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Welcome to From the Academy,
a monthly newsletter for Premium subscribers offering a scholarly take
on topics in Buddhist thought and practice. Each issue highlights a key
theme and points to further reading for exploration. This month, we look
at how death shapes the Buddhist understanding of life and liberation.
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In
Buddhism, death is foundational to understanding existence. Canonical
texts recount that Siddhartha Gautama, upon encountering old age,
illness, and death, renounced his privileged life and set out on his
path to liberation. Awareness of mortality functions as both a
fundamental existential concern and a catalyst for pursuing freedom from
suffering and samsaric existence.
Buddhist teachings also emphasize that all conditioned things are
impermanent, reframing death not as a singular tragedy but as an
ever-present feature of human experience. A steady mindfulness of
impermanence reduces fear and attachment, enabling us to approach death
with clarity and wisdom.
The Buddha’s Death
Narratives about the Buddha’s death reveal a variety of attitudes toward human mortality. The Buddha’s attendant, Ananda, openly mourns
the loss of his teacher and companion, while other monks are stoic,
seeing the Buddha’s death as a confirmation of impermanence. At the same
time, these narratives present the Buddha’s death as his parinirvana, the ultimate realization of liberation and the cessation of suffering.
This multifaceted presentation—acknowledging sincere grief alongside a
recognition of death as both inevitable and a moment of
liberation—reflects a nuanced Buddhist understanding. Rather than
dismissing grief as merely an emotional obstacle, these narratives
integrate it within broader teachings on impermanence and the cessation
of rebirth.
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Kinkara,
Citipati, The Dancing Enlightened Skeletons, Lords of the Cemetery,
Pharping in the Gelugpa Monastery on the hill below Padmasambhava's
cave, Nepal. Image courtesy of Wonderlane on Flickr.
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Facing Death and Rebirth
Buddhist traditions offer diverse practices for directly confronting human mortality, and many teachings emphasize contemplating death’s certainty and unpredictability. These methods include examining and observing death, corpse meditations,
and visualizations, such as those in Tibetan bardo or Pure Land
teachings, that train practitioners in disciplined mental states and
deliberate recognition of death as intrinsic to human existence. Such
practices are intended to arouse samvega—a sobering urgency that motivates practice. Recollecting death also helps us clarify priorities, encouraging us to use our time wisely.
Beyond contemplation practices, Buddhist traditions have historically
viewed the moment of death as critical. Deathbed rituals—such as
chanting and ordination rites in medieval Japan or the Tibetan
consciousness-transfer (phowa)—aim to guide the dying person’s
mind and to influence their postmortem destination. For example, the
Japanese monk Kakuban (1095–1143) detailed methods for sustaining right
mindfulness at the moment of death, reflecting a widespread belief that
ritual precision could contribute to a favorable rebirth.
Extended funerary and postmortem rites have long provided crucial
economic support for temples and ritual specialists. Overseeing death
rituals—and interpreting signs such as lack of bodily decay or relic
production—also reinforced religious authority, strengthening the status
of Buddhist lineages and institutions.
Contemporary Practice
Present-day Buddhists still draw upon traditional practices
to address mortality. Mindfulness of death, Theravada chanting rites,
and Japanese Zen mortuary ceremonies offer alternatives to distancing
customs observed in many Western contexts. Practices like embalming,
cosmetic enhancement, and discreet interment reflect discomfort with
death and a tendency to outsource its management. In contrast, Buddhist
traditions emphasize engaging mortality directly.
In recent decades, Western practitioners have embraced hospice-based
chaplaincy, death-awareness retreats, and academic-clinical dialogues,
incorporating teachings about impermanence and ethical end-of-life care.
By thoughtfully drawing on traditional and adapted practices, Western
Buddhists can cultivate a clearer, more direct relationship with death,
moving beyond culturally ingrained avoidance and toward informed
acceptance.
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Recommended Material on Death
- Jacqueline Stone, “Right Thoughts at the Last Moment: Buddhism and Deathbed Practices in Medieval Japan,” lecture at St. John’s College (2025). In this talk, the eminent scholar Jacqueline Stone explores the medieval Japanese belief that a mindful death could shape one’s postmortem destiny.
- Shuyin, “Waiting on the Dead,” Buddhistdoor Global
(May 17, 2018). An article on Buddhist Myanmar funerary practices and
their financial impact on the poor. For a more comprehensive exploration
of the topic, see Mu-Lung Hsu, “Making Merit, Making Civil Society: Free Funeral Service Societies and Merit-Making in Contemporary Myanmar,” Journal of Burma Studies vol 23 no 1 (June 2019).
- Maurice O’C. Walshe, “Buddhism and Death,” Access to Insight
edition (1978/2005). Walshe, a German language scholar and Buddhist
leader, covers the basics of Buddhism and death (and a bit more), in his
now classic exposition, from both an academic and practitioner
perspective.
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