Life's conclusion
Everyone who gets to be born will without fail meet with death. The Buddha said, "Jati paccayā jarā-marana." Due to birth, old age and death will be the outcome. Travellers have their destinations whether they drive, fly, take a train or boat. Wherever they are heading, there has to be a journey's end. In the same way, beginning in our mother's womb we make our way through life. Like everyone else we will have to disembark at the end of life's journey at some point or another. One existence after another, each life is only a temporary process due to different kammas.
Even on the way here, on the road I saw a girl who had been run over by a car. Imagine, at a time when I was coming to speak about death. Was she dead or still alive? I don't know.
Why does death occur? What are its causes and conditions? Abhidhammattha sangaha gives four causes.
Exhaustion of the lifespan The first type is expiry of the lifespan or ayukkhayal. If you were to read the obituary columns in the newspapers, you would find that it is over 60 when the time is up. That is why 75 years has been designated as the average lifetime nowadays. Why is this so? It is because by 50 or 60 a person has become a grandparent.
There are people who try all sorts of medicine, diets and therapies to prolong their life. Yet I have never heard of any success stories. Even the Buddha lived only up to 80 at the time when the lifespan was 100 years. Based on His kamma He should have lived up to an incalculable number of years. Nonetheless based on conditions of climate and nutrition (utu and āhāra), His lifespan could not match those of the others. So at 80 He attained parinibbāna due to exhaustion of His lifespan.
Not many people can live to complete their whole lifespan; they die before that period runs out.
Death on the expiry of kamma In some instances the kamma which brought about a human birth has weakened so much that it cannot continue to maintain that life to the end? Let us say that a person's natural extent of life was supposed to be 100 years long. Yet he died in his twenties. Why this is so is that the kamma supporting his lifespan was no more. This is to say that his wholesome kamma gave him only this much time to remain alive so that he has to pass away prematurely.
Death on the expiry of both kamma and lifespan Another type is ubhayakkhaya where ubhaya means the two together. There is a saying: the wick and oil are both used up. As both are finished, the flame is extinguished. Similarly a person dies when both his kamma and lifespan are exhausted.
Death from destructive kamma Upacchedaka kamma is the fourth cause which does not allow life to continue. Instead it cuts off the lifespan before the time is ripe, due to certain causes and conditions. It could be the person's own unwholesome kamma of the present life or a past life. So because of destructive kamma, death could occur in an accident: being killed in a car or a plane crash, or in a shipwreck, in a storm under a falling tree. A person could get murdered or he could take his own life. By some means or another, destructive kamma cuts off the productive kamma that brought about a person's existence.
Take the example of Venerable Mogallana, an educated Brahmin in his present life who had become an arahant with great psychic powers. Though he was very good, his previous kamma was not, as he had once in a past life tried to kill his parents. Thus he had to face evil kamma's result in his present life. If he had not become an arahant he would have gone to hell again. Like a convict's sentence of 10 years being reduced to one year: what is being beaten to death compared to going to hell again?
We can assume this is destructive kamma. This akusala kamma cut off his life which had been produced by kusala kamma. We can also consider it in another way: the Venerable's lifespan was about to end. If the robbers had not murdered him, he would still have to die that day. If so this cannot be called destructive kamma, only obstructive kamma (upapilaka kamma), causing him pain and injury. However, that is my opinion.
Then, according to Ledi Sayadaw, death due to illness can also be included in upacchedaka marana. Before the lifespan can be completed, some sickness causes death because of kamma result (kamma-vipākaja). It is then considered as death from destructive kamma since the person's lifespan is not fully completed. Also, his kamma has yet to be exhausted. In this case we can find many instances of such a death.
When death occurs What takes place is that the heart becomes weak. The last energetic mind (maraṇāsanna javana) arises just before death, taking as object something seen or heard, for example. Or a visible object appears in the mind door as in a dream. The mind sinks into it, inclining to it with tanhā. Or it becomes agitated with fear. Then cuti or death consciousness arises. At the same time kamma-born matter comes to a stop. With this, one existence is concluded.
It is not enough to conclude that death has occurred merely because the heart has stopped beating. In deep sleep the mind is still there because regular breathing in and out is controlled by it. For those who are unconscious, the breathing may be so subtle that it cannot practically be detected.
How then to decide that a person is really dead? You should not conclude that death has taken place merely because the heart has stopped beating. Even without the heartbeat or breathing, we cannot be sure that he is definitely dead. He could be unconscious. Following the Pitaka text, a person is considered dead only when three factors are fully present:
* Ayu: the body and mind are protected by jīvita or life. At death this ceases.
* Usmā: Tejo element produced by kamma as body heat stops at death. That produced before death may still be present.
* Viññāna: Any consciousness including bhavanga which maintains the continuity of the midstream comes to a stop.
Only when these three factors totally cease can death be said to occur. The assumption that a person has died because he has stopped breathing can lead to problems.
I recall when I was young, I read in the papers about a man in Bangladesh who was pronounced dead by a doctor after checking with a stethoscope. As he was of another religion, it meant burial within a day. The grave was not filled properly. Had the body been cremated, all would have been lost at the start. Five hours later this person regained consciousness. Because he was young, he had the strength to shove off the layer of earth covering him and climb out of the grave. When he entered his house, the family was scared to see him. They had seen him buried as a corpse. Now that he was back could only mean that it was a ghost. In the end the family sued the doctor who had pronounced him dead.
Another similar incident took place in Mandalay about four or five years back. A young Chinese girl was pronounced dead. She was then sent for burial. As the hearse reached the cemetery gate, she suddenly regained consciousness. However, as she was considered to bring bad luck, she was not allowed home again. A little building was constructed for her near the cemetery. For this reason in the past it was usual to keep the corpse for seven days. Nowadays if death occurs today, the burial or cremation would be held tomorrow. A person with badluck could end up being sent to a mortuary. Then waking up and making a lot of noise, he could be mistaken for a ghost and end up being beaten to death.
At one time there was a story going round about an old man in a village. He had passed away and was due for burial. In the meantime he was temporarily placed in a pit: a few shovelfuls of earth were spread over the body. However, he regained consciousness, and asked for water. Instead of being helped, he was struck on the head with a hammer and then reburied.
If we were to consider that existence is according to kamma, then we can feel some consolation in hearing this kind of a story.
sayadow Dr Nandmalabhivamsa