--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "wayback71" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Re death and dying, I have found Yogananda's books of > comfort. I just started his Gita translation/commentary > and it seems packed with all sorts of good information.
Haven't looked at it in decades. Thanks for the tip; I'll check it out. > Personally, I would find it comforting to have some > trusty steps to perform as death nears. But, I also > trust that the process will take care of itself, to a > large extent. All this meditating and yoga for all > these years, trying to live a "good" life while having > some fun, caring for family. I am counting on a > compassionate universe to include me and frankly > everyone in the normal flow of transition. You've just *nailed* the difference between the Hindu approach to dying and the Tibetan Buddhist approach to dying. That is, underlying the Hindu approach to dying is an assumption that the universe is sentient, is compassionate, and that it has the ability to act on that compassion with regard to the living and the dying. In the Hindu cosmology, the basic concept is that the universe really "runs the show" when it comes to how and as what one will reincarnate. The Tibetan Buddhist approach is more based on free will. As a seeker, you are responsible for your own enlightenment, or for the realization thereof. If you believe that the universe is really running everything and you don't have all that much to say in how and where and as what you incarnate next, where is the impetus to study the mechanics of death, dying, and reincarnation? You just die and hope for the best. :-) On the other hand, if you firmly believe that there are things that you *can* do to further your own evolution and find a cool next incarnation in which *to* further it, then you might tend to study death, dying, and reincarnation rather thoroughly indeed. That seems to be what the Tibetan Buddhists did. Different strokes for different folks, that's all. > I don't think we all have to feel responsible for > learing how to manage each stage of life. Nope. But for those who are interested, there is a wealth of valuable information available. Whether you are interested in that information or not probably has a lot to do with how much of a hand you believe you have with regard to your own evo- lution, and with regard to how much you think is *out* of your hands. > The analogy that comes to mind is the fundy Christian > idea that ONLY thru belief in Jesus can a person be > saved. But what about those who never heard of Jesus? > Same with death. Such a fundamental experience cannot > possibly REQUIRE special training available in one part > of the world. Did you hear anyone say it did? It's a matter of predilection. You can dive into the Bardo and just hope for the best, allowing the universe to do everything for you. And it will. The universe is good about that. Other people with other predilections might want to get more involved, and have more of a say in where they're going next, and as what. :-) To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
