The Workshop is in the Mind

Something To Think About Series #223

Thought of the day from Venerable Robina Courtin

Something To Think About Series #222

Thought of the day from Venerable Robina Courtin

Something To Think About Series #221

Thought of the day from Venerable Robina Courtin

If we realised impermanence, realised the reality and integrated it into our mind, that impermanence is just the way things are, and we will die, your life is transformed, because you don't waste your life when you realise it's impermanent. Death is definite but the time of death is not certain. Venerable Robina discusses Lama Zopa Rinpoche's book - 'How To Face Death Without Fear' and explains the steps of the death process.

Questions about - the concept that there's no time to waste and the Pali term Saṃvega, the stages of death, what stage does chanting mantras matters, should the three days after death be at home, what happens when you die suddenly with cardiac arrest, pulling the hair at the crown when someone dies, is there a test to perform after death to know if the consciousness has left the body, when someone is dying but is on a lot of pain medication, and voluntary assisted dying?

Vajrayana Institute, Sydney, 25th May 2025.

https://youtu.be/IsHYAlGmsxg

Something To Think About Series #220

Thought of the day from Venerable Robina Courtin

Something To Think About Series #219

Thought of the day from Venerable Robina Courtin

Most people don't like to think about death. Death is a really crucial thing to understand, because according to the Buddha our mind will continue to another life and we've got a long term goal of Buddhahood, which indeed could take us countless lifetimes, so you've got to have a very serious long term plan. Death is an extremely important stage in this development. As Lama Zopa Rinpoche says - actually if you want to help anybody in this life, the time they need you most, is at the time of death.

There are two approaches to preparing for death. One is to live your life well, so that when death comes you are ready for it and relaxed. The second one is what to do during the months, weeks, days, and hours before death; at the time the breath stops, and three days after that. Why is it so important to help a person die well? Because at the time of death, the karmic seed planted in the mind of that person, that will determine their next life, is triggered as the death process starts. The crucial piece, and without this we won't be able to be ready for death, no matter how many people are helping us, the crucial one is how to live our lives. To see death in the framework of how to live your life, and that means we have to understand Buddha's views about karma, ethics, and the mind.

Buddha's first teaching is about impermanence, that everything changes. We are impermanent. We have this very powerful deep view that clings to ourselves and things as unchanging. Intellectually we know it's not true, but if we look into our incredible fear of change, it's pretty evident. Atisha in his Lamrim text tells us that we need to realise impermanence, particularly the impermanence of death, his agenda is to give us a wake up call to not want to waste our lives, Death is definite, the time of death is uncertain, and at the time of death what is important - virtuous karmic seeds in our mind being triggered. That's the basis for good ethics in Buddhism. The point of ethics is because that's what produces you. You are the beneficiary of your good ethics. You receive the results of your negative and positive actions. It's a natural law. It's best to think - I will die today, because we live in fear of death, we live in denial of it. You want to think about how death will come, so you don't waste this life. What does it mean not to waste this life - it's completely rooted in the view of karma and ethics, that you want to put as many positive seeds into your mind, because you're going to be living another life and you better prepare for it baby!

Venerable Robina mentions Lama Zopa Rinpoche's book - 'How to Face Death without Fear'.

Questions about - what is nirvana, what is the fear of death, what hope do we have to realise emptiness, what is defined as the time of death, control over when you die, what determines when death comes, and prayers and practices?

Tibet House US, New York, 30th April 2025.

https://youtu.be/Rg1TYQIpIpM

Something To Think About Series #218

Thought of the day from Venerable Robina Courtin

Something To Think About Series #217

Thought of the day from Venerable Robina Courtin

Something To Think About Series #216

Thought of the day from Venerable Robina Courtin