FROM: YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY…
“We don’t know how to deal with birth and death. We don’t know how to deal with a person who is going to die. We don’t know how to deal with our own mortality. Yet we must all face the reality of impermanence…”
“People have a preconception that when you become a Zen priest you have to die peacefully, preferably in a sitting position. But I don’t think there is any particular pattern to how you should die. You may have ideas about how to die or about what a happy death is, but when you are actually faced with death, there are no guarantees about what will happen. When you face death, there is no space to look at death as an object. You are right there. Even in the face of death, you have to understand how to live from moment to moment.”
“Those who are about to die experience many complicated emotions–feelings of despair, sentimentality, and anger. This is very natural, But finally, they reach a stage where they completely give up. They realize that there is no solution and there is nothing to grasp. Within the realm of resignation, their consciousness still vibrates minutely with deep human suffering…Persons who are about to die can share their suffering with us, and we can share our suffering with those who are about to die…”
“In facing your last moment, you can really share your life and your death. If you are with someone who is about to die, you can massage her back, hold her hand, serve her a drink of water, or just sit with her. If your heart is warm and compassionate, even though you don’t say anything, your presence naturally affects her.”
“This kind of feeling can’t be developed overnight. You have to practice it from day to day. This is why I always talk about everyday life, which is made up of innumerable small things. Even though you don’t like it, you have to take care of them–and other people–with compassion.”
“…however we view death, when we face it we must be present right there in the middle of the vast universe, which is completely beyond our speculations of good or bad, right or wrong. Our life is nothing but an endless stream, a dynamic flow of energy. All we have to do is just be there in the last moment. But the last moment is very quick. When you are in the last moment exactly, you don’t know it. “
“In his essay, ‘Zenki,’ Dogen Zenji said that life is the total manifestation of life, and death is the total manifestation of death. In other words, the momentum of life-and-death is beyond our ideas. so when the time comes for you to face death, all of you have to do is return to the very first moment. In the first moment, we can realize Dharma. Dharma–Oneness, Totality, Wholeness–needs you, whoever you are.”
[...] Danin Katagiri Roshi, who taught at the Minnesota Zen Center summed up Zen practice in this way: “Continue to show up under all circumstances; make positive effort for the good daily; don’t be tossed away…” Show up for your “formal” practice of mindfulness–sitting on your cushion; doing walking meditation; mindful eating; mindful movements and allow your formal practice to support your “informal” practice of daily life. [...]