I never said anything about waiting until you die. I didn't say
anything about an eternal heaven in your next life or something
like that. It is in this life that we should make use of.
Most people nowadays are getting more materialistic... they seek
what is outside but forsake the inner mind and their true self.
They are not any material entities but yet it does not reject them.
Objects and forms of the world are very limited. They are
impermanent and without any inherent existence. The mind is however
infinite, boundless, like space.
Happiness, sufferings, it all depends on your mind.
...Today, I am going to speak about the meaning of life and the
experience of death in a positive way, which is very important to
our lives. As you see, everybody, no matter what country he or she
comes from, what language he or she speaks, what social, economic
and political system he or she belongs to, what kind of culture or
belief system he or she is acquainted with, whether he or she is
rich or poor, educated or uneducated, desire to have peace and
happiness and be free from suffering. There is no question about
that. Even if we have to destroy our happiness, we are destroying
our happiness in order to bring happiness. Even if we have to chase
the suffering, we are chasing the suffering in order to be free
from suffering. Due to ignorance, we chase the suffering
unintentionally in order to be free from suffering. We make efforts
and work very hard in our lives in different fields to acquire more
happiness and be free from suffering. Due to different cultures,
different belief systems, different teachings, we follow different
paths materialistically, spiritually, outwardly and inwardly.
However, the basic purpose of our lives is the same, that
is, to bring happiness and be free from suffering. This is the
meaning of life and the purpose of life.
Because of that, as modern technology advances, many new things are
invented and developed in order to bring happiness and to make our
lives more comfortable and peaceful. The advanced
technology enables us to measure and go to the outer space. We try
to explore the outer space as much as we can even though there is
no limit to the outer space. We try to see what we can find there
another planet, another place, what kind of things or beings
exist. We would like to have more control of the outer space in
order to secure our peace and happiness. Computers can do so much
and still there is no end to exploring technology in order to have
better and more meaningful lives. When we are so busy
exploring the outer technology, outer phenomena, we forget our
inner mental technology. The quality of our inner mental technology
is immeasurable, infinite, like space. We keep projecting and
exploring outside and forget that mind is the one that explored and
created all these technologies. We lose the sense of
mental quality. To know our mind, we do not have to go anywhere. It
resides within us, face to face and yet we do not know. We judge
other things, other people, outer technologies, we do not know how
to judge our mind...
http://www.purifymind.com/LifeAndDeath.htm
The Original Mind.. is the most natural state of the mind. That
is what spiritual practitioners seek. A mind of attachments,
miseries, wrong thoughts, these are the 'unnatural' state of mind
that brings sufferings.
Buddhism is ultimately not more than finding your true self.
Karma? Jhana? Enlightenment? I never said anything about after
death.
Entering into jhanas during meditations are quite common among
those who practised meditation for some time. Like I said
Enlightenment happens in the living. For example, Buddha attained
enlightenment while he was alive. Karma is also committed in the
living by our Mind, Speech, Actions. I did not suggest anything
linked to death.
