The Precise Moment
(By Tsem Rinpoche)
What really matters at the precise moment?
When is it your turn? Any day now most likely. None of what you believed, said, thought, eaten, travelled, learned, family, acquired, partner, kids, parents, likes, dislikes, games, humour, travels, anger or ego will help you at this precise moment. This moment is very precise and exact. No escape. The state of mind reflected by your habituated actions throughout your life will lead you out of your body and propel you into ‘light’ or a temporary tunnel, or a vast field, or seeing some dead ‘relatives’ depending on your thoughts then total darkness followed by another womb. A womb pregnant with further pain perhaps? Most likely, unless you are spiritually attained or awakened. You will again abide within a womb waiting to issue forth into the world temporarily armed or not armed for the same experiences again or their variations and more redundancy. 1Existence is meaningless redundancy that we falsely imbue with meaning. A meaning that leads to further repeated meaninglessness. This has been going on countless untold times and will continue to unless you achieve the methods to end it. 2Like the proverbial blind turtle swimming in the ocean.
Whatever you have been used to telling yourself and ‘believing’ will determine your next womb birth or birth. No God, Gods or wealth or friends can do anything for you now. Not that they ever could and if you took confidence in them, you are going to be sweating with regrets now of the empty clingings throughout your life to them and many others things you believed falsely. A clinging of empty promises deluded by projections pushing us to act in ways that didn’t benefit ourselves at all or anyone.
How smart you think you were or what made you feel secure will all be gone in this precise moment. Only the attainments and good merits will lead you now. Only refuge, samaya, practice, merits and your Yidam will guide you now. Unless you forsook them by laziness, temperament, wrong sudden emotions or abandonment.
Your fancy talk, explanations or wit will not secure an exception with the dark figure in your room waiting to take you from your corporeal form ready to decompose. Yama the Grim Reaper has been waiting and watching with delight at all your deceptions both known and unknown and it’s time to pay back dues. Don’t think the next step or life will be better judging from this one. You know how you were and you know what you have done. If you don’t, that’s even worse. How can diamonds be found on the moon when you dig on earth? Everything you believed or not believed or courageously and loudly proclaimed to others now will only be echoes of a soon to be forgotten past. A past you thought was permanent and still and unchanging. Remember, the words of doom is not death is upon you, but life was wasted on projections.
Are you ready for the denizens of the other world waiting patiently to exhaust your last breath? If you are not, when will you be ready? Another few extended years will do not much for you. Being ready or not is not a characteristic of the 3Grim Reaper. He doesn’t wait for you to be ready, but he waits nevertheless. Look at yourself and what you have actually achieved spiritually. Are you ready? If not, what are you waiting for now? If you forsook your teacher, dharma, practice and the practice of compassion, then regret and reconnect. Start the time honored 4recommendations now by the past Sages. Don’t look for reasons to not practice, but look for reasons to practice. If you have remained connected due to some merit infused wisdom, then step it up. Time is not on your side!
Tsem Rinpoche
1 Samsara
2 Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche describes in Lam Rim our chances of another good life is like a blind turtle that surfaces once every 100,000 years for air then goes back below the ocean again, and that his head can go through a yoke randomly floating and moving through a vast ocean. The turtle putting his head through this yoke is likened to the rarity of finding the ‘perfect’ human body again with the 8 leisures and 10 endowments and meeting the dharma again.
3 Yama, the Lord of Death or in Western terms, Grim Reaper – The one who comes to take you from your body with his minions.
4 Be vegetarian for life now. Read, study the Lam Rim and apply immediately without long explanations. Engage in Guru Yoga of Lord Tsongkapa and Migtseyma daily without a break and reap the benefits. The negative habits many and your teacher have mentioned about you for years, eliminate now. It will not hurt you but help you. Volunteer regularly in dharma works. Work for dharma fully if you can. Bring Dharma to others. Study up on dharma. Be emotionally close to your teacher and support the works. If you had differences with your teacher due to delusions, make up for it. Don’t wait. You or your teacher can die anytime. Apologize and make amends with your teacher immediately. Follow those who practice dharma and just smile at those who don’t even if they are in the dharma centre. Do your practices consistently and put the 8 Verses of Thought Transformation as the heart of your meditations combined with the first chapter of Lam Rim daily.
