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Talk on Life and Death at Kusinagar, India
The physical body is not important; the body of the teaching, the Dharmakaya, remains. The Buddha cannot be found in form, or rupa, nor in sound, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, or consciousness. Just as a leaf cannot be separated from non-leaf elements like sunshine and clouds, the Buddha cannot be put in a frame. Regarding whether the Buddha continues after passing away, four categories of answers are proposed: yes, he continues to be; no, he will not continue to be; he both continues and doesn’t continue; and he neither continues nor does not continue. None of these correspond to reality. Reality in itself is Tathata, Suchness. The Buddha is the Tathagata, he who comes from Suchness and goes to Suchness, dwelling always in reality and free from birth and death.
Sudatta Anathapindika, a wealthy layperson, is guided on his deathbed by Sariputra to practice that the eye is not me, the nose is not me, the tongue is not me, the ear is not me, and the body is not me. He contemplates that form is not me, sound is not me, taste is not me, and that eye consciousness and nose consciousness are not me. He sees he is not conditioned by form, sound, or taste, nor by birth and death. Similarly, the monk Vakkali is taught that he who sees the Dharma sees the Buddha. Vakkali confirms he knows that form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness are impermanent, and that he is free from all these five skandhas.
Birth and death are two aspects of the same thing, happening every moment. Visakha, who desired many descendants, learns that if she had as many children and grandchildren as people in Sravasti, she would mourn ten, nine, or seven people every day. In the body, cells die every minute, yet they accept the passing of fellow cells calmly to help with the birth of new cells. Death is the condition of birth. Elders in Vietnam prepare for dying in a joyful, calm manner, selecting their own coffins and clothes without fear. One should not be identified with ash in a container, but rather seen as becoming many things at the same time, such as a flower.
Part of the following collections
Seeing the Leaf, Meeting the World