How Does a Buddhist Monk Face Death?
An e-mail interview in the New York Times between George Yancy and Geshe Dadul Namgyal, a Tibetan Buddhist monk
So is this “general description” remedy more or less applicable to you? Sure, given that one way or another most of us are going to be disturbed by death, to the extent that you can think yourself into this frame of mind, you are clearly better off than those who cannot.
But then when we take that leap from a general description of the human condition to a description of your own particular set of circumstances, how can it not be the case that this either makes sense or does not make sense to each of us in our own unique way?
Again, depending on how close you are “here and now” to death. And depending on how many things and how many people you love dearly will be obliterated along with “I” for all of eternity.
Unless, of course, as a Buddhist monk, you are also able to convince yourself that, given your understanding of karma and enlightenment on this side of the grave, and given how you chose to embody this understanding in the behaviors you chose in turn, there is something other than nothingness awaiting you on the other side of the grave. You have managed to convince yourself instead that “I” will either be reincarnated [whatever that means] or experience Nirvana [whatever that means].
In other words, of course it is easier for him to endure the thought of dying!
In a sense it’s like imaging the agony that Christ endured in being crucified, all the while knowing what His fabulous fate would be on the other side.