Highly recommended readings: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/?s=tsongkapa
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Old age is life’s parody, whereas death transforms life into a destiny. In a way it preserves it by giving it the absolute dimension. Death does away with time. And in a very real sense, our world is changed the moment a loved one dies . Not only is death inevitable, no one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. None of us knows the day of our death. However, if we knew that death is actually our acquisition, we would remove the fear of death from our lives. Learning, practicing Dharma and do more volunteering in Dharma works to benefits others will really matters at the precise moment of death. Bringing Dharma to others will be wonderful. We have to practice Dharma sincerely and consistently while we still can .
Thank you Rinpoche for this profound teachings.
Death is definite and we can’t escape from it. Knowing this we should not wait and start preparing for it. We can’t take away anything upon death except our karma. Therefore, we have to start practicing dharma. Apply dharma in our daily live in every thoughts and action. Follow our Guru’s teaching and transform our mind.
Thank you Rinpoche for your teaching and reminder.
Death is inevitable non of us can escape that is for sure.Every moment of our life we will never see again ,live our life to the fullest and make every moment joyful and meaningful. To learn ,practice Dharma,work for Dharma and bring Dharma to others will lead you to happiness and gain merits. Do dharma work with a good motivation as advised by Rinpoche Star now and not to waste time….every moments is PRECISE.
THANK YOU Rinpoche for this teachings and advice.
Death is inevitable. Nothing is permanent. We tend to take our life for granted nut knowing that time is not our friend. Because of wrong views and our delusions we forget about our karma. We should start doing dharma now and not find excuses not to practice.
Only the attainments and good merits will lead us now. Only refuge, samaya, practice, merits and our Yidam will guide us now.
No one can guide us at that precise moment. It’s up to us how we live our life and do our practices and follow our Guru’s instructions.
Thank you Rinpoche for the sharing which I will take to heart.
Jill Yam
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for sharing. Yes, dying is the process that we cannot escape and at the end of the day we can’t bring anything with us in this precise moment. I would like to thank Rinpoche for giving me the answer in facing the death. With the dharma knowledge, we are able to take refuge to the three jewels, keep our Samaya with our guru, practice with daily sadhana and meditation, gain merits through dharma work, transform our mind by understanding the 4 nobel truths, practice the 8 fold paths and keep the 5 percepts, rely upon our Yidam to guide us till the end of our life.
Humbly with hand folded,
Ng Jesvin
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for sharing this advice. Death is the truth that no one can deny but everyone tends to forget about it until the very last moment. Because of this delusion that we will live for a very long time, we wasted our time in pursuing things that are useless to us when our elements are dissolving one after and other. Only refuge, samaya, practice, merits and our Yidam will guide us now.
Rinpoche had adviced us to do death meditation everyday to remind us of impermanence and what is most important to us now. One who does not realise death, will waste his life away until he does.
Humbly,
Chris
What a splendid article! Thank you so much Rinpoche for writing it.
Death is certainly the final destination of each and everyone of us, which we cannot avoid or escape. Therefore, it would be most wise for us to spend time, effort and resources to die well. Death should not be a taboo or something we feat because false pretense that “death is far from happening to us” will lead us to a destruction state of grasping, attachment, fear at our precise moment of death.
I would like to share the link below on Meditating on Death which helped me appreciate some of the precious people in my life better and improve my relationship with them. So, see…in acknowledging death, we open the windows for our heart to live better.
https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/kechara-13-depts/last-night-i-spoke-about-death-meditation-in-more-detail.html
Existence is meaningless redundancy that we falsely imbue with meaning. A meaning that leads to further repeated meaninglessness. This has been going on countless untold times and will continue to unless you achieve the methods to end it. ~ I find this to be very true, but still if we do not want to wander aimlessly in samsara, then it might be good to do meaningful things? Or doing things that bring us closer to enlightenment?
