What's next after Death?

Recently a relative of mine pass away. It has been some time since I participated in a funeral ceremony. If it is work situation, usually I will be there when the coffin in going into the ground, or when family members bring the ash remain urn to the columbarium. Seldom do I sit through the final ceremony.

And there I was in a Taoist funeral ceremony, usually they will have Taoist Priest in full uniform chanting away and leading relatives to circumambulate the coffin, before the final send off. In front they have a roast piggy, roast chicken and some other meat stuff. The question in my mind was “Does this departed person really moved on, in Bardo?”

That is not just a curious question, but the key question in all funeral. Does the deceased manage to move on? If they cannot move on, then no matter how elaborate the setup or fancy the costume of the Taoist priest or 'paid' monk is, it does not help the person who is in Bardo.

In case you are not sure what Bardo is, it is the intermediate state of between death and rebirth (not necessary human). Those that stuck in Bardo, usually become wandering ghost due to their attachment with previous life and also not realizing that they have already died.

If you think living in human realm is difficult, then living in Bardo is even worst. It is like moving from where you are now to the worst part of Ethiopia.

There are those that does not need to go through Bardo.

1. Those that are highly cultivated, they can direct their mind in meditative stabilization in their final moments to go where they are suppose to go.
2. Those who have develop really nasty karma in this life, straight they will go the realms of hell without needing to float here and there.
3. Those that have collected a lot of good merits, even in their final moments they are still thinking of what they can contribute to society. So their mind does not create the confusion for them to go through Bardo. Directly they will go to upper realms of Samsara.

For the rest of us folks, Bardo is the way to go.

In Taoist and Buddhist traditions, there are ways to lead these minds in their Bardo state. Most common way, is for the relatives of departed ones to do a lot of good merits and dedicate it to them. So that in their Bardo they receive merits of those actions and can move on.

What are some of the ways doing good action?

1. Animal liberation or fish liberation. Saving lives and dedicate those merits to them in Bardo.
   If you just buy a few fishes to release, it would not help much, because when they are alive they ate more than that!
2. Offering food to monks – constant offering in a period of time eg once or twice a week for few month or so.
3. Donations to various religious institutions – those that constantly servicing the community. If you donate to those that enrich their religious leaders then it is as good as none.

You can also participate their name when there is a Buddhist Bardo Guidance Session. Bardo Guidance Session, is when monks or a cultivated person guides the deceased through the Bardo. This is usually done in stages – letting the person know they have died, and guiding them through the different mental states occuring in the mind while in Bardo. Usually the help of Buddha or Bodhisattvas are requested in the ceremony to guide these minds.

The crucial factor then comes in. If I paid a lot of money for Bardo Guidance for the departed loved ones, will it guarantee that they move on? If money is the sole reason they are doing the Bardo Guidance for you, be it layperson or monk, then most likely the deceased is still stuck in Bardo.

Common sense, if Buddhas and Bodhisattvas worked for money – then they would still be beings stuck in samsara and not called Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. To make it worst due to attachments to colour paper we called money. Therefore through emotions of greed, how can a person invoke Buddhas or Bodhisattvas to abide in the Bardo Guidance session to help in the ceremony.

Bardo Guidance should be done base on compassion and Bodhicitta. Compassion in understanding that samsara is about suffering. Compassion towards those minds in Bardo. Compassion on the relatives striving to help their deceased love ones to go beyond Bardo.

Bodhicitta is a sudden and lasting compassion for all beings, accompanied by a falling away of the attachment to the illusion of an inherently-existing self. When the idea of existing self does not exist, only we can relate that to the deceased, and for them to release their attachment towards samsara and move on.

That also explains why does reciting a lot of mantras will also guide departed loved ones through Bardo. Because of compassion the relatives have towards the deceased person, they will be able to move Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and with mantras to gather merits eventually the deceased would be able to move on.

Sadly however in our modern day, many people don't think much about the deceased after they died. Many think that they are dead and that is it. Unfortunately that is just the beginning, wandering spirits at home or attach to a person will bring their own energy down. Energy down means less vitality and also means lowering of luck. Spirits of relatives don't intentionally set out to make it worst for you, but in essence they don't know where to go, so they hang around because of the karmic link you have with them.

And then they complain why they have funny dreams of relatives that have passed away. Some is plainly due to laziness , not willing to seek out where they can participate their deceased relatives in Bardo Guidance or do good deeds on their behalf. Excuses are endless, really doing it out of compassion are only the few. Sigh.....

***Where to go for Bardo Guidance? or know which mantra to chant www.facebook.com/kdspg