Dying & Death | Tricycle
Of course, Buddhism is a religion that puts death front and center—as a catalyst for living ethically, for developing inner strength through meditation and for forging the spiritual mettle we will need at death. The Abhidhamma Pitaka lists the three most important forms of karma we produce in this lifetime: the ones that will determine our next birth, as habitual karma (accina kamma), actions we make repeatedly over time; weighty karma (garuka kamma), a seriously profound action, good or bad; and death-proximate karma (asanna kamma), action immediately preceding death. In other words, one’s state of mind at deathreally matters. The Buddha exhorted his disciples to reflect on death a lot—to use it as the ultimate prompt to practice now, in this moment; to practice every day. To stoke the fire before it’s too late. To prepare ourselves to make skillful choices in the moment when we leave this body. The same things that impede meditation are those that cloud our view at death: pain and emotional