Dear Rinpoche,
Before I met you, I will probably be afraid of death, of the unknown, of what I will become of in my next life, if I ever have.
Now that I met Rinpoche, my kind guru, who is always watching out for me, cleansing my negative karma, guiding me how to gain merits and reduce negativities, I know I will be ready when the time comes.
I reflect on my misdeeds, my deeds. I do not know what is next, but I am ready.
Thank you, Rinpoche.
Regards,
Edwin
I think that a lot of people who has achieved high standings in life often forgets where they came from. I have personally come across people who talks big, lies, plays politics, horrible in character, very judgmental. Of course I have also met very nice and humble people too.
Thanks for this article as it reminds me/us that we must never forget that in life, wealth, successes, power, achievements…means nothing when we leave, which we eventually will.
I am thankful to have the opportunity to have easy access to internet to learn from this website about dharma, wish to learn more.
Thank you Rinpoche for reminding us about our death. Death is inevitable non of us can escape , through spiritual practice make me understand more about the process if death by understanding it more it actually drive to be more want to stay in the path because we need to prepare our mind transform our negative state of mind to a positive state of mind so that our next will suffer less because happiness in on our own hand no one else can help us.
When your time is up, it is up. Time to go, no negotiation not extension. Then you will go on to your next birth. Your next rebirth will depend very much on what you have done this life and your previous lives. This is because we believe in the continuation of the mindstream but not the body (vessel) you are in now.
So, what you do now is very important for the future till you are liberated and free from the cycle of life. Some may get there faster, some slower, but what you do not is important. Do dharma work with a good motivation as advised by Rinpoche as it will help us. The time we have is now, there’s no other time already.
I am grateful that I am now working for the Dharma, doing the best I can. Hopefully I can make a difference in my future life so that my future will be brighter. In the mean time, help others along the way. Thanks to Rinpoche’s guidance and teachings, I am able to absorb some Dharma into my life. I am on my journey and definitely a good one.
At the moment of death, nothing matters except the ability to be prepared to depart with grace through wisdom and compassion. However, if we are really honest, nothing really matters NOW anyway.
Why do I say that, not out of bitterness but awed realization.
For some, the money they have creates a fear that people (including their spouse and children) only want them for their money. Therefore, they live in distrust. So, although there is cash in the bank, these “rich people” have empty heart of loneliness.
For some, they have many friends…but friends for happy days who tend to disappear when the going gets rough. If we are truly honest, we know that we do not have to wait for the moment of death to be abandoned as we are already alone when facing bankruptcy. People do not want to be associated with failure.
For some, authority has provided great power and control. A General Manager or CEO of a company may be able to dictate the fate of the company and the entire team of staff with one statement. Wow, what great power! However, fear arises that the power is taken away. As in the case of author Michael Gill who wrote [How Starbucks saved my life], at the age of 53, he was fired and not only did he loose his clients, staff loyalty and respect, he could hardly get anyone to pick up his call. He described himself to be helpless.
So, does this mean that we get rid of our riches and un-friend everyone? No, it simply means we need to review our priorities with strong consideration to the kind words shared by Tsem Rinpoche above. So that we create real value with our money, relations and authority in a way that can give us peace when we face death and in a way that we will leave behind a legacy that benefits others.
What Rinpoche has written is very true, we will never know when’s our last day on earth. Just like what happened in the past few weeks, none of the people on the plane knew that tragic was going to happen. And also my school’s prefect, who died in a car accident recently, he died on spot… none of them knew that it was their last day. We don’t wait until unfortunate tragic happens then only we regret, it will be far too late by then. These bad news taught me a lesson- we’ll never know when we’re gonna die, so while we are alive, we make sure ourselves don’t involve in negative activities, at least it’ll helps us when the time comes.
Some people met Dharma by accident or unintentionally. Some people came to Dharma when he has no place to go. Some people come for Dharma for help because they lost something, may be a husband, a child, money, court case, illness, business etc, some people was a calling time to them, some people search for Dharma because they have very strong past life imprint just like Rinpoche. Whatever it is, we are blessed to meet the guru and the Dharma if you have found one.
