Death and the Afterlife in Japanese Buddhism

Death and the Afterlife in Japanese Buddhism
For more than a thousand years, Buddhism has dominated Japanese death rituals and concepts of the afterlife. The nine essays in this volume, ranging chronologically from the tenth century to the present, bring to light both continuity and change in death practices over time. They also explore the interrelated issues of how Buddhist death rites have addressed individual concerns about the afterlife while also filling social and institutional needs and how Buddhist death-related practices have assimilated and refigured elements from other traditions, bringing together disparate, even conflicting, ideas about the dead, their postmortem fate, and what constitutes normative Buddhist practice.

The idea that death, ritually managed, can mediate an escape from deluded rebirth is treated in the first two essays. Sarah Horton traces the development in Heian Japan (794-1185) of images depicting the Buddha Amida descending to welcome devotees at the moment of death, while Jacqueline Stone analyzes the crucial role of monks who attended the dying as religious guides. Even while stressing themes of impermanence and non-attachment, Buddhist death rites worked to encourage the maintenance of emotional bonds with the deceased and, in so doing, helped structure the social world of the living. This theme is explored in the next four essays. Brian Ruppert examines the roles of relic worship in strengthening family lineage and political power; Mark Blum investigates the controversial issue of religious suicide to rejoin one's teacher in the Pure Land; and Hank Glassman analyzes how late medieval rites for women who died in pregnancy and childbirth both reflected and helped shape changing gender norms.

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Okuribito (2008)

Okuribito (2008)
Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) is a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and now finds himself without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled "Departures" thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to discover that the job is actually for a "Nokanshi" or "encoffineer," a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art of "Nokanshi," acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living.

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Graceful Exits: How Great Beings Die: Death Stories Of Tibetan, Hindu And Zen Masters - Sushila Blackman (editor)

Graceful Exits: How Great Beings Die: Death Stories Of Tibetan, Hindu And Zen Masters - Sushila Blackman (editor)

Koans and stories of the deaths of Masters are scattered throughout the sacred texts of the East. This book is remarkable in that it brings those many stories together in one place. By focusing a book on the theme of "death stories", the stories illumine each other, and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The stories reveal a wonderfully refreshing way to think about death (and hence, to think about Life!) Many are solemn, but some are quite humorous. In each, we see the presence of someone who embraces all of human experience, who says "Yes!" to all of Life, including death. Many of the Masters give one final gem of wisdom, summarizing their life's teaching, as their last word. The many photographs of the Masters are heart-warming. For anyone ready to think about death and mortality in terms of their spritual meaning, this book is ideal. Ironically, through looking at how the Masters die, we can implicitly understand their teaching on how to be ever more fully alive.

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Selections from the Bonpo Book of the Dead

Selections from the Bonpo Book of the Dead
Selections from the Bonpo Book of the Dead, with translations, introduction, and commentaries by John Myrdhin Reynolds (1998). This volume presents translations of a number of texts from the Zhang-zhung Nyan-gyud dealing with the Bardo or the after-death experience in the intermediate state from the viewpoint of Dzogchen. The commentaries by the translator elucidate many important points in the translations. Comparisons are made of the Dzogchen tradition of the visions of Nirvana and Samsara with the eschatologies and mysticisms found in other spiritual traditions.


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Dalai Lama - Advice on Dying

Dalai Lama - Advice on Dying
In this empowering and positive book the Dalai Lama presents teachings on preparing for our inevitable death which can greatly benefit our perspective on living.

This book is based on the First Panchen Lama`s poem that many Tibetans use to focus their daily reflections on dying which are incorporated into their spiritual practices - Wishes for Release from the Perilous Straits of the Intermediate State, Hero Releasing from Fright. The Dalai Lama gives an illuminating commentary on this work, enabling us to have a better understanding of the whole death process. The poem describes three levels of spiritual practice - for the most highly trained, the middling, and the least, and what to do at each stage.

"When death actually comes, if you are not used to this practice, it will be very difficult to succeed at any beneficial reflection. Therefore, now is the time to practice and prepare, while you are still happy and the circumstances of your life are in accord. Then, at the time of real need and pressure, there will be no worry. Therefore, it is necessary to become intimate with the practices related to dying. There is no substitute. There is no pill..." The Dalai Lama.

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