Tuesday, February 1, 2011

What's worse, death or rebirth?



From what I've gathered about leaving the body, there is a sort of confusion, especially if you are unaware that you've just died. You're literally out of your senses, which can be disorienting, but, again from what I've gathered, there still seems to be some continuity.

Watching Fina struggle and get frustrated trying to make her body do the simple things she sees everyone else doing, or possibly even remembers doing herself before, it occurred to me, "Dying isn't the scary part, being reborn is!"

Whatever continuity there was is seriously interrupted, your somewhat back in your senses, but stuck in this body you have little control over, and you're at the mercy of a bunch of people you can't effectively communicate to. Crying seems to work, and if it doesn't, continuing to cry more will make them keep trying until they get it right!

As much as it's hard to keep a level mind at times, I'm finding a great deal of compassion for the situation she's found herself in!

12 comments:

  1. I kind of agree. It's like a really aggravating 18 year rebooting process.

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  2. I really should credit your observations for inspiring this post!

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  3. All that time trying to reboot, then you find Dharma and then a lifetime of unlearning, then all over again. So like Windows,
    ''Windows Vista crashes,
    I am the Blue screen of Death,
    No one hears your screams''

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  4. I leave my body every day. In fact, most of the time I'm somewhere else.

    No wonder I'm confused!

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  5. Another excellent point!!
    thank you! haha

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  6. It's strange, even when you admit your faults, you still sound wise! *^^*
    I guess that's awareness...

    Is enlightenment wiping the dust off the mirror or the mirror shouting, "Hey, I'm coated in dust!"?

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  7. Gosh, wouldn't that awareness (covered in dust!) be something!?

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  8. Oh, somewhere... (^_--)
    hehe, sorry, couldn't help it!
    I live just south of Seoul, Korea

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  9. When people speak of "leaving the body" they sometimes forget that both body and mind are left behind. It is critical to be very careful when you say "I leave my body" because the exact nature of the "I" may be obfuscated and that can lead to great confusion. It is very hard to think about rebirth but it is certainly not "you" that is reborn. So what is reborn? That is important to understand very clearly. We should never speak about something that isn't absolutely clearly defined because Buddhism is already very confusing to our Western minds!

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  10. It's a good point, thank you.
    It is very easy to say too much in these situations, isn't it?

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