What about those who are not in the categories on top? Where are they going after death? The soul will be pulled and dragged by the yama to the hell. only Merits could save you. Merit is just like our bullets to shoot the enemy down in order to protect and defend ourselves.
How to gain merits? find a merits field like Kechara.. throw in all the good that your have done. If you see the good is more than the money you have then you are save. If you see the money is more than your merits, then you will suffer and when the last day come before you have a chance of even think about it. too late.. and too bad for you.
Thank you Rinpoche for giving this profound dharma teaching on the blog. Since this optimum human rebirth is so difficult to get as it is stated in the lamrim. ‘No Self-deception could be worse. After gaining such a chance. Than not cultivating virtue! Nothing could be blinder!’ and ‘From non-virtue come all suffering and likewise all the lower realms. From virtue come all the upper realms and all happy rebirth.’ I must remember to put this into practice everyday now.
From the “wheel of life” it shows how one turn the samsara wheel in one complete chain-link cycle. Due to ignorance, you develope “wrong view”. you neglect the fact of karma and it effect and be ignorance of your future life. since we had acquired this human rebirth by chance and meet with the dharma. The other school of Buddhism suggest to abandonment of “desire” as the practice to break this chain,(your desire for object of attachment,desire of taking another form/rebirth…).
Seldom had I read about it mentioned the “golden opportunity” during death process as another method( my ignorance?). In the Vajrayana teaching, the same desire energy was turn to focused to difference object, such as the desire to benefit others,desire to enlightenment… This newly re-learned habituation will be used at the time of death to propel one into “pure-land” of your choice or to higher fortunate rebirth.
Thank you Rinpoche for this gem of a teaching.
I appreciate it that Rinpoche keeps reminding us to do the death meditation daily. This teaching impresses me with the urgency of preparing for death. For the state of mind at point of death will determine where we will be going to in our next rebirth.
Our state of mind at point of death is the state we have habituated our mind with, through all the actions of our body, speech and mind, throughout our lives. If our mind were habituated to be positive and has no clinging to the appearances of this life,then it will travel out of this life into a good rebirth. However,more often than not, our mind allows itself to be deceived by appearances because of wrong perceptions. Then our habituated state of mind will be a negative one, mired in grasping and clinging to the insubstantial things of this life. At that precise moment of death, this clinging to what we had always perceived as our ‘anchor’, will be the cause of our undoing and unravelling. By then it’s too late.When we realize the truth, that we have clung falsely to things which will not protect or help us at all, and which had been the cause of our creating negativities,we will be helplessly on the way to another life, another meaningless existence.
“Wherever there is birth, there’s always death”, but whose-ever turn is, nobody knows. Young or old, one has to go when the time comes, as seen in the law of impermanence. No God, or gods, or wealth or friends can do anything for us. Only attainments and good merits will lead us now. Only refuge, samaya, practice, merits and our Yidam will guide us now. Don’t look for reasons to, not practice, but look for reasons to practice now, as time is not on our side, as Rinpoche has said! Thank you very much once again for your precious advice and teachings, Rinpoche. With your meritorious teachings, deep care andlove all this while, if ever we can have a wish granted, it will be “In our next rebirth may we always not be parted from a perfect Guru like you Rinpoche!” Om mani padme hung.
I used to think about death. What will I do at that moment, and before dwelling too much into it, I’d brush it away thinking “there’s still alot of time left. I’m not going to die so soon. Let’s not think about it”… and there I was brushing it off year after year. Though frankly speaking, I think I was just scared. Scared about what I would do at that moment. How will it feel? Where will I go? Who will be by my side, and how can I have the heart to “leave” them. I had no idea.
Well, I’m glad I met Rinpoche..it has been my greatest fortune. Rinpoche has given me answers to many questions I had. But most of all, Rinpoche has shown me the path, and created a platform for me to do what I can to prepare myself for the final moment. A life which otherwise would be extremely mundane and tedious now has purpose and meaning because of the Dharma that Rinpoche has brought to me.
