Your Final Moment - Are You Ready?
Posted: Tuesday, February 16, 2010
by e
Dhammabucha Rocksprings Meditation
We're not going to have a final moment, right? That only happens to other people. Well, it could happen anytime, maybe today, maybe next week, but we think that statistically we have so many years left so why worry about it. When it comes it comes. Who cares?
You can't put a spin on the last moment. You can't rationalize it by saying it doesn't matter. It's real. I have been with people when they are dying and can say that the last moments can be very traumatic, or very peaceful, depending upon how that person lived their life. They glimpse their destiny when death approaches, which can be horrifying with the person struggling to sit up and run away, or peaceful to the extreme with utterings such as, "I see beautiful people, wonderful gardens, I hear beautiful music."
Is your financial life in order? Is your spouse ready to take over? Do you have more than you need right now? Can you help others that need just the basics of life? All of these things are extremely important during that last moment when time compresses and you can view your entire lifetime in a flash. The bias of ego is then rendered helpless, and the view is with untinted glasses of how you have lived your life.
This is all so very important in the last moment - no regrets, no last minute adjustments, no loose ends. Have you lived a life without blame, or has it been all about you? Was there room in your heart for others; your family, your friends, those less fortunate? If not, why not? If not now, when? This is important, too, at the last moment.
Have you prepared your mind so that there will be no fear of pain when your time comes? Have you experimented with pain and defeated it, or have you run for the medicine cabinet or doctor as soon as the slightest pain occurs?
Will there be no loneliness at the last moment? No fear of the unknown? . . . Yes? Then what have you been doing with your life, just having fun and entertaining yourself as if you are immortal? This is all very important, and will determine if you die courageously or very afraid.
You can't wait until the last moment to get all of this done. If you are unprepared there will only be mass confusion and panic at the end when it hits you that there is no escape this time, and you know for certain that death is imminent. This kind of behavior is not of a warrior, it is very unbecoming for anyone. This kind of terrible trepidation does not bode well in propelling you into your next existence.
How you go out matters immensely. Will praying fervently make up for a lifetime of selfishness and override your destiny? Do your actions in life count, or can you do as you please and then be saved? You will find out when your last moment arrives.
Your last moment is a compression, the sum and substance of this lifetime which is very short, just a flash of lightening. You can't put a spin on your life now; it is what it is, and there is no kidding oneself any longer. This is it. This is what you are.
If we could just preview this incredible final moment while we are healthy and alive, we would immediately sell everything and give it to the poor and live our lives in utter goodness and poverty. We would dedicate ourselves to helping others just as Jesus recommended, so that we have no baggage, no attachments, no regrets when our time comes. But few understand this, and go about their lives without any awareness at all.
Like a bubble in a stream that can burst suddenly at any moment, such is life. So don't put it off one more minute, get ready, you may face your last moment next week, or next month.
When we don't face our last moment, when we put it off and think that there is plenty of time, we get careless about life, get involved in frivolous things that mean nothing in our last moment even to the point of hurting others for the sake of our own selfish pleasure. We get reckless and overconfident; this is called ignorance and delusion.
The amazing thing is that a life lived in abject poverty, as a choice, and a life lived dedicated to others, becomes a joy unmatched by any pleasures we can think of, a release, a relief, a life so full that we wonder how we ever could have done the things that we previously did. It's true. It's what Jesus and the Buddha taught.
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Top-level comments on this article: (6 total)good article e, thanks for sharing.
Glad you liked it, thanks Dave.Metta........e
I believe that some of the greatest joy in my lifetime has come from giving to others and first and foremost from my relationship with Jesus Christ. Interesting article. Thanks for sharing.Thank you Linda, the more you give the better. Some will scoff at this.
Metta............e
Heavenly Father, I know that I have sinned against you and that my sins separate me from you. I am truly sorry. I now want to turn away from my sinful past and turn to you for forgiveness. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your Son, Jesus Christ, died for my sins, that He was raised from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become my Savior and the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You and to convict me when I sin. I pledge to grow in grace and knowledge of you. My greatest purpose in life is to follow your example and do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, AmenThank you for the nice prayer. Now go out and love your neighbors with your whole heart, whether they are Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, atheist, Democrats or Republicans. And help someone in need!
Best..............e
Well said Raymond. Very powerful. You've given us a lot to think about.Thank you so much Brianna. I mostly try to write so that things not normally thought about come into consciousness, and I can't say that my articles are entertaining, but hopefully they close in on what will be important down the road for you , and I, and us.
Best...........e
I like it! eLifeThanks, Eric, look forward to reading your articles. Stop talking, start doing! :)
Metta..........e
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