The entire body is inserted with tubes. There is a tube in the esophagus to pump liquid food into you. Then there are urinary catheters, tubes for feces, and so on. Anyway, you are full of tubes.

Plus, there are the wires and tubes for the monitors. This one is for heartbeats, this one is for breathing. This kind is for blood pressure etc.  Anyway, the person is restrained to the bed. Extremely suffering. Tell me, isn't this being cruel to the patient? This was too terrifying. It was simply hell on earth. You are unable to move a muscle.

When I went in and saw this, my tears just fell. The air conditioning was blowing on her, her clothes were quite bare, she was only covered with a thin blanket. Even normal healthy people would feel... most people would feel freezing cold in this environment.

Anyway, they don't care… as long as the machines are plugged in, it's fine to them. Just a thin layer covering her, her body was freezing cold. You see, it's like this.

Our group went in to chant Amitabha but the hospital wouldn't allow so many people to chant, they only allowed one person. If you came out to go to the toilet, there can't be a second person going in. The visit is considered over. What to do? In the end, everyone sent me in. Before going in, I first went to the restroom…

It was gloomy and eerie inside, as if entering the underworld. In that ICU, it wasn't just her alone; there were other people. Some people, when they woke up, were wailing. It truly sounded like ghosts crying. Going in, I felt my body trembling.

I chanted for her for a long time, but there was no response. I didn't dare to be loud. If it was loud, the medical staff would say, "Don't disturb the others." Because there were several patients together there, I didn't dare to chant loudly. But if I didn't chant loudly, I was afraid she couldn't hear it.

What to do? I thought of a method. I took a piece of paper and rolled it into a tube, placed this at her ear and chanted through it. I chanted softly to avoid getting kicked out. It was truly quite difficult.

Because there were no chairs there, I could only bend over. I couldn't stand too far away… after less than an hour of chanting, my lower back became sore. Finally, I knelt down. Kneeling down, I could at least keep my back straight, then my mouth was exactly level with her ear. So I chanted like this.

In the end, the doctor was touched and brought a stool over for me. Really, that supportive-chanting session was the most grueling in my life…

So it's best if you know it is the end of life to remain at home. You just chant Amitabha right where you are and seek rebirth in Sukhavati. Less suffering, it is okay even if we leave this world a bit earlier…

At home, when you chant Amitabha, your mind is clear. If you chant Amitabha with faith and aspiration to seek rebirth in Sukhavati, Amitabha will definitely come to receive you. If by chance karmic obstacles manifest and you lose consciousness, then faith and aspiration will all be absent.

Of course, that practitioner in Hongkong also lacked sufficient faith and aspiration, which is why she suffered such an outcome. If she had true faith and aspiration, she could have told her children that when her time comes, they must absolutely not send her to the hospital.

Take my mother, for instance… I have her will with me today. Let me read her will to everyone. This is from February 2008…

There are five clauses in total.

“Recalling my entire life, I am grateful to my parents, grateful to my teachers. Grateful to the country and its people, grateful to my siblings and all my friends. I was able to work peacefully until retirement and am able to enjoy a wonderful twilight years. Grateful to all sentient beings. Especially grateful to Venerable Master for teaching us to learn traditional culture and understand Buddhism and Pureland practice. At the time of departing this world, let me affectionately say: Thank you, everyone.”

This is the first clause.

“What makes me satisfied is that my thirty years of effort in raising my son were not in vain. My only child, my son Zhong Maosen, has allowed me to become the mother of a PhD and the mother of a professor. What comforts me even more is that my son has embarked on the path of learning from the past sages and propagating the teachings of the sages. I hope Maosen will diligently study and promote the traditional cultures of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. Delve deeply into teachings, continuously teach, and follow the teachings of the sages. Cultivate moral character, manage the family, govern the state, bring peace to the world, benefit society and the people, and seek rebirth in the Pure Land.”

This is an expectation she has for me.

“In my later years, I personally studied the Buddhist Pure Land sutras, and resolved to chant Amitabha to seek rebirth in Sukhavati. I hope my son, Zhong Maosen, will preside over my end-of-life matters and affairs after my passing. I also hope relatives, friends, and fellow practitioners will chant Amitabha for me for twenty-four hours during my final moments, and escort me to be reborn in Sukhavati.

“My body should only be moved twenty-four hours after passing away. This is very important. If, due to old age I suffer an illness, no matter at what time or place, absolutely do not send me to the hospital. Even more so, do not attempt resuscitation or life-support. Please immediately chant Amitabha for me.”

My mother is really smart.

Below it says, “If my lifespan has not yet ended, I will receive the Buddha's blessing and recover. If my lifespan has ended, I can pass away amidst the chanting of Amitabha’s name. Absolutely do not, under any circumstance, send me to the hospital. Chant Amitabha right there. At the juncture of life and death, chanting Amitabha is the number one thing to do."

This is the third clause.

“The family property, including the real estate under my name and all bank deposits, cash, and household items, etc., shall all be inherited and managed by my son, Zhong Maosen. If there are still plenty of deposits, please donate appropriately to make offerings to the Triple Gem, print wholesome books, and engage in social public welfare and charitable works.

“I hope that when relatives, friends, and fellow practitioners learn of my passing, they can all recite the Ksitigarbha Sutra, Amitayus Sutra, Amitabha Sutra and chant Amitabha within 49 days. This will be the best memorial and help for me. Thank you!

“May we meet in Sukhavati again. Namo Amituofo!  Pureland practitioner Zhao Liangyu. Written on February 29, 2008, in Guangzhou.”

This shows my mom had the most wisdom. Being able to completely and clearly hand over all matters after death, one can rest completely at ease. Once people reach old age, they should quickly think about writing a will properly.

Master Yinguang said: "Always hang the word 'Death' on your forehead." If a person frequently thinks of death, they will have Dharma in mind.