Nothing can save you from death. But what you do in your life will dictate your judgement day.
Thank you Rinpoche for the sharing.It is a kind reminder but the obvious reality for our final days to come if we are not prepared spiritually .
We are fortunate to meet up with our compassionate guru who give us a final road map to Shangri la to rid yourself of suffering for free. But we rather grope in the dark to find Treasure island to satisfy our greed and fantasy.
Samsara is indeed tempting and most of us got so indulge in its pleasure that we lose our true nature of finding our way home through the Jewels of Dharma.
I do not deny that I am one of its victims.But day by day I am fighting the inner demons to seek the right path through the guidance of the 3 Jewels through Kechara.
I am sure the benevolent Dharma will triumph at last, for me to be prepared for those coming final days to come.
Thank you Rinpoche for you guidance!
Two of the greatnesses of reading Lam rim is to know the true thinking of Buddha and taking it as an instruction. Likewise, Rinpoche’s blog serves as though the same for me. There are many times, I found that Rinpoche is actually giving us instructions indirectly. Hopefully I can follow Rinpoche’s advices up to tee!
I was brought up to “not talk about death”. It was a taboo topic which may become curse-like. How strange it was when I started learning Dharma and realized that the first truth in Buddhism was suffering which of course includes death. Also Rinpoche advised all of us to do death meditation on a regular basis. By contemplating death we learn to “let go”. Let go of all our attachments which forms one of the basis of our daily suffering. If death was the only sure thing in our life, why fret so much !
Rinpoche is constantly finding skillful ways to remind us of our ultimate end because he loves and care for all of us and wish for us to quickly have this realization to reduce our sufferings. Thank you dear Rinpoche.
We often take our life for granted and think we’re going to live forever.But,from one moment to the next,nobody know what will happen Whether we are young or old,we may die anytime.This fear and suffering keeps us from thinking seriously about death and impedes our happiness.We must not stop striving to improve our circumstances in this lifetime. We are truly blessed to have Rinpoche’s blog which is filled with Rinpoche’s precious teachings (which had benefitted millions)at our fingertips.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article with us. Life is very precious. It is hardly for us to have the opportunity to born as human beings who have the chances approach to dharma. We never know when is our “last episode” in this world. Hence, we shall often engage in dharma work and most important thing is to transform ourselves- cut down our bad habits etc.Thus, when Mr. Yama say hello to us, we will be less frighten and have the confidence to get a good rebirth.
The most important time for our spiritual practice is our death. We have prepared and meditated for the moment. Are we ready for this journey into our next life? We need to be.
Most people thought by ending their present life, will resolve all their problem/s and never knowing that the last thought of present life will be carried to the next life . Upon encountering the dharma, I learnt about the urgency to contemplate on the subject on death. Initially, I was really freaked out at the mere thought on this subject. Gradually, I was be able to discuss with others when I have more understanding on why that it was taught first before the commencement of other dharma topics. Therefore, I will constantly be mindful of my every thoughts will be off virtue just in case death calling at my door!! Thank you Rinpoche for this teaching.
Thank you for sharing this precious teaching Rinpoche. This precise moment awaits us all… whether we like it or not, it is what we would have to go through the moment we were born.
What really matters at this precise moment? A question that has crossed our mind. But not many actually bother with it. The problem with many of us is that we always think time is on your side even though we are constantly reminded in many occasions that death is always unexpected.
We are very fortunate to have received teachings from Rinpoche to not be ignorant about this important moment of our lives which was conveniently ignored in the past. May we no longer wait or look for excuses, but prepare ourselves right away for this precise moment by learning and practicing Dharma whole heartedly and consistently!
I would love to say that I am prepared for death but I know that’s not the truth. Although I am unprepared but I am glad that i am in Dharma. I am not much of a practitioner but I dare say that whatever I do in Dharma adds wonderful causes for a good death and better future lives. I am just glad I am exposed to this idea of preparing for the inevitable. No where else do I find good reminders for our eventual demise. Everywhere else, we only see and meet distractions that do nothing for our eventual passing. We are indeed blessed to have Rinpoche’s blog.
Day by day I always heard either someone is in the hospital and going to die or accident or already passed away. It getting very norm but knowing it happen to someone sometime we will just feel sorry for them but we forgotten that it may happen to us. We know it that the ‘day’ will come but just ‘hope’ it will happen much much later.
But if we turn our mind to think the other way round by realizing this precise moment will come and can come anytime it will be more realistic for us to prepare ourselves. Before i met dharma I never know what to do if the precise moment were to arrived but after I met Rinpoche, the teaching is not to ask us to run away and be denial instead is to prepare ourselves for it. The beauty of dharma is teaching us to face anything that will happen to us and focus out to benefiting others so when the precise moment come we have no worry.
Tsem Rinpoche always says, “Death is certain, when is not.” Rinpoche says to practice dharma now, not tomorrow, not next week, not next month, not next year, but now.
Do not wait until we have retired from working life, do not wait until our business is successful, do not wait until our children have all grown up, do not wait until we have traveled the world. We can still do all these but incorporate dharma into our daily lives. Do not procrastinate, time waits for no one. Procrastination is laziness.
I cannot thanks enough Rinpoche for this blog. Thank you so much for it!
I can’t thank enough Rinpoche!
Before meeting Dharma & Rinpoche’s teaching, death used to flashed thru my head & fill me with dread. I will lose all senses, my family! I would then push the thought away, feeling too scared & panicky. Now I try to work towards facing it by learning more dharma & practising. Hopefully, it will be enough as I still feel that I am moving too slowly.
Death is something that many people do not wish to talk about because it the unknown and people are scared. I feel that instead of staying ignorant and being in fear as a result, we should investigate and find out. In this way, we can prepare ourselves when the day comes of our passing away.
I believe that when fully embrace the fact that we will leave this existence day, we will do whatever it takes to prepare ourselves for the transition, and reassess what used to be important in our lives and redefine our priorities. I believe this is a practical and wiser approach. We will never lose out with more knowledge.
in our culture, it is not common to talk about our big day, but ironically, it is something we need to go through eventually, yet most don’t pay any attention to it.
before i met Dharma, for me, i understand that fame, kids, friends, spouse cannot help us at the time of death, but I don’t know what else, and am kinda stuck. after learning Dharma, i now know there are practices i can do to get myself prepare for the final moment. therefore, i understand that buddhism is not about pessimistic, but rather prepare for something we can bring to our next life.
Wow powerful Rinpoche great works you do really touch so many lives all around the world including mine and my 13 yr old son. Thank you for everything!
In the last 10 years of my life, I have met more people than I did throughout my whole life added together. Some people measure success by the wealth they have accumulated, the power they have attained, or the status they have achieved. Yet, even though they have reached success beyond their wildest dreams, they still feel a void — something is missing from their life. Unfortunately, for some, they chased wordly success till their last breath. For some, it was regret on their death bed but then, it is already too late for death waits for no one.
I am one of those fortunate people who has the merits to meet Tsem Rinpoche. During our first meeting, Rinpoche skillfully adviced me to spend the rest of my life with a purpose to benefit others. Rinpoche explained that people who live a life of purpose make a meaningful difference in someone else’s life, including animals, and that I should do things for others without expectation of personal gain and serve as exemplary role model. What really matters at the time of death is the legacy you will be leaving behind and the merits you have accumulated to bring along with you to your next life to continue your spiritual journey.
When Mr Yama comes knocking at your door, at least you know that you had lived a meaningful,loving and caring life. You will then be fearless of death as you will think about all the special, magical moments of your life, and thereby have a more peaceful, joy-filled death.
This article What Really Matters At The Precise Moment is a very good post by Rinpoche which I will share with my friends.
Ruby, I really appreciated reading your inspiring comment! Much Gratitude for all the incredible work you are doing with Rinpoche! Your work have been a constant source of inspiration to me. Thank you infinitely!
The only thing that can be of any ust to us at the moment of death is our spiritual practice. We must abandon worldly concerns and practice the holy Dharma……. Are we